SECTION 12.613. Alluvial Valley Floors: Monitoring

(a) An environmental monitoring system shall be installed, maintained and operated by the permittee on all alluvial valley floors during surface coal mining and reclamation operations and continued until all bonds are released in accordance with §12.312 and §12.313 of this title (relating to Procedures, Criteria, and Schedule for Release of Performance Bond). The monitoring system shall provide sufficient information to allow the Commission to determine that:

(1) the agricultural utility and production of the alluvial valley floor not within the affected area is being preserved;

(2) the potential agricultural utility and production on the alluvial valley floor within the affected area has been reestablished;

(3) the important characteristics supporting the essential hydrologic functions of the alluvial valley floor in the affected area have been reestablished after mining; and

(4) the important characteristics supporting the essential hydrologic functions of any alluvial valley floor in areas not affected are preserved during and after mining.

(b) Monitoring shall be performed at adequate frequencies, to indicate long-term trends that could affect agricultural use of the alluvial valley floors.

(c) Monitoring shall be performed during operations, to identify characteristics of the alluvial valley floor not identified in the permit application and to evaluate the importance of all characteristics.

(d) All monitoring data collected, and analyses thereof, shall routinely be made available to the Commission.

Source Note: The provisions of this §12.613 adopted to be effective April 7, 1997, 22 TexReg 3093.