7 1 banks, culm banks, tailings, repair areas, storage areas, 2 processing areas, shipping areas, including conveyors, and 3 areas in which structures, facilities, equipment, machines, 4 tools, or other materials or property which would result 5 from or are used in surface mining operations and which are 6 situated appurtenant to the center of the surface mining 7 and reclamation operations of the operator. 8 (j) The term "lands within any State" or "lands 9 within such State" means all lands within a State other than 10 Federal lands and Indian lands. 11 (k) The term "operator" means the person, firm, corpo12 ration, or partnership or any other business entity engaged 13 in surface mining as a principal as distinguished from an 14 agent or independent contractor. 15 (1) The term "other minerals" means clay, stone, sand, 16 gravel, metalliferous and nonmetalliferous ores, and any 17 other solid material or substance of commercial value exca18 vated in solid form from natural deposits on or in the earth, 19 exclusive of coal and those minerals which occur naturally 20 in liquid or gaseous form. 21 (m) The term "permit" means a permit to conduct 22 surface mining and reclamation operations on the area of 23 land to be affected issued by the State regulatory authority 24 pursuant to a State program or by the Secretary pursuant 25 to a Federal program. 8 1 (n) The term "permit applicant” or “applicant” means 2 a person applying for a permit. 3 (0) The term "permittee" means a person holding a 4 permit. 5 (p) The term "person" means an individual, partner 6 ship, association, society, joint stock company, firm, com7 pany, corporation, or other business organization. 8 (q) The term "reclamation plan" is a plan submitted 9 by an applicant for a permit under a State program or 10 Federal program which sets forth a plan for reclamation 11 of the proposed surface mining operations pursuant to sec12 tions 210 and 211 of this Act. 13 (r) The term "regulatory authority" means the State 14 regulatory authority where the State is administering this 15 Act under an approved State program or the Secretary 16 where the Secretary is administering the Act under a Fed17 eral program. 18 (s) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the 19 Interior or his designee. 20 (t) The term "State" means a State of the United 21 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 22 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and 24 Guam. (u) The term "State program" is a program estab 25 lished by a State pursuant to section 204 of this Act to 9 1 regulate surface mining and reclamation operations for coal 2 or for other minerals, whichever is relevant on lands within 3 a State in accord with the requirements of this Act and 4 regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to this Act. 5 (v) The term "State regulatory authority" means the 6 department or agency in each State which has primary 7 responsibility at the State level for administering this Act. 8 (w) The term "step-terracing" means the utilization of 9 the mineral cleavage planes of nontoxic or nonpolluting 10 mineral deposits and their overburden to develop a series of 11 steps, with approximately vertical walls and horizontal 12 planes, from the top of the stable portion of the highwall 13 to the floor of the pit, taking into consideration public health 14 and safety. 15 (x) The term "surface mining and reclamation opera16 tions" means surface mining operations and all activities 17 necessary and incident to the reclamation of such opera18 tions. 19 (y) The term "surface mining operations" means the 20 activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection 21 with a surface mine, the products of which enter commerce 22 or the operations of which directly or indirectly affect com23 merce, including the exploration for and the extraction of 24 coal or other minerals from the earth or stream beds while 25 removing strata which overlies them, lies between them, or 10 1 commingles with them, including contour, strip, open pit, 2 auger mining, exploration excavations, test borings or core 3 samplings, dredging, quarrying, leaching, in situ, distilla4 tion or retorting and cleaning, concentrating or other process5 ing or preparation (excluding refining and smeltering) and 6 the loading for interstate commerce of crude materials at or near the mine site. Such activities do not include the 8 extraction of minerals in a liquid or gaseous state by means 9 of wells or pipes unless the process includes in situ, distilla10 tion, or retorting. 7 11 (z) The term "surface or subsurface water" means all 12 streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, waterways, wells, springs, 13 drainage systems, aquifers, and all other bodies or accumu14 lations of water surface or underground, natural or artificial. 15 (aa) The term "terracing" means backfilling, compact16 ing (where advisable) and grading where the steepest slope 17 of the affected area shall not be greater than 35 degrees 18 from the horizontal with the table portion of the restored 19 area a flat terrace without depression to hold water and 20 with adequate provisions for drainage, except that depres21 sions to hold water may be allowed by the regulatory au22 thority where retention of water is required or desirable for 23 reclamation purposes and is consistent with the operators' 24 approved reclamation plan. 25 (bb) The term "water pollution" or "pollution of water" 11 1 means placing any toxic, noxious, or deleterious substances 2 in any waters or affecting the property of any waters in a 3 manner which renders such waters harmful or inimicable to 4 the public health, or to animal or aquatic life, or to the 5 use of such waters for domestic water supply or industrial, agricultural, or recreational purposes. Ն 7 TITLE II-EXISTING AND PROSPECTIVE SUR 8 FACE MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS 9 10 11 GRANT OF AUTHORITY; PROCLAMATION OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS SEC. 201. (a) Within one hundred and eighty days after 12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary in accord13 ance with the purposes, requirements, and the procedures of 14 this Act, shall develop and publish in the Federal Register 15 regulations covering surface mining and reclamation opera16 tions for coal, and shall set forth in reasonable detail those 17 actions which a State must take to develop a State program 18 and otherwise meet the requirements of this Act. 19 (b) Not later than the end of the twenty-four full cal20 endar month period following the date of the enactment of 21 this Act, the Secretary, in accordance with the purposes and 22 requirements of this Act and procedures set forth in this sec23 tion, shall develop and publish in the Federal Register regu24 lations covering surface mining and reclamation operations 25 for other minerals, and shall set forth in reasonable detail |