Title 43
SECTION 3482.3
3482.3 Mining operations maps.
§ 3482.3 Mining operations maps.(a) General requirements. Upon commencement of mining operations, the operator/lessee shall maintain accurate and up-to-date maps of the mine, drawn to scales acceptable to the authorized officer. Before a mine or section of a mine is abandoned, closed, or made inaccessible, a survey of the mine or section shall be made by the operator/lessee and recorded on such maps. All excavations in each separate coal bed shall be shown in such a manner that the production of coal for any royalty reporting period can be accurately ascertained. Additionally, the maps shall show the name of the mine; name of the operator/lessee; Federal lease or license serial number(s); permit number; Federal lease and permit boundary lines; surface buildings; dip of the coal bed(s); true north; map scale; map explanation; location, diameter, and depth of auger holes; improvements; topography, including subsidence resulting from mining; geologic conditions as determined from outcrops, drill holes, exploration, or mining; any unusual geologic or other occurrences such as dikes, faults, splits, unusual water occurrences, or other conditions that may influence MER; and other information that the authorized officer may request. Copies of such maps shall be properly posted to date and furnished, in duplicate, to the authorized officer annually, or at such other times as the authorized officer requests. Copies of any maps, normally submitted to the regulatory authority, Mine Safety and Health Administration, or other State or Federal Agencies, that show all of the specific data required by this paragraph or paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section shall be acceptable in fulfilling these requirements.
(b) Underground mine maps. Underground mine maps, in addition to the general requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, shall show all mine workings; the date of extension of the mine workings; an illustrative coal section at the face of each working unit; location of all surface mine fans; ventilation stoppings, doors, overcasts, undercasts, permanent seals, and regulators; direction of the ventilating current in the various parts of the mine at the time of making the latest surveys; sealed areas; known bodies of standing water in other mine workings, either in, above, or below the active workings of the mine; areas affected by squeezes; elevations of surface and underground levels of all shafts, slopes, or drifts, and elevation of the floor, bottom of the mine workings, or mine survey stations in the roof at regular intervals in main entries, panels, or sections; and sump areas. Any maps submitted to the regulatory authority to be used to monitor subsidence shall also be submitted to the authorized officer.
(c) Surface mine maps. Surface mine maps, in addition to the general requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, shall include the date of extension of the mine workings and a detailed stratigraphic section at intervals specified in the approved resource recovery and protection plan. Such maps shall show areas from which coal has been removed; the highwall; fenders; uncovered, but unmined, coal beds; and elevation of the top of the coal beds.
(d) Vertical projections and cross sections of mine workings. When required by the authorized officer, vertical projections and cross sections shall accompany plan views.
(e) Accuracy of maps. The accuracy of maps furnished shall meet standards acceptable to the authorized officer and shall be certified by a professional engineer, professional land surveyor, or other such professionally qualified person.
(f) Liability of operator/lessee for expense of survey. If the operator/lessee fails to furnish a required or requested map within a reasonable time, the authorized officer, if necessary, shall employ a professionally qualified person to make the required survey and map, the cost of which shall be charged to, and promptly paid by, the operator/lessee.
(g) Incorrect maps. If any map submitted by an operator/lessee is believed to be incorrect, and the operator/lessee cannot verify the map or supply a corrected map, the authorized officer may employ a professionally qualified person to make a survey and any necessary maps. If the survey shows the maps submitted by the operator/lessee to be substantially incorrect, in whole or in part, the cost of making the survey and preparing the maps shall be charged to, and promptly paid by, the operator/lessee.