MINUTES
MINING AND
RECLAMATION
ADVISORY BOARD
APRIL 24, 1997
16th Fl., Rachel
Carson State Office Building
Delaware Room
Members
Present: Walter Heine, Chairman, Duane
Feagley, David Strong, Pat Krommes, Fred Wolf, Jack Chamberlin, Rep. Sam
Smith, David Osikowicz, Ron Ramsey, Mark Snyder, Howard Laur, John Ford, Sue
Germanio, Steve Shrawder, and George Ellis.
Also
present were: Deputy Secretary Robert
Dolence and Rodney Kelley, Office of Mineral Resources Management; Richard
Stickler, Bureau of Deep Mine Safety; Rod Fletcher and Evan Shuster, Bureau of
Mining and Reclamation; Joe Pizarchik, Office of Chief Counsel, Bud Friedrich,
Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Joe Sieber, Office of Policy; and Alan
Tamm, Gannett Fleming.
The meeting was called to
order at 12:30 p.m.
The minutes from the
December 12, 1996 meeting were approved.
Two new members to the
board, Jack Chamberlin, Fike Surveying and Consulting, and David Strong,
Citizens’ Advisory Council, were introduced and welcomed by the chairman.
Deputy Secretary Dolence
introduced Mr. Richard Stickler to the board.
Mr. Stickler is the new director for the Bureau of Deep Mine Safety.
STATUS OF OBLIGATIONS:
There
are no outstanding obligations at this time.
REGULATION, LEGISLATION
& TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORT
The
committee met on April 24 to discuss several documents. They were:
Technical Guidance Document for the Beneficial Uses of Coal Ash,
Certification Guidelines for Beneficial Uses of Coal Ash, and revisions of
Chapter 86, Postmining Discharges/Licensing and Bonding. Mr. Wolf, Chairman of that committee,
presented their report.
Technical Guidance Document
for the Beneficial Uses of Coal Ash:
The board agreed with the findings of the committee that the language may
be more stringent than the corresponding regulations.
Since operators can’t always prove what result they will get when using
fly ash, it was suggested that the first sentence in Section A, Coal Ash Placement,
be changed to reflect the federal laws more effectively. The sentence would then state: “Coal
ash placement for beneficial use may be used at active coal mine sites and
abandoned mine sites to improve water quality or prevent groundwater degradation.”
The Bureau of Mining and Reclamation (BMR) staff will look into changing
the wording of that sentence.
Certification Guidelines for the Beneficial Uses of Coal Ash:
The committee presented the following recommendations:
Unannounced spot checks by
DEP inspectors may help with quality control
Operators should allow
access to samples for more quality control checks
The ground water at the site
should be monitored as well to be sure the ash is being applied properly.
The
board also agreed that periodic sampling should be done at the site to ensure
that the fly ash is being used beneficially.
BMR staff will incorporate these suggestions into the document.
Several
others concerns were raised by the board.
The first is that coal ash is now becoming very hard to find because it
is being used in many reclamation projects.
Some members also felt that the anthracite region should be given first
priority. Due to the deregulation of
the electric companies, the co-generation plants that produce the ash may be
sold. If that should happen, there
would be even less coal ash available to use in reclamation activities.
Motion made, seconded, to
accept changes to the guidelines as presented by the committee. Passed unanimously.
Chapter 86, Postmining
Discharges/Licensing and Bonding:
This
draft proposed rulemaking was revised due to comments made by the Independent
Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC).
Only the revisions were presented to the board for comment. The main concern of the IRRC was the
calculations used to determine the financial assurances for the long-term
treatment of postmining discharges. BMR
staff incorporated the use of an index to determine the interest and inflation
figures. The use of a formula instead
of numbers will eliminate the need to have a periodic review of the
regulation. The definition of “n”, a
term in the formula, was also revised.
Motion made, seconded, to
accept the revisions to the document as recommended by the committee. Passed unanimously.
AD-HOC COMMITTEE
This
committee met on February 21, 1997, to discuss the Alternative Financing Mechanisms for the Perpetual Treatment of
Postmining Discharges.
Representative Sam Smith was the chairman for that meeting. The committee felt that the report was
good. It needed a few things added to
it for completeness. Many of the
alternatives were discussed by the committee, however, it felt that there
should be a broader selection of alternatives presented in the report. It recommended that the Department review
the comments that were made before they move forward with the report, which it
felt is not ready at this time and more evaluations should be done.
Motion made, seconded, that
the MRAB will pass on the 8 recommendations of the Ad-Hoc Committee to the
Department for their consideration.
Passed unanimously.
ELECTION OF NEW OFFICERS
Chairman - Fred Wolf was
nominated. Walter Heine declined the
nomination. Fred Wolf was elected as
the new chairman
Vice-Chairman - Mark Snyder was
nominated. He was elected the new
vice-chairman.
Policy
Committee -
Dr. Redmond remains the chairman of this committee.
Technical
Committee - Dave
Osikowicz is the new chairman of this committee.
NEW BUSINESS
The list of alternates was reviewed and updated.
Deputy Secretary Dolence
informed the board that the Department decided to move forward with the
regulatory process of reviewing Unsuitable for Mining Petitions. The Department decided to keep the EQB in
the review process. This is being done
against the recommendation of the MRAB, who had voted to support the
adjudicatory process at a previous meeting.
The MRAB will stand on record as supporting the adjudicatory process.
There is an open house being
planned at the Bark Camp Mine Reclamation Laboratory. This is being done to introduce people to the site and the work
being done there before any material is brought in. The Department is trying to counter any negative impressions the
public might have about the site.
The Pennsylvania Coal
Association is developing some potential remining incentives. They will present these to the board in the
near future.
The Department is taking a
look at the Abandoned Mine Land problem in Pennsylvania. It is planning to present a multi-year plan
rather than case-by-case planning to the Office of Surface Mining. This plan should help alleviate the funding
problem. DEP may look for MRAB
involvement on this issue.
The
next meeting will be held on July 10, 1997.
This will be held in DuBois, Clearfield County. On Friday, July 11 there will be a field
trip to the Bark Camp Mine Reclamation Laboratory.
The
meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m.