Illinois Statutes Chapter 225. Professions,Occupations and Business Operations § 720/3.07. Prime Farmlands and High Capability Lands

§ 3.07. Prime Farmlands and High Capability Lands. (a) For all prime farmlands to be mined and reclaimed, the operator shall, as a minimum, (1) segregate the A horizon of the natural soil, except where it can be shown that other available soil materials will create a final soil having a greater productive capacity, and if not used immediately, stockpile this material separately from other spoil, and provide needed protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic material; (2) segregate the B horizon of the natural soil, or underlying C horizons or other strata, or a combination of such horizons or other strata that are shown to be both texturally and chemically suitable for plant growth and that can be shown to be equally or more favorable for plant growth than the B horizon, in sufficient quantities to create in the regarded final soil a root zone of comparable depth and quality to that which existed in the natural soil, and if not used immediately, stockpile this material separately from other spoil, and provide needed protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic material; (3) replace and regrade the root zone material described in (2) above with proper compaction and uniform depth over the regraded spoil material; and (4) redistribute and grade in a uniform manner the surface soil horizon described in subparagraph (1) above.

(b) For all high capability lands to be mined and reclaimed, all or part of the darkened surface soil shall be segregated and replaced as a final cover as a last step in the required grading. When available in such depth, at least 18 inches of the darkened surface soil shall be segregated and replaced. In no case under this subsection shall less than the top 8 inches of surface soil, darkened or not, be segregated or replaced. This segregation and replacement requirement may be altered by the Department only if it is determined on the advice of competent soil scientists that other material available in the cast overburden would be suitable in meeting the reclamation requirements. Below the darkened surface soil, the replaced material shall be suitable as an agricultural root medium. The Department shall determine by rule what constitutes a suitable agricultural root medium by composition and depth. This Section does not apply to any land which is subject to a reclamation plan approved under “The Surface-Mined Land Conservation and Reclamation Act,” approved September 17, 1971, as amended, as in effect on June 30, 1979,  1 or to high capability lands affected by mining operations prior to July 1, 1975.

(c) The term “prime farmland” has the same meaning it has under the Federal Act.  2 Soil horizons shall be defined by the Department by rule. Such rules shall be consistent with the Federal Act.

(d) The term “high capability land” means land other than prime farmland which the Director determines is (1) capable of being reclaimed for row-crop agricultural purposes and is suitable for row-crop agricultural purposes based on United States Soil Conservation Service soil survey classifications of the affected land prior to mining, and (2) the optimum future use of which is for row-crop agricultural purposes.

(e) The term “darkened surface soil” shall be defined by the Department by rule.

(f) The requirements of this Section are in addition to the other requirements of this Act.