Mont. Code Ann. § 82-4-403

(1) "Affected land" means the area of land and land covered by water that is disturbed by opencut mining operations, including the area from which overburden or material is to operations. A private road may be or has been removed and upon which included as affected land only with the overburden is to be or has been deposited, roads constructed to gain access to the landowner's consent. material, areas of processing facilities on or contiguous to the opencut mine, treatment and sedimentation ponds, and material stockpile areas on or contiguous to the opencut mine.

(10) "Person" means: "Overburden" means the earth that lies above a natural deposit of materials.

(a) a natural person;

(b) a firm, association, partnership, cooperative, or corporation;

(c) a department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision; or

(d) any other entity.

(11) "Processing facilities" means all crushers, screens, and asphalt or concrete plants. "Person" means:

(a) a natural person;

(b) a firm, association, partnership, cooperative, or corporation;

(c) a department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision; or

(d) any other entity.

(12) "Progress report" "Plan of operation" means a report on a form provided by the department, with appropriate maps, that shows: plan that:

(a) any change in ownership or control meets of the the affected land requirements of 82-4-434; and includes a landowner consent form if a change has occurred;

(b) any change in personnel who are in charge contains a description of the operation or responsible for reclamation; current land use, topographical data, hydrologic data, soils data, proposed mine areas, proposed mining and processing operations, proposed reclamation, and appropriate maps.

(c) any change in any contractors or subcontractors who will be working at the site; and

(d) all land that has been affected by the operation.

(13) "Reclamation" means the reconditioning of the area of land affected by opencut-mining operations to make "Processing facilities" means: the area suitable for productive use, including but not limited to forestry, agriculture, grazing, wildlife, recreation, or residential and industrial sites.

(a) crushers, screens, and pug mills;

(b) asphalt, wash, and concrete plants;

(c) treatment, sedimentation, or retention areas for processing facilities; and

(d) areas receiving washout from vehicles and equipment using the processing facilities.

(14) "Reclamation plan" "Reclamation" means a plan that: the reconditioning of affected land to make the area suitable for productive use, including but not limited to forestry, agriculture, grazing, wildlife, recreation, or residential or industrial development.

(a) meets the requirements of 82-4-434; and

(b) contains a description of current land use, topographical data, water data, soils data, leased areas, and intended mine areas and an explanation of proposed reclamation of the land, including appropriate maps.

(15) "Refuse" "Soil" means all waste material directly connected with the opencut-mining operations. dark or root-bearing surface matter that has been generated through time by the interaction of biological activity, climate, topography, and parent material and that is capable of sustaining plant growth and is recognized and identified as such by standard authorities and methods.

(16) "Soil materials" are those horizons that contain topsoil or other soils leached free of deleterious "Water conveyance facilities" means existing diversions, aqueducts, canals, ditches, drains, flumes, headgates, syphons, or other salts, that are capable of sustaining plant growth, and that are recognized as such by structures or infrastructure actively used to facilitate the beneficial use of a water right under

(17) "Spoil" means the overburden that is disturbed from its natural state in the process of opencut mining.

(2) "Board" "Amendment" means a change to the board of environmental review provided for in 2-15-3502. approved

(3) "Department" "Board" means the department board of environmental quality review provided for in 2-15-3501. 2-15-3502.

(4) "Final cut" "Department" means the last pit created department of environmental quality provided for in an

(5) "Landowner" means the owner holder of legal title land to land subjected to an opencut-mining opencut

(6) "Materials" means bentonite, clay, scoria, peat, sand, soil materials, soil, gravel, or gravel. mixtures of those substances.

(7) "Opencut mining" "Occupied dwelling unit" means the mining of materials by: a structure with permanent water and sewer facilities that is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by at least one person who maintains a household that is lived in as a primary residence.

(a) removing the overburden lying upon natural deposits of materials and mining directly from the exposed natural deposits; or

(b) mining directly from natural deposits of materials.

(8) "Operator" "Opencut operation" means a person engaged in activities conducted for the primary purpose of sale or controlling an opencut-mining operation. utilization of materials, including:

(a) mine site preparation;

(b) (i) removing the overburden and mining directly from the exposed natural deposits; or

(ii) mining directly from natural deposits of materials;

(c) processing of materials mined from the natural deposits, except that processing facilities located more than 300 feet from where materials were mined or are permitted to be mined are not part of the opencut operation;

(d) transporting, depositing, staging, and stockpiling of overburden and materials unless the activity occurs more than 300 feet from where the materials were mined or are permitted to be mined;

(e) storing or stockpiling of materials at processing facilities that are part of the opencut operation;

(f) reclamation of affected land; and

(g) parking or staging of vehicles, equipment, or supplies unless:

(i) the activity is separated from other opencut operations by at least 25 feet and is connected to the opencut operation by a single road that is no more than 25 feet wide; or

(ii) the activity is inside the construction disturbance area shown on a construction project plan.

(9) "Overburden" "Operator" means all of the earth and other materials that lie above a natural deposit of materials. person who holds a permit issued pursuant to this part. For purposes of enforcing the provisions of this part, the term also includes any person conducting opencut operations on affected land that is not covered by a permit.

Definitions

When used in this part, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, the following definitions apply: