revise certain mining statutes.

26.482.22 101st Legislative Session 1273

2026 South Dakota Legislature
House Bill 1273

Introduced by: Representative Uhre‑Balk

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An Act to revise certain mining statutes. 1
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: 2
Section 1. That § 45-6B-3 be AMENDED: 3
45-6B-3. Terms used in this chapter mean: 4
(1) "Abandoned mined lands," lands that were mined for noncoal minerals and 5
materials and for which there is no continuing reclamation responsibility or 6
responsibility for other remedial action under state or federal laws; 7
(2) "Affected land," land from: 8
(a) From which overburden is to be or has been removed and land upon; 9
(b) Upon which overburden, waste rock, mine spoil, or mill tailings is to be or 10
has been deposited; land which; 11
(c) Which is disturbed by the building of access roads, railroad loops, 12
warehouses, storage areas, or other support facilities for the purpose of 13
mining or milling; and land affected and 14
(d) Which is affected by surface subsidence, unstable slopes, and other surface 15
effects caused by underground mine workings; 16
(3)(2) "Aquifer," a water -bearing bed or stratum of permeable rock, sand, or gravel 17
capable of yielding usable quantities of water to wells or springs; 18
(4)(3) "Black Hills," Lawrence County south of Interstate Highway 90, Meade County west 19
and south of Interstate Highway 90 , and Pennington and Custer Counties west of 20
South Dakota Highway 79 , and Fall River County north of United States Highway 21
18 from the Wyoming border to Edgemont, then north of the Cheyenne River from 22
Edgemont to state Highway 79; 23
(5)(4) "Board," the Board of Minerals and Environment; 24
(6)(5) "Department," the Department of Environment Agriculture and Natural Resources; 25
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(7)(6) "Development," the work performed in relation to a deposit, following the 1
exploration required to prove minerals are in existence in commercial quantities 2
but before production activities, aimed at preparing the site for mining, defining 3
further the ore deposit by drilling or other means, conducting pilot plant operations, 4
and constructing roads or ancillary facilities; 5
(8) "Life of the mine permit," a permit to conduct a mining operation which is in effect 6
if:(a) An operator continues to engage in the extraction of minerals and 7
complies with the provisions of this chapter; 8
(b) Mineral reserves are shown by the operator to remain in the mining 9
operation and the operator plans to, or does, temporarily cease production 10
for one hundred eighty days or more if the operator files a notice thereof 11
with the board stating the reasons for nonproduction, a plan for ceasing 12
production for one hundred eighty days or more if the operator files a notice 13
thereof with the board stating the reasons for nonproduction, a plan for the 14
resumption of production, and the measures taken to comply with 15
reclamation and other necessary activities as established by the board to 16
maintain the mine in a nonproducing state. The requirement of a notice of 17
temporary cessation does not apply to operators who resume operating 18
within one year and have included, in their permit applications, a statement 19
following the exploration required to prove minerals are in existence in that 20
the affected lands are to be used for less than one hundred eighty days per 21
year; 22
(c) Production is resumed within five years of the date production ended, or 23
the operator files a report requesting an extension of the period of 24
temporary cessation of production with the board stating the reasons for 25
the continuation of nonproduction and those factors necessary to, and the 26
operator's plans for, resumption of production. A temporary cessation of 27
production may not be continued for more than ten years without 28
terminating the operation and fully complying with the reclamation 29
requirements of this chapter. 30
A life of the mine permit includes that period of time after cessation of production 31
necessary to complete reclamation of affected lands, until the board 32
releases, in writing, the operator from further reclamation obligations 33
regarding the affected land, declares the mining operation terminated, and 34
releases the surety thereon 35
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(7) "Large-scale mine," a mine permitted under this chapter that is: 1
(a) An in situ mining operation; 2
(b) A mining operation that employs a cyanide leaching or other chemical or 3
biological leaching process to extract minerals from ore; 4
(c) An operation that affects more than ten acres, excluding access roads; or 5
(d) An operation that extracts more than twenty -five thousand tons of ore or 6
overburden per calendar year; 7
(8) "Life of the mine," a period of time: 8
(a) In which the operator extracts minerals; 9
(b) Which includes any temporary cessation of production, as described in 10
sections 6 and 7 of this Act; and 11
(c) Which includes reclamation after production ceases; 12
(9) "Milling," the beneficiation of a mined material from its natural occurrence in ore; 13
(10) "Mineral," a substance with economic value, whether organic or inorganic, that 14
which can be extracted from the earth, other than the following: water, oil, or gas, 15
sand, gravel, or rock to be crushed and used in construction, pegmatite minerals, 16
or limestone, sand, gypsum, shale, or iron ore used in the process of making 17
cement; 18
(11) "Mining operation," the development or extraction of a mineral from its natural 19
occurrence on affected land. The term includes surface mining and surface 20
operation, in situ mining, the reprocessing of tailings piles, the disposal of refuse 21
from underground mining, milling and processing located on the land described in 22
the application for a mining permit, and stand-alone milling and processing facilities 23
utilizing chemical or biological leaching agents. The term does not include 24
extraction of sand, gravel, or rock to be crushed and used in construction, 25
exploration activities, bulk sampling , the exploration and extraction of natural 26
petroleum in a liquid or gaseous state by means of wells or pipe, borrow excavation 27
for embankments, or the extraction of geothermal resources; 28
(12) "Operator," any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or 29
corporation or any department, division , or agency of federal, state, county, or 30
municipal government engaged in or controlling a mining operation; 31
(13) "Overburden," all of the earth and other materials which that are disturbed or 32
removed, in the original state, or as it exists after removal from its natural state 33
in the process of surface mining; 34
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(14) "Reclamation," the employment during and after a mining operation of procedures 1
reasonably designed to minimize as much as practicable the disruption from the 2
mining operation and to provide for the rehabilitation of affected land through the 3
rehabilitation of plant cover, soil stability, water resources, or other measures 4
appropriate to the subsequent beneficial use of such the mined and reclaimed 5
lands; 6
(15) "Surface mining," the mining of minerals by removing the overburden lying above 7
such the mineral deposits and mining directly from the deposits thereby exposed. 8
The term includes mining directly from such the deposits where there is no 9
overburden and such practices as practices including open cut mining, open pit 10
mining, strip mining, placer mining, quarrying, and dredging; 11
(16) "Surface mining disturbed" land," land from ground: 12
(a) From which overburden has been removed, land upon; 13
(b) Upon which overburden, waste rock, mine spoil, or mill tailings have has 14
been deposited, land mined which; 15
(c) That is mined and has no overburden, heap leach pads, and; 16
(d) On which a heap lead pad is located process ponds; and 17
(e) On which a process pond is located; and 18
(17) "Tailings," the discharged valueless product of a beneficiation process. 19
Section 2. That § 45-6B-14 be AMENDED: 20
45-6B-14. The An application fee of one thousand dollars shall must accompany 21
the application. However, the application fee shall be fifty thousand dollars for a new large 22
scale precious metal, coal, or uranium mine permit If the application is for a new large -23
scale mine permit, the fee is fifty thousand dollars. The application fee for an amendment 24
to an existing large scale precious metal, coal, or uranium large-scale mine permit shall 25
be is five thousand dollars. 26
Section 3. That § 45-6B-18 be AMENDED: 27
45-6B-18. At the request of the operator, the Board of Minerals and Environment 28
board may issue an amendment to the original permit covering additional contiguous land, 29
not to exceed fifteen additional acres, or making minor modifications of the terms and 30
conditions of the operating or reclamation plans. An application to amend a large scale 31
large-scale permit shall must include the application fee provided by § 45-6B-14. An 32
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application to amend a small scale small-scale permit shall must include the application 1
fee provided by § 45-6B-55. 2
For purposes of this section, "contiguous land" means land under the same 3
ownership that is directly adjoining or touching the permitted area. 4
Section 4. That § 45-6B-53 be AMENDED: 5
45-6B-53. Any mining operation, other than an in situ mining operation or a 6
mining operation that employs a cyanide leaching or other chemical or biological leaching 7
process to extract minerals from ore, which affects less than ten acres, excluding access 8
roads, and extracts less than twenty-five thousand tons of ore or overburden per calendar 9
year shall be is subject to the provisions of §§ 45-6B-54 to 45-6B-63, inclusive, and are 10
is not required to comply with the provisions of §§ 45-6B-5 to 45-6B-7, inclusive, 45-6B-11
10, 45-6B-14, or 45-6B-36. 12
Section 5. That § 45-6B-56 be AMENDED: 13
45-6B-56. Except as provided in subsection 45-6B-3(6)(b) sections 6 and 7 of this 14
Act, the operator shall annually file on the anniversary date of the permit a notice of intent 15
to continue mining operations. The notice of intent shall must contain an annual fee of 16
fifty dollars and comply with the reporting requirements of § 45-6B-36. 17
Section 6. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 45-6B: 18
An operator of a mine permitted under this chapter may temporarily cease 19
production for one hundred eighty days or more provided the operator: 20
(1) Files a request with the board pursuant to section 7 of this Act to cease production 21
for one hundred eighty days or more, stating: 22
(a) The reasons for nonproduction; and 23
(b) Any proposed time to resume production; 24
(2) Takes measures to comply with reclamation and other necessary activities, as 25
established by the board, to maintain the mine in a nonproducing state; and 26
(3) Resumes production within five years of the date production temporarily ceased. 27
An operator is not required to file a request for temporary cessation if the operator 28
resumes mining within one year and has included, in the operator's permit application, a 29
statement that the affected lands are to be used for less than one hundred eighty days 30
per year. 31
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The operator may file with the board a request for an extension of the period of 1
temporary cessation of production. The operator must state the reasons for the 2
continuation of nonproduction, and any proposed plan for resuming production. 3
An operator may not continue a temporary cessation of production longer than ten 4
years. If production ceases for longer than ten years, the operator must terminate the 5
operation and comply with the reclamation requirements of this chapter. 6
Section 7. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 45-6B: 7
A request to cease mining temporarily must contain the following information: 8
(1) The operator's name and permit number; 9
(2) The date of cessation of mining at each permitted site; 10
(3) Reasons for the cessation of mining activities; and 11
(4) A statement on the existing condition of the affected land, including a description 12
of reclamation activities that have been completed for each permitted site. 13
Section 8. That § 45-6B-60 be AMENDED: 14
45-6B-60. Any operator conducting an operation under a permit issued under 15
§ 45-6B-59, who has held the permit for two consecutive years or more, and who 16
subsequently desires to expand it to a size in excess of the limitation set forth in § 45-6B-17
53, may request the conversion of his the permit by filing an application for a permit 18
pursuant to §§ 45-6B-5 to 45-6B-10, inclusive. However the The applicant need not supply 19
information, materials, and other data and undertakings previously supplied, including 20
any additional applicable materials provided to the Board of Minerals and Environment 21
board during the course of his the current operation, or resulting from the board's 22
inspections thereof. An application for conversion under this section must also comply with 23
the notice requirements of §§ 45-6B-16, 45-6B-17, and 45-6B-34, and must comply with 24
the surety and hearing requirements and the special, exception, critical, or unique land 25
provisions of §§ 45-6B-20 to 45-6B-33.8, inclusive. 26
Section 9. That § 45-6B-81 be AMENDED: 27
45-6B-81. The board may promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26, to: 28
(1) Establish the procedure for filing and departmental review of mining permit 29
applications; 30
(2) Establish the procedure for amending mining permits; 31
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(3) Establish the procedure for transfer of permits; 1
(4) Provide for the reclamation of mills proposed to be operated in conjunction with a 2
mining operation; 3
(5) Establish the prehearing procedure for determining the type of reclamation to be 4
performed on affected land; 5
(6) Establish the minimum requirements for each type of reclamation; 6
(7) Establish the reclamation activities required to be performed concurrent with 7
mining activity; 8
(8) Establish the procedure to address reclamation before or during a temporary 9
cessation of mining activity, pursuant to subdivision 45-6B-3(6) sections 6 and 7 10
of this Act; 11
(9) Establish the procedure for determining special, exceptional, critical, or unique 12
land, in accordance with § 45-6B-33; 13
(10) Establish the requirements for construction, operation, monitoring, and closure of 14
uranium and other mineral mines using in situ leach processes; and 15
(11) Establish the procedure for posting and monitoring financial assurance. 16
Section 10. That § 45-6B-87 be AMENDED: 17
45-6B-87. Nothing in this chapter relieves the holder of any large -scale gold or 18
silver surface mining permit from any of the requirements of the Clean Air Act of 1955, as 19
amended to January 1, 2011, the Clean Water Act of 1977, as amended to January 1, 20
2011, the South Dakota Air Quality Act (chapter 34A-1), the Federal Water Pollution 21
Control Act of 1972, as amended to January 1, 2011, the Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 22
93-523), as amended to January 1, 2011, the Mine Safety and Health Administration 23
regulations (30 C.F.R. Part 3830), as amended to January 1, 2011, United States Forest 24
Service surface mining and exploration reclamation requirements (43 C.F.R., page 228), 25
as amended to January 1, 2011, Bureau of Land Management mining and exploration 26
requirements (43 C.F.R. Part 3800), as amended to January 1, 2011, the Mined Land 27
Reclamation Act (this chapter), the regulated substance discharges statutes in chapter 28
34A-12, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended to January 1, 29
2011, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 30
1980 (P.L. 95-510), as amended to January 1, 2011, the Toxic Substance Control Act of 31
1976 (P.L. 94 -469), as amended to January 1, 2011, Lawrence County extractive 32
industries ordinances, as amended to January 1, 2011, and all rules and regulations 33
promulgated to implement existing statutes, including rules dealing with air pollution, 34
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control of visible emissions, open burning, control of particulate emissions, control of sulfur 1
compound emissions, new source performance standards, standards of performance for 2
storage vessels of petroleum liquids, air standards, spill control plans, buried tanks, water 3
pollution, public water systems, and dredge and fill permit requirements. 4
Section 11. That § 45-6B-93 be AMENDED: 5
45-6B-93. Any operator of a large -scale gold or silver surface mining operation 6
shall submit an annual report by January first of each year including and shall make an 7
oral presentation to the Board of Minerals and Environment board explaining the 8
information in the written annual report. The annual report shall must include the following 9
information: 10
(1) The total and previous year's amount of affected land; 11
(2) The total and previous year's amount of surface mining disturbed land; 12
(3) The total and previous year's amount of land that has undergone interim 13
reclamation; 14
(4) The total and previous year's amount of land that has undergone final reclamation 15
and which meets the required post-mining land use; 16
(5) The total and previous year's amount of land that has undergone final reclamation 17
but which does not meet the required post-mining land use; 18
(6) The total amount of groundwater withdrawn during the previous year; 19
(7) The total amount of surface water withdrawn during the previous year; 20
(8) The total amount of ore mined during the previous year; 21
(9) The total amount of ore processed during the previous year; 22
(10) The total amount of waste rock mined during the previous year; 23
(11) The total amount of gold and silver minerals produced during the previous year; 24
(12) The total amount of cyanide used during the previous year; and 25
(13) A brief discussion of the coming year's operational plans including any anticipated 26
revisions that might require department or board approval. 27
Section 12. That § 45-6B-94 be AMENDED: 28
45-6B-94. The Legislature of South Dakota finds that protection of the 29
environment requires regulation of the total amount of land that can be disturbed by 30
surface mining by large-scale gold or silver surface mining operations at any given time. 31
Section 13. That § 45-6B-95 be AMENDED: 32
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45-6B-95. The board may not issue a permit for a new large -scale gold or silver 1
surface mining operation if the proposed surface mining disturbed lands under that permit 2
shall exceed exceeds three hundred twenty acres. Nor may the board issue new permits 3
or amendments to existing permits for new large -scale gold or silver surface mining 4
operations for expanded acres of surface mining disturbed lands until reclamation has 5
been performed in accord with § 45-6B-97. 6
Section 14. That § 45-6B-97 be AMENDED: 7
45-6B-97. New permits or amendments to existing permits for expanded acres of 8
surface mining disturbed land for operations referred to in §§ 45-6B-95 and 45-6B-96 9
§ 45-6B-95 may be issued only if the applicant has performed reclamation on an equal 10
number of acres of permitted affected land, or has agreed not to disturb an equal acreage 11
of permitted affected land, or, with consent of the board, has performed or agrees to 12
perform reclamation concurrently with disturbance of an equal number of acres of 13
previously mined land inside or outside a permit area boundary. For purpose purposes of 14
§§ 45-6B-94 to 45-6B-99, inclusive only, reclamation is performed when the operator 15
completes required grading, topsoil replacement, erosion, and drainage control and any 16
required planting and seeding that the department finds meets the requirements of the 17
approved reclamation plan. To qualify for reclamation credit, reclamation activities shall 18
must have been conducted after the operator was granted the original large-scale gold or 19
silver surface mining permit and surety for the reclaimed acres of affected land shall must 20
not have been released prior to November 19, 1992. With consent of the board, a 21
large-scale gold or silver surface mining operator may assign reclamation credit acreage 22
to another large-scale gold or silver surface mining operator. 23
Section 15. That § 45-6C-3 be AMENDED: 24
45-6C-3. Terms used in this chapter mean: 25
(1) "Affected land," the surface area, surface water, and groundwater disturbed by 26
reason of the building of access roads or trails, leveling drill sites, storage areas, 27
containment ponds, or other support facilities for the purpose of exploration, 28
including the land affected by surface subsidence; 29
(2) "Aquifer," a water bearing bed or stratum of permeable rock, sand, or gravel 30
capable of yielding usable quantities of water to wells or springs; 31
(3) "Board," the Board of Minerals and Environment; 32
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(4) "Bulk samples," the removal of not more than five thousand tons of mineralized 1
material by means of a shaft, adit, or test open pit to determine the economic 2
feasibility of conducting a mining operation; 3
(5) "Department," the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; 4
(6) "Exploration operation," the act of searching for or investigating a mineral deposit, 5
including by sinking shafts, tunneling, drilling test holes, digging pits or cuts, or 6
other works for the purpose of extracting samples, including bulk samples, prior to 7
commencement of development or extraction operations, and test facilities and 8
testing to prove the commercial grade of a mineralized deposit. The term does not 9
include those activities which that cause very little or no surface disturbance, such 10
as exploration by auger or drill of test holes of less than fifty feet in depth and less 11
than seven inches in diameter for sand, limestone, gypsum, shale, or iron ore for 12
use in the process of making cement or nonexplosive seismic energy sources, 13
airborne surveys and photographs, augered bentonite or augered construction 14
aggregate test holes of less than fifty feet in depth when accomplished in 15
conformance with §§ 45-6C-28 and 45-6C-32, use of instruments or devices which 16
are hand carried or otherwise transported over the surface to make magnetic, 17
radioactive, or other tests and measurements, boundary or claim surveying, 18
location work, annual assessment work required to maintain the validity of a 19
mineral claim or any other work which causes no greater land disturbance than is 20
caused by ordinary lawful use of the land by persons not exploring for mineral 21
deposits; 22
(7) "Mineral," any substance with economic value, whether organic or inorganic, that 23
can be extracted from the earth, including oil and gas, but excluding uranium and 24
water other than water, oil, or gas; 25
(8) "Operator," any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association or 26
corporation, or any department, division, or agency of federal, state, county, or 27
municipal government engaged in or controlling a mineral exploration operation; 28
(9) "Reclamation," the employment during and after an exploration operation of 29
procedures reasonably designed to minimize the disruption from the exploration 30
operation and to provide for the rehabilitation of plant cover, soil stability, water 31
resources, or other measures appropriate to the subsequent beneficial use of such 32
the explored land; and 33
(10) "Test hole," a well, core hole, core test, observation well, or other well drilled from 34
the surface to determine the presence of mineral, mineral resource, ore, coal, or 35
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rock unit, or to obtain geological or geophysical information or other subsurface 1
data, including holes drilled for purposes of seismic survey, but excluding drilling 2
in conjunction with mining or quarry operations and structural foundations and oil 3
and gas wells regulated pursuant to chapter 45-9. 4
Section 16. That chapter 45-6 be REPEALED. 5
Section 17. That § 45-6B-96 be REPEALED. 6
The board may not issue new permits to or amendments to existing permits for 7
presently operating large-scale gold or silver surface mining operations for expanded acres 8
of surface mining disturbed lands until reclamation has been performed in accord with 9
§ 45-6B-97, except that presently operating large -scale gold or silver surface mining 10
operations are not subject to this provision until the permitted acres of surface mining 11
disturbed lands total two hundred acres more per each individual permit than its permitted 12
surface mining disturbed land total acreage as of January 1, 1992. 13