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e <br />I. Introduction <br />RH /JS/5 -88 <br />• JM /7 -91 <br />Update /8 -95 <br />INSTRUCTION MEMORANDUM NO.39 <br />SUBJECT: SOIL REPLACEMENT DEPTH REDUCTION <br />Soil salvage and replacement is fundamental to surface reclamation. Therefore, proposals <br />to reduce soil salvage and replacement depths need to be consistently and thoroughly <br />evaluated. This outline represents the results of a meeting among District and Support <br />Group staff held in Cheyenne on January 21, 1988. The outline provides a framework <br />in which soil depth reduction proposals can be evaluated. <br />II. Topsoil and Subsoil Regulations <br />The following regulations provide a means by which coal operators can apply for permit <br />revisions to reduce soil salvage and replacement depths: <br />A. Chapter I Section 2 <br />• (cu) "Topsoil" means the A and E Horizons or any combination thereof. <br />(co) "Subsoil" means the B and C Horizons excluding consolidated bedrock <br />material. <br />B. Chapter IV Section 2. (c) <br />1. Subsoil <br />LAND QUALITY DIVISION <br />a. Except as provided in (B), all subsoil determined by field methods <br />or chemical analysis to be suitable as a plant growth medium shall <br />be removed from all areas to be affected and handled in <br />accordance with the topsoil requirements of this section. — <br />b. Upon an adequate demonstration by the operator that all or a <br />portion of the subsoil material is not needed to meet the <br />revegetation and land use requirements of these regulations, the <br />administrator may authorize all or a portion of the subsoil to not <br />be used for reclamation. The unused subsoil may then be regraded <br />1 <br />