“Angle of repose” means the maximum angle of slope (measured from horizontal plane) at which loose cohesionless material will come to rest on a pile of similar material. The angle is generally a few degrees less than the angle of internal friction of the same material. The angle of repose commonly ranges between 33 degrees and 37 degrees on natural slopes and is rarely less than 30 degrees or more than 39 degrees.

“Applicant” means the person who approaches the Tribe with the intent of obtaining formal authorization from, or approval by, the Tribe or its entities and agencies, for a permit to operate a mining operation or for a permit exemption.

“Backfill” means earth, overburden, mine waste, or imported material used to replace material removed during mining.

“Bench” means a flat surface from which a pit or quarry is worked. The height of the slope between benches is the bench interval. The benches that are left on a final cut are generally termed retaining benches, and serve to retain or limit rock falls from the surface above.

“Borrow pit” means a pit created to provide earth that can be used as fill at another site.

“Committee” means the Permit Review Committee, as established under the provisions of YTC 21.30.070.

“Council” means the Yurok Tribal Council.

“Critical gradient” means the maximum stable inclination of an unsupported slope under the most adverse conditions that it will likely experience, as determined by current engineering technology.

“Cut slope (face)” means a bank or slope that has been created by removing material below the pre-existing ground surface.

“Fill slope” means a bank or slope that has been built up by the placing of material on top of the existing ground surface.

“Grading” means to bring an existing surface to a designed form by cutting, filling, or smoothing operations.

“Mined lands” means the surface, subsurface, and ground water of an area in which surface mining operations will be, are being, or have been conducted, including private ways and roads appurtenant to any such area, land excavations, workings, mining waste, and areas in which structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property which result from, or are used in, surface mining operations are located.

“Mineral” means any naturally occurring chemical element or compound, or groups of elements and compounds, formed from inorganic processes or organic substances.

“Mining and reclamation plan” means the applicant’s submitted plan for reclaiming the lands affected by the surface mining operations conducted after enactment of this chapter, as required and described in this chapter, plus any required revisions, modifications, or conditions for approval.

“Mining waste” means the residual soil, rock, mineral, liquid, vegetation, mill tailings, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property directly resulting from, or displaced by, surface mining operations.

“On-site construction” means those earth material moving activities (such as excavation, grading, compaction, and the creation of fills and embankments) which are required to prepare a site for construction of structures, landscaping, or other land improvements. Such activities are not deemed to be surface mining operations if the resulting excavations, fills, grades, or embankments are beneficially modified by such construction of structures, landscaping, or other land improvements. Excavations, fills, grades, or embankments that of themselves constitute engineered works such as dams, road cuts, fills, catchment basins, or levees are not considered to be surface mining operations. Earth material moving activities in areas either on site or off site where the resulting excavations, fills, grades, or embankments will not be beneficially modified by the construction of structures, landscaping, or other land improvements, and that do not of themselves consist of engineered works, are deemed to be surface mining operations unless exempted under this chapter.

“Operation” or “surface mining operation” means all functions, work, facilities, and activities within the Reservation in connection with prospecting, exploration, discovery and assessment work, development, extraction, and processing of minerals by removing overburden and mining directly from the mineral deposits, open-pit mining of minerals naturally exposed, mining by the auger method, dredging and quarrying, or surface work incident to an underground mine.

“Operation site” or “site” means the area of land upon which an operator conducts operations or the area designated in the mining and reclamation plan as required in YTC 21.30.180.

“Operator” means any person or entity engaged in surface mining operations, including any person or entity contracting with another person or entity for the performance of surface mining operations.

“Overburden” means soil, rock, or other material that lies above a natural mineral deposit or in between mineral deposits, before or after its removal by surface mining operations.

“Permit” means any formal authorization from, or approval by, the Tribe or its entities and agencies, the absence of which would preclude surface mining operations.

“Permittee” means the party who obtains authorization from, or approval by, the Tribe or its entities in the form of a Tribal permit under this chapter to operate a mining operation and is considered legally responsible for the project.

“Person” means, but shall not be limited to, an individual, trust, firm, company, corporation, partnership, association, agency, municipality, commission, department, or other entity.

“Reclamation” means a comprehensive process of land treatment and restoration that minimizes water quality degradation, riverbed or river flow alteration, air pollution, damage to aquatic or wildlife habitat, flooding, erosion, and other adverse effects from surface mining operations, including adverse surface effects incidental to underground mines, so that mined lands are returned to uses existing prior to surface mining or made readily adaptable for alternate land uses and create no danger to public health and safety. The process may extend to affected lands surrounding mined lands, and may require backfilling, grading, resoiling, revegetation, soil compaction, stabilization, or other measures.

“Reservation” or “Yurok Reservation” means all lands within the exterior boundaries of the Yurok Tribe Indian Reservation.

“Resoiling” means the process of artificially building or reconstructing a soil profile.

“Road prism” means an area extending from the toe of one fill material slope to the other toe of fill and containing the road surface, cut slope, and fill slope.

“Severance fee” means a fee imposed upon natural resources that are removed from the earth.

“Staging area” means an area used for the short term, one week to six months, storage of less than 500 cubic yards within the road prism of mined materials, mining waste, or minerals that have been removed from a stockpile, borrow pit, or surface mining operation.

“Stockpile” means an area used for the long term, more than six months, or permanent storage within the road prism of more than 500 cubic yards but less than 1,000 cubic yards of mined materials, mining waste, or minerals that have been removed from a borrow pit or surface mining operation.

“Subsoil” means that part of the soil which is below the topsoil.

“Topsoil” means the upper part of the soil profile that is relatively rich in humus, which in the field of agronomy is known as the A-horizon of the soil profile.

“Toxic substance” means any organic compound, certain metal cations, certain anions, and other inorganic substances, including biostimulants, which singly, or upon combining with other substances, create a condition that will inhibit or destroy the growth or function of any living organism.

“Tribe” means the Yurok Tribe acting through the Tribal Council and its authorized entities and programs.

“Tributary” means a stream, creek, or river within the Reservation that flows into the Klamath River, either directly or by way of another tributary. [Ord. 27 § 6004, adopted, 6/27/2012.]