444.510. Definitions.
Definitions.
444.510. As used in sections 444.500 to 444.755, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise, the following words andterms mean:
(1) "Affected land", the pit area or area from whichoverburden has been removed, or upon which overburden has beendeposited;
(2) "Box cut", the first open cut in the mining of coalwhich results in the placing of overburden on the surface of theland adjacent to the initial pit and outside of the area of landto be mined;
(3) "Commission", the land reclamation commission createdby section 444.520;
(4) "Company owned land", land owned by the operator in feesimple;
(5) "Director", the director of the land reclamationcommission;
(6) "Gob", that portion of refuse consisting of waste coalor bony coal of relatively large size which is separated fromthe marketable coal in the cleaning process or solid refusematerial, not readily waterborne or pumpable, without crushing;
(7) "Highwall", that side of the pit adjacent to unminedland;
(8) "Leased land", all affected land where the operatordoes not own the land in fee simple;
(9) "Operator", any person, firm or corporation engaged inor controlling a strip mining operation;
(10) "Overburden", as applied to the strip mining of coal,means all of the earth and other materials which lie abovenatural deposits of coal, and includes such earth and othermaterials disturbed from their natural state in the process ofstrip mining;
(11) "Owner", the owner of any right in the land other thanthe operator;
(12) "Peak", a projecting point of overburden created inthe strip mining process or that portion of unmined landremaining within the pit;
(13) "Person", any individual, partnership, copartnership,firm, company, public or private corporation, association, jointstock company, trust, estate, political subdivision, or anyagency, board, department, or bureau of the state or federalgovernment, or any other legal entity whatever which isrecognized by law as the subject of rights and duties;
(14) "Pit", the place where coal is being or has been minedby strip mining;
(15) "Refuse", all waste material directly connected withthe cleaning and preparation of substances mined by stripmining;
(16) "Ridge", a lengthened elevation of overburden createdin the strip mining process;
(17) "Strip mining", mining by removing the overburdenlying above natural deposits of coal, and mining directly fromthe natural deposits thereby exposed, and includes mining ofexposed natural deposits of coal over which no overburden lies;except that "strip mining" of coal shall only mean thoseactivities exempted from the "Surface Coal Mining Law", pursuantto subsection 6 of section 444.815.
(L. 1971 S.B. 1 § 1, A.L. 1976 S.B. 646, A.L. 1979 H.B. 459, A.L. 1990 H.B. 1584)