1750

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 624

directly connected with the mining, cleaning, and
preparation of substances mined and includes all waste
materials deposited on or in the permit area from other
sources.

[(s)] (T) "Spoil pile" means the overburden and
reject materials as piled or deposited in surface mining.

[(t)] (U) (1) "Surface mining" means all of the
following:

(i) The breaking of the surface soil
in order to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or
removal of minerals;

(ii) Any activity or process
constituting all or part of a process for the extraction
or removal of minerals from their original location; and

(2) "Surface mining" does not mean any of
the following:

(i) Those aspects of deep mining which
do not have a significant effect on the surface, if the
affected land does not exceed three acres in area;

(ii) Operations engaged in processing
minerals;

(iii) Excavation or grading conducted
solely in aid of on—site farming or on—site construction
for purposes other than mining;

(iv) Removal of overburden and mining
of limited amounts of any mineral when done only for the
purpose of prospecting and to the extent necessary to
determine the location, quantity, or quality of any
natural deposit, if no minerals are sold, processed for
sale, or consumed in the regular operation of a business;

(v) The handling, processing, or
storage of slag and stone on the premises of a
manufacturer as a part of the manufacturing process which
requires stone as a raw material or produces slag as a
by-product;

(vi) The extraction of minerals, by a
landowner for his own noncommercial use from land owned
or leased by him;

(vii) Mining operations if the affected
land does not exceed one acre in area;

(viii) The extraction of sand,
gravel, rock, stone, earth, or fill from borrow pits for
highway construction purposes, if the work is performed
under a bond, contract, and specifications OF THE
DEPARTMENT which provide for and require reclamation of