Land reclamation - definition, essence and features. Reclamation of agricultural land

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL PROTECTION
RESOURCES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

COMMITTEE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON LAND RESOURCES AND
LAND MANAGEMENT

On approval of the Basic Provisions on land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer

_________
Not applicable from January 21, 2019 on the basis
joint order of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development
dated December 25, 2018 N 683/729
__________

In pursuance of clause 2 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 23, 1994 N 140 “On land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer”

we order:

1. Approve the attached Basic Provisions on land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer, agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Russia and other interested federal executive authorities.

2. Structural divisions of the central apparatus and territorial bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and Roskomzem shall accept the specified Basic Provisions for guidance and implementation.

3. Entrust control over the implementation of the order to the Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of the Russian Federation V.F. Kostin and Deputy Chairman of Roskomzem S.L. Gromov.

Minister of Environment
environment and natural resources
Russian Federation
V.I.Danilov-Danilyan

Chairman of the Committee
Russian Federation
on land resources
and land management
V.N.Komov

Registered
at the Ministry of Justice
Russian Federation
July 29, 1996.
Registration No. 1136

Basic provisions on land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer

Approved
by order of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources
and Roskomzema
dated December 22, 1995 N 525/67

I. General provisions

1. These Basic Provisions, developed in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 23, 1994 N 140 “On land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer”, define the general requirements for the Russian Federation when carrying out work related to violations soil cover and land reclamation, and are mandatory for use by all legal entities, officials and individuals, including foreign legal entities and individuals.

2. Territorial bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and Roskomzem, within their competence, can approve the necessary instructional and methodological documents and provide explanations on the issues of reclamation of disturbed lands, taking into account the specifics of legislative and regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

3. Reclamation of disturbed lands is carried out to restore them for agricultural, forestry, water management, construction, recreational, environmental and sanitary purposes.

4. Reclamation for agricultural, forestry and other purposes requiring restoration of soil fertility is carried out sequentially in two stages: technical and biological.

The technical stage includes planning, formation of slopes, removal and application of fertile soil layer, installation of hydraulic engineering and reclamation structures, burial of toxic overburden rocks, as well as other work that creates the necessary conditions for the further use of reclaimed land for its intended purpose or for carrying out measures to restore fertility soils (biological stage).

The biological stage includes a set of agrotechnical and phytomeliorative measures aimed at improving the agrophysical, agrochemical, biochemical and other properties of the soil.

5. Lands disturbed by:

- development of mineral deposits by open or underground methods, as well as peat extraction;

- laying pipelines, carrying out construction, reclamation, logging, geological exploration, testing, operational, design and survey and other work related to soil disturbance;

Liquidation of industrial, military, civil and other facilities and structures;

- storage and disposal of industrial, household and other waste;

- construction, operation and conservation of underground facilities and communications (mine workings, storage facilities, subway, sewerage facilities, etc.);

- eliminating the consequences of land pollution, if the conditions for their restoration require the removal of the top fertile layer of soil;

- conducting military exercises outside the training grounds specially designated for these purposes.

6. The conditions for bringing disturbed lands into a state suitable for subsequent use, as well as the procedure for removing, storing and further using the fertile soil layer are established by the authorities that provide land plots for use and give permission to carry out work related to soil disturbance, on the basis of projects reclamation projects that have received a positive conclusion from the state environmental assessment.

The development of reclamation projects is carried out on the basis of current environmental, sanitary and hygienic, construction, water management, forestry and other regulations and standards, taking into account regional natural and climatic conditions and the location of the disturbed area.

7. Land reclamation costs include costs for:

- implementation of design and survey work, including soil and other field surveys, laboratory analyses, mapping;

- conducting a state environmental assessment of the reclamation project;

- work on removing, transporting and storing (if necessary) fertile soil layer;

- work on selective excavation and storage of potentially fertile rocks;

- leveling (leveling) of the surface, leveling, terracing of dump slopes (heap waste heaps) and pit sides, backfilling and grading of mine failures, if these works are technologically impossible in the process of developing mineral deposits and are not provided for by the mining project;

- chemical reclamation of toxic rocks;

Acquisition (if necessary) of fertile soil layer;

- application of potentially fertile rocks and fertile soil layer to reclaimed lands;

- elimination of post-shrinkage phenomena;

- backfilling of upland and drainage ditches;

- liquidation of industrial sites, transport communications, electrical networks and other facilities for which the need has passed;

- cleaning the reclaimed area from industrial waste, including construction waste, with their subsequent burial or storage in an established place;

- arrangement, in accordance with the reclamation project, of a drainage and drainage network necessary for the subsequent use of reclaimed lands;

- purchasing and planting seedlings;

- preparation of the bottom (bed) and arrangement of quarries and other excavations when creating reservoirs in them;

- restoration of the fertility of reclaimed lands transferred for agricultural, forestry and other uses (cost of seeds, fertilizers and ameliorants, application of fertilizers and ameliorants, etc.);

- activities of working commissions for the acceptance and transfer of reclaimed lands (transport costs, payment for the work of experts, conducting field surveys, laboratory tests, etc.);

- other work provided for by the reclamation project, depending on the nature of the land disturbance and the further use of the reclaimed areas.

8. Norms for removing the fertile soil layer, potentially fertile layers and rocks (loess, loess-like and cover loams, etc.) are established during design depending on the level of fertility of the disturbed soils, taking into account applications and corresponding guarantees from consumers for the use of potentially fertile layers and rocks .

The removed top fertile soil layer is used for reclamation of disturbed lands or improvement of unproductive lands. The use of fertile soil layer for purposes not related to agriculture and forestry is allowed only in exceptional cases, when it is economically unfeasible or there is no possibility of using it to improve agricultural lands and forests.

For landscaping and improvement of the territories of settlements and other purposes not related to agriculture and forestry, potentially fertile layers and rocks that meet sanitary, hygienic and environmental requirements are primarily used, as well as fertile soil layer removed within the boundaries of settlements during construction and other works.

9. The timing of the technical stage of reclamation is determined by the authorities that provided the land and gave permission to carry out work related to soil disturbance, based on the relevant design materials and calendar plans.

When conducting military exercises, geological exploration, prospecting, survey and other work not related to land acquisition, the terms of reclamation are determined in agreement with the land owners, landowners, land users, and tenants.

10. Legal entities and individuals carrying out work on mining, industrial, civil, water management and other construction should ensure the safety of peat deposits or carry out their development and use in the prescribed manner to improve soil fertility, if the work carried out may lead to damage and destruction of peat.

II. The procedure for issuing permits for on-farm work related to soil disturbance

11. The issuance of permits for the extraction of common minerals or peat for one’s own needs and carrying out other on-farm work related to soil disturbance is carried out in the manner established by the relevant executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Appendices No. 1 - 3).

12. The list of common minerals (sand, gravel, clay, quartzite, dolomite, marl, limestone, shell, shales, igneous, volcanic, metamorphic rocks, etc.) in relation to individual regions is determined by the Committee of the Russian Federation on Geology and Subsoil Use together with executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

13. The grounds for refusal to issue a permit may be:

a) a direct prohibition in legislative and regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation on the development of subsoil and carrying out other work that disturbs the soil cover;

b) at the time of filing the application, there are disputes about the ownership of the territory where it is proposed to carry out work with soil disturbance;

c) untimely and poor-quality performance of work on the reclamation of previously disturbed lands;

d) the lack of approvals and other materials determined by the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation necessary to assess possible negative environmental and other consequences associated with the extraction of common minerals, peat and other work that disturbs the soil cover;

e) other grounds determined by legislative and regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as decisions of local government bodies.

III. The procedure for acceptance and transfer of reclaimed land

14. To organize the acceptance (transfer) of reclaimed lands, as well as to consider other issues related to the restoration of disturbed lands, it is recommended to create, by decision of the local government body, a special Standing Commission on Land Reclamation (hereinafter referred to as the Standing Commission), unless otherwise provided by regulations legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and acts of local government bodies.

15. The Standing Commission includes representatives of land management, environmental protection, water management, forestry, agricultural, architectural, construction, sanitary, financial and credit and other interested bodies.

It is recommended to appoint a representative of the local government body as the chairman of the Standing Commission, and the chairman of the district (city) committee on land resources and land management as his deputy.

16. Organizational and technical support for the activities of the Standing Commission is assigned to the district (city) committee for land resources and land management, unless otherwise provided by a decision of the local government body.

17. Acceptance and transfer of reclaimed lands is carried out within a month after the Standing Commission receives a written notice of the completion of reclamation work, to which the following materials are attached:

a) copies of permits for work related to soil disturbance, as well as documents certifying the right to use land and subsoil;

b) copying from the land use plan with the boundaries of reclaimed areas marked;

c) the reclamation project, the conclusion of the state environmental assessment on it;

d) data from soil, engineering-geological, hydrogeological and other necessary surveys before carrying out work related to soil disturbance, and after reclamation of disturbed lands;

e) a diagram of the location of observation wells and other monitoring posts for the possible transformation of the soil layer of the reclaimed areas (hydrogeological, engineering-geological monitoring) if they are created;

f) design documentation (working drawings) for reclamation, anti-erosion, hydraulic and other facilities, forest reclamation, agrotechnical and other measures provided for by the reclamation project, or certificates of their acceptance (testing);

g) materials of inspections of the implementation of reclamation work carried out by control and inspection bodies or specialists of design organizations in the manner of designer supervision, as well as information on measures taken to eliminate identified violations;

h) information on the removal, storage, use, transfer of the fertile layer, confirmed by relevant documents;

i) reports on the reclamation of disturbed lands in form No. 2-tp (reclamation) for the entire period of work related to soil disturbance on the leased site (Appendix No. 5).

The list of specified materials is specified and supplemented by the Standing Commission depending on the nature of the land disturbance and the further use of the reclaimed areas.

18. Acceptance of reclaimed sites with on-site visits is carried out by a working commission, which is approved by the chairman (deputy) of the Standing Commission within 10 days after receipt of written notice from legal entities (individuals) leasing the land.

The working commission is formed from members of the Standing Committee, representatives of interested state and municipal bodies and organizations.

Representatives of legal entities or citizens leasing and accepting reclaimed land, as well as, if necessary, specialists from contracting and design organizations, experts and other interested parties take part in the work of the commission.

In case of failure of representatives of the parties handing over and accepting reclaimed lands to appear, if there is information about their timely notification and there is no request to postpone the date of the working commission’s visit to the site, acceptance of the lands can be carried out in their absence.

19. When accepting reclaimed land plots, the working commission checks:

a) compliance of the work performed with the approved reclamation project;

b) quality of planning work;

c) power and uniformity of application of the fertile soil layer;

d) the presence and volume of unused fertile soil layer, as well as the conditions for its storage;

e) complete compliance with the requirements of environmental, agrotechnical, sanitary and hygienic, construction and other regulations, standards and rules, depending on the type of soil disturbance and the further intended use of reclaimed lands;

f) the quality of the completed reclamation, anti-erosion and other measures determined by the project or the conditions of land reclamation (agreement);

g) the presence of construction and other waste on the reclaimed site;

h) the presence and equipment of monitoring points for reclaimed lands, if their creation was determined by the project or conditions for the reclamation of disturbed lands.

20. Persons included in the working commission are informed through appropriate means of communication (telegram, telephone message, fax, etc.) about the start of the work of the working commission no later than 5 days before the acceptance of reclaimed land in kind.

21. The object is considered accepted after the chairman (deputy) of the Standing Commission approves the acceptance certificate for reclaimed land (Appendix No. 4).

22. Based on the results of acceptance of reclaimed lands, the Standing Commission has the right to extend (shorten) the period for restoration of soil fertility (biological stage) established by the reclamation project, or submit proposals to local government bodies to change the intended use of the leased plot in the manner established by land legislation.

23. If the reclaimed land plots to be handed over require restoration of soil fertility, the approval of the act is made after full or partial (in cases of phased financing) transfer of the necessary funds for these purposes to the settlement (current) accounts of land owners, landowners, land users, tenants to whom the land is transferred the indicated areas.

IV. Accounting of disturbed lands

24. State statistical monitoring of disturbed lands, removal and use of fertile soil layer is carried out by Roskomzem bodies.

Approval or clarification of the relevant forms of state statistical observation is carried out by the State Statistics Committee of Russia on proposals from Roskomzem and the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

25. Annual statistical information on land reclamation, removal and use of fertile soil layer (Appendix No. 5) is compiled as of January 1 by all organizations carrying out work with soil disturbance, and after agreement with local (district, interdistrict, city) bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources Russia is sent no later than January 5 to the relevant bodies of Roskomzem and Goskomstat of Russia.

Summary statistical information on administrative territorial entities (city, district, subject of the Russian Federation) is compiled by the bodies of Roskomzem and sent to the relevant bodies of the State Statistics Committee of Russia and the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation.

Summary statistical information for the Russian Federation as a whole is submitted by Roskomzem to the State Statistics Committee of Russia and the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, highlighting information for individual industries (ministries and departments) and for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

26. The procedure for individuals to submit the necessary information about the work being carried out related to the violation of the fertile soil layer is established by the bodies of Roskomzem and the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, unless otherwise determined by local government bodies.

27. To clarify accounting data, it is recommended to carry out an inventory of disturbed lands at least once every 10 years, which is carried out at the proposals of Roskomzem and the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia on the basis of decisions of executive authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation or local self-government.

V. Control over land reclamation and liability for failure to fulfill reclamation obligations

28. Control over the quality and timeliness of work on the reclamation of disturbed lands and restoration of their fertility, removal, preservation and use of the fertile soil layer is carried out:

bodies of Roskomzem, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and other specially authorized bodies in accordance with their competence, determined by the Regulations on their activities;

relevant services of organizations carrying out work with soil disturbance or carrying out supervision over the implementation of reclamation projects;

freelance public inspectors for the use and protection of land, appointed in accordance with clause 1.4 of the Instruction on the procedure for the work of state land inspectors to bring individuals, officials and legal entities to administrative responsibility for violation of land legislation, approved by order of Roskomzem dated 02.18.94 N 18 and registered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia for N 528 of 03.28.94, as well as public inspectors for nature protection, appointed in the manner established by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

29. In order to assess, prevent and timely eliminate the negative impact of disturbed and reclaimed lands on the state of the environment, specially authorized bodies and interested organizations within their competence carry out observation (monitoring) of the environmental situation in the areas of mining, storage and disposal of waste, carrying out other work related to soil disturbance, as well as in reclaimed areas and adjacent areas.

30. Compensation for damage caused by work related to soil disturbance, failure to carry out or poor-quality land reclamation is carried out voluntarily or by decision of a court or arbitration court on claims of the victim or the bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and Roskomzem.

31. The amount of damage caused is determined according to methods and standards approved in the prescribed manner, or on the basis of the relevant design documentation for restoration work, and in their absence - according to the actual costs of restoring the disturbed state of the land, taking into account the losses incurred, including lost profits.

32. For damage and destruction of the fertile soil layer, failure to fulfill or poor-quality fulfillment of obligations for the reclamation of disturbed lands, failure to comply with established environmental and other standards, rules and norms when carrying out work related to soil disturbance, legal entities, officials and individuals bear administrative and other penalties. liability established by current legislation.

33. Persons guilty of using land not for its intended purpose or in ways that lead to deterioration of the environmental situation when carrying out work related to soil disturbance may be deprived of the right to use land in accordance with the procedure established by law.

Appendix No. 1. List (recommended) of materials submitted when applying for permission to carry out on-farm work related to soil disturbance

Appendix No. 1
to the Basic Provisions on Reclamation
lands, removal, conservation and rational
use of fertile soil layer

1. Statement indicating:

a) type of work, method and timing of development, volume of production and for what purposes;

b) the area of ​​disturbed lands by type of land and soil varieties, depth of development;

c) financial and technical capabilities for removing the fertile soil layer (if necessary, underlying potentially fertile rocks) and subsequent land reclamation, data on contractors involved for these purposes;

d) area, thickness and volume of the removed fertile soil layer, place and period of its storage, further use;

e) the date of completion of the technical stage of reclamation, the period for restoring the fertility of the reclaimed lands and their further use, a list of measures to improve the reclaimed lands (biological stage of reclamation);

f) the presence within the boundaries of land use of previously disturbed lands, as well as territories with special conditions of use (sanitary and protective zones, lands of environmental, health, recreational, historical and cultural purposes, etc.).

2. Drawing (plan) of land use with marked boundaries of places for mining common minerals or carrying out other work, storing fertile soil and, if necessary, potentially fertile rocks.

3. Scheme (project) for the reclamation of disturbed lands, agreed upon with local authorities of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Roskomzem.

4. A document confirming payment for consideration of the application.

5. Coordination with interested government bodies and organizations, as well as other materials determined by executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government.

Appendix No. 2. Permit (recommended) for on-farm work related to soil disturbance

Appendix No. 2
to the Basic Provisions on
land reclamation,
removal, saving and
rational use
fertile soil layer

Appendix No. 3. Journal (recommended form) for registering applications and issuing permits for work related to soil disturbance for on-farm purposes

Appendix No. 3
to the Basic Provisions on
land reclamation,
removal, saving and
rational use
fertile soil layer

Appendix No. 4. Acceptance certificate for reclaimed land (recommended)

Appendix No. 4
to the Basic Provisions on
land reclamation,
removal, saving and
rational use
fertile soil layer

ACT
acceptance and delivery of reclaimed lands
(recommended)

Appendix No. 5. Report on land reclamation, removal and use of fertile soil layer for 19__.

Appendix No. 5
to the Basic Provisions on
land reclamation,
removal, saving and
rational use
fertile soil layer

Form N 2-tp (reclamation)
__________________________

APPROVED
by resolution of the State Statistics Committee
Russia dated July 12, 1994 N 103

Annual

REPORT
on land reclamation, removal and use
fertile soil layer for 19__ g.

Section I

Appendix No. 6. Terms and definitions used for the purposes of the Basic Provisions on land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer

Appendix No. 6
to the Basic Provisions on
land reclamation,
removal, saving and
rational use
fertile soil layer

1. Disturbed lands - lands that have lost their economic value or are a source of negative impact on the environment due to disturbance of soil cover, hydrological regime and the formation of technogenic relief as a result of industrial activities.

2. Land reclamation is a set of works aimed at restoring the productivity and economic value of disturbed lands, as well as improving environmental conditions.

3. Inventory of disturbed lands - identification in kind, accounting and mapping of disturbed lands with determination of their areas and quality condition.

4. Technogenic relief - relief created as a result of industrial activities.

5. Direction of reclamation - restoration of disturbed lands for a specific intended use.

6. The agricultural direction of land reclamation is the creation of agricultural land on disturbed lands.

7. The forestry direction of land reclamation is the creation of forest plantations of various types on disturbed lands.

8. The water management direction of land reclamation is the creation of reservoirs for various purposes in depressions of the technogenic relief.

9. The recreational direction of land reclamation is the creation of recreation facilities on disturbed lands.

10. The environmental direction of land reclamation is bringing disturbed lands into a state suitable for use for environmental purposes.

11. The sanitary and hygienic direction of land reclamation is the biological or technical conservation of disturbed lands that have a negative impact on the environment, the reclamation of which for use in the national economy is economically ineffective.

12. Construction direction of land reclamation - bringing disturbed lands into a state suitable for industrial, civil and other construction.

13. Digging - a set of works for removing, transporting and applying fertile soil and potentially fertile rocks to unproductive lands in order to improve them.

14. Land reclamation object - a disturbed land plot subject to reclamation.

15. The technical stage of land reclamation (technical land reclamation) is the stage of land reclamation, including their preparation for subsequent intended use in the national economy.

16. The biological stage of land reclamation (biological land reclamation) is the stage of land reclamation, including measures to restore their fertility, carried out after technical reclamation.

17. Overburden (overburden) - rocks covering and containing minerals, subject to excavation and movement in the process of open-pit mining.

18. Reclamation layer is a layer artificially created during land reclamation with properties favorable for plant growth.

19. Fertile soil layer is the upper humified part of the soil profile, which has chemical, physical and agrochemical properties favorable for plant growth.

20. Potentially fertile soil layer - the lower part of the soil profile, which has physical, chemical and limited agrochemical properties favorable for plant growth.

21. Potentially fertile rocks are rocks whose properties match those of the potentially fertile soil layer.

The text of the document is verified according to:
"Regulatory Bulletin
acts of federal bodies
executive power",
N 4, 1996

Introduction

The state of the lands of most cities in our country is an objective reflection of the processes associated with the first and second industrializations. As part of the land fund of large industrialized urban settlements, significant areas of inefficiently used land have appeared, disturbed as a result of the negative impact of technogenesis factors. These territories are contaminated with toxic chemicals, littered with landfills, and degraded as a result of erosion, landslides, and flooding. They have become a source of negative impact on the state of the urban environment, its natural and anthropogenic components

What is reclamation and its purpose

Reclamation is a set of works for the environmental and economic restoration of lands and water bodies, the fertility of which has significantly decreased as a result of human activity. Disturbed lands of all categories are subject to reclamation, as well as adjacent land plots that have completely or partially lost productivity as a result of the negative impact of disturbed lands on them.

The purpose of reclamation is to improve environmental conditions and restore the productivity of disturbed lands and water bodies.

History of the development of reclamation of disturbed lands: world and Russian experience

The intensive development of the mining, oil and gas industries and the increase in mineral extraction lead to the disruption and withdrawal of significant areas of fertile land from use.

Mining of mineral raw materials and such types of human activities as the creation of landfills, ash dumps, tailings dumps, construction of military, industrial and civil facilities lead to the exclusion from use of lands valuable for the national economy. Every year around the world, 6-7 million hectares of fertile land are taken for these needs.

According to the annual state reports “On the state and protection of the environment of the Russian Federation,” the specific land intensity of production increased from 6.9 hectares/million. tons of production in 2010 to 8.4 hectares/million. t. The area of ​​reclaimed land in the amount of disturbed land increased from 0.322 to 0.356 ha/ha.

Thus, the restoration of disturbed lands is an important state task, the solution of which will improve the environmental situation, ensure the return of lands and create conditions for the development of various types of economic activities on them.

Reclamation includes a large complex of reclamation, agricultural, and forestry work to restore disturbed lands into fertile, ecologically balanced lands, close in basic soil parameters to evolutionarily undisturbed ones.

The purpose of reclamation is to create a new landscape. In the process of reclamation, all components of the landscape are created anew: the relief and thickness of the rocks that make up the subsoil of the future landscape are formed; the groundwater regime is restored; In accordance with the chosen type of development of reclaimed territories, the structure of the soil and plant horizons of the landscape is created. The artificially recreated environment forms the fauna of the areas being restored.

The main task set before reclamation is to restore the productivity of disturbed lands. This task can be defined as promising, but difficult to achieve during the period of reclamation work, since its solution depends on the type of object, its functional purpose and natural conditions. Thus, the reclamation of landfills, toxic dumps, tailings dumps, ash dumps and other objects can only be environmental, aimed at protecting the surrounding lands, preventing erosion processes and creating a cultural landscape on these objects. Reclamation of lands on which the resumption of negative processes is possible (contaminated lands or those under constant technogenic influence) should be carried out only on the basis of monitoring data.

Reclamation methods are determined, first of all, by the composition and properties of the rocks going into the dump, stripping technology and the climate of the area.

When using disturbed areas for agricultural and forestry crops, the level of fertility of soil dumps is of paramount importance. Therefore, for the successful implementation of land reclamation, it is necessary to study the composition and properties of overburden rocks with the compilation of a map of the distribution of rocks with their agronomic characteristics.

Worldwide experience in land reclamation totals only about 80 years. The first land reclamation work was carried out in 1926 in areas disturbed by mining (USA, Indiana).

In Russia, in 1912, in the territory of what is now the Vladimir region, experiments were carried out on their cultivation and cultivation of agricultural plants in abandoned peat mining areas.

Reclamation was widely developed in Europe and the USA in the pre-war years and mainly after the Second World War.

Currently, successful work on the reclamation of lignite and hard coal mines is being carried out in Germany, Poland, England, the USA and other countries.

In the first stages of development, reclamation was carried out mainly for landscaping purposes. For example, in the Rhine lignite basin there are 3 stages of reclamation.

Reclamation in the Rhine Basin is based on landscape-ecological analysis with the development of long-term plans for further development of the landscape. It is planned to create ecologically balanced landscapes. At the same time, 2000 hectares are taken as a unit of area for an ecologically balanced agricultural landscape, and 2500 hectares for a recreational landscape. Exhausted quarries are turned into reservoirs for recreation and sports, and the slopes are subject to afforestation.

In England, with its high population density, preference is given to agricultural reclamation and the use of dumps for urban and recreational development. The establishment of parks and construction on mining lands has been practiced since the middle of the last century; now such parks exist in many cities of the country.

In France, Denmark, Belgium, Italy and other European countries, a significant problem of environmental protection is the landscaping of coal mine waste heaps and the reclamation of construction materials quarries.

In the United States, land reclamation is carried out by the Forestry and Geological Surveys, the Soil Conservation Service, the Bureau of Mines and a number of federal departments and state agencies. State laws regulate mining and reclamation activities.

A number of specialized associations have been created to restore lands disturbed by open-pit mining. Vegetative reclamation, which consists in creating forests for recreational purposes, has become predominant here.

Aero-seeding, planting seeds on steep slopes with hydraulic infill, and manual planting are widely practiced. Great importance is attached to the selection of species of tree and shrub plants that are most resistant to difficult environmental conditions, which is carried out on the basis of observations of the natural overgrowth of dumps. The advantage of American programs is the close linkage of reclamation with work plans for the protection of soils and waters within the boundaries of special reclamation areas into which the entire territory of the country is divided.

In Germany, paramount importance is attached to the restoration of land for agricultural use, but issues of forest reclamation occupy an important place in the overall system of protection and restoration of technogenic landscapes. State forestries have successfully created forest plantations on rocky mine dumps in the Ore Mountains. The spruce forests planted on such dumps more than a hundred years ago are mature full-tree stands. However, the greatest scope of forest reclamation work was achieved in areas disturbed by open-pit mining of brown coal. All legal provisions put forward a requirement to create a new cultural landscape in disturbed territories. Landscape planning is under the control of state organizations; based on long-term plans, mining enterprises enter into long-term contracts with state land users, which stipulate all types of reclamation work, deadlines and quality requirements for territory preparation. Mining enterprises carry out leveling of dumps, application of fertile soils, chemical reclamation and general engineering and technical development of the territory.

In Canada, the forest service has begun experimental work on the reclamation of dumps on an area of ​​4 thousand hectares. All mining companies in the country are required to have reclamation plans, according to which they begin reclamation no later than three years after the completion of stripping operations. The main difficulty in mountainous areas is securing the surface of eroding and polluting air and water dumps, consisting of waste from ore enrichment, tailings and slag. For this purpose, grasses are sown and trees are planted on the flat tops and slopes of dams and water treatment facilities. All reclamation work is carried out in accordance with plans to prevent pollution of rivers, in the upper reaches of which mines and dumps are usually located.

In the domestic literature, the term “reclamation of territories” first appears in 1962 (in the work of I.V. Lazareva, who highlighted foreign experience in reclamation and considers this problem in relation to the use of land disturbed by industry for urban planning purposes).

One of the first reclamation works in Russia should be considered the development of peat workings in the north and north-west of the European part of the country for forestry purposes.

Krupennikov I.A., Kholmetsky A.M. The following stages of development of reclamation work in Russia are distinguished:

· 1906-1949 - an increase in the area of ​​land disturbed by industry, awareness of the need for their restoration, the emergence of an idea, scattered experiments.

· 1950-1968 - a sharp increase in the area of ​​open-pit mining of mineral resources, the beginning of legal regulation, the development of requirements and guidelines for reclamation, systemic scientific and production experiments, the first generalizations, scientific and technical meetings, disparate planning of reclamation activities.

· 1969-1980 gt. - adoption of the land code and special government regulations on reclamation, inclusion of reclamation work in the technological production process, the first theoretical developments and scientific and organizational development of reclamation science, the emergence of the problem of recycling soils removed from lands alienated from agriculture and water farming, development of state and industry standards .

· Since 1981, intensive development of the theory of accelerating soil processes and the creation of a highly fertile soil profile began by reducing soil loss during the reclamation process, expanding the scale of land restoration work, etc.

In our country from 1971 to 1980. reclamation was carried out on an area of ​​713 thousand hectares, i.e. the annual volume of reclamation work amounted to 71.3 thousand hectares. Their significant growth was laid down in the State Comprehensive Program for Improving Soil Fertility

Russia for 1992-1995, where it was planned to annually reclaim up to 96 thousand hectares for subsequent agricultural use.

Since 2004, there has been no body in the country that would centrally collect data on the state of land resources. In 2013, scientists and environmentalists proposed developing an environmental protection law. The document should regulate the responsibility of subsoil users at all stages of design, operation and liquidation of enterprises, as well as the conduct of comprehensive environmental monitoring.

Today, these clear rules for technogenic enterprises are not spelled out. How the mechanisms for eliminating the consequences of mining deposits are not spelled out.

In the summer of 2012, Kuzbass parliamentarians appealed to the Russian government with a request to restore the system of statistical monitoring of the state of reclamation, removal and use of fertile soil layer, which ceased to exist in 2008. In the fall of 2012, the government ordered this surveillance to be resumed. Annual reports in form No. 2-TP (reclamation) from legal entities, citizens, individual entrepreneurs extracting minerals, as well as conducting construction, reclamation, logging, survey work and disposing of waste, are now accepted by the territorial divisions of Rosprirodnadzor.

In conditions where there are no real projects, control has not been established, and most importantly, funds for reclamation are not provided, it is necessary to create a mechanism for eliminating the consequences of field development, with the creation of liquidation funds.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, funds will be contributed to liquidation funds by both subsoil users and the state. The project to amend several legislative acts at once - on subsoil, on insolvency and bankruptcy, the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Tax Code - is at the approval stage.

According to scientists, federal legislation should become a framework: it is high time to transfer the main rule-making functions to local authorities. Because natural conditions differ in different regions of a large country. This means that approaches to land restoration must be different. In some places, agricultural biological reclamation is needed, and in others, sanitary and protective remediation is needed.

When carrying out work related to soil disturbance and land reclamation, compliance with established environmental and other standards, rules and regulations is mandatory. Land reclamation is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 23, 1994 No. 140 “On land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer” and the Basic Provisions on land reclamation, removal, preservation and rational use of fertile soil layer, approved by the Order of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Roskomzema dated December 22, 1995 No. 525/67.

Assessment of the quality of land reclamation work must be carried out by a commission consisting of municipal specialists in accordance with current regulations and standards for land reclamation and protection: GOST 17.5.3.04-83 “Nature conservation. Earth. General requirements for land reclamation"; GOST 17.5.1.03-86 “Classification of overburden and host rocks for biological land reclamation”, GOST 17.4.203-86. "Protection of Nature. Soils. Soil passport"; GOST 17.4.3.01-83. "Protection of Nature. Soils. General requirements for sampling”; GOST 17.4.4.02-84. "Protection of Nature. Soils. Methods of sampling and preparation of samples"; GOST 28168-89. “Soils. Sample selection"; GOST 17.4.3.03-85. "Protection of Nature. Soils. General requirements for methods for determining pollutants"; GOST 17.473.06-86. "Protection of Nature. Soils. General requirements for the classification of soils according to the influence of chemical pollutants on them".

The organization of use of disturbed lands has changed with the development of market relations: economic factors have become priority - objectively justified payment for land and natural resources used, tax revenues. This led to a reorientation of the urban management system from administrative methods to economic ones.

In the new conditions, there is a need to improve existing approaches to assessing the qualitative condition of urban lands, identifying, recording and classifying disturbed urban areas. The main problem of restoration and return to economic use of disturbed lands is the imperfection of the legal framework regulating these issues. The main drawback of the current legislation in the field of urban land use is that most of the existing regulations are devoted to the problems of land use and protection, rather than their restoration. In addition, urban lands are considered only from the point of view of their socio-economic aspects to the detriment of natural and environmental ones, that is, the subject of regulation of these documents is mainly land plots as real estate objects, and not urban lands or soils as components of the natural environment.

According to experts, today there is an urgent need to change the regulatory framework. Improving legislation can become a solid basis for carrying out large-scale land restoration work.

Land reclamation is a system of measures to address issues of rational use of land resources and problems of environmental protection in general. All lands undergoing changes in relief, soil cover, parent rocks that occur or have already occurred in the process of mining, construction, hydraulic engineering, geological exploration and other types of work are subject to reclamation. It is also necessary to reclaim eroded soils, and, under appropriate conditions, through excavation, rocky places and lands with shallow and low-productive soils.

Depending on further use, the following areas of reclamation are distinguished: agricultural, forestry, water management, fisheries, recreational, hunting, environmental protection, construction. When choosing a direction, they take into account population density, soil and climatic conditions, terrain, etc.

Any construction, mining, or geological exploration does not begin until a site reclamation project has been developed. Enterprises, organizations and institutions performing the above work on agricultural lands and forest lands provided to them for temporary use are obliged, at their own expense, to bring these land plots into a condition suitable for their intended use.

An integral part of the land reclamation project are anti-erosion measures: construction of water retention and drainage shafts, drainage structures, terracing, and the use of soil protection technologies for growing agricultural crops.

Reclamation work includes technical and biological stages.

Technical stage of reclamation

The technical stage of reclamation is a set of works that is carried out by mining enterprises in order to prepare the territory for construction or for biological development. This stage includes the following work:

• removal and storage of fertile soil layer and potentially fertile rocks;
• selective excavation and formation of overburden dumps;
• formation of dumps of mines, quarries;
• surface planning, terracing, securing slopes, quarries;
• chemical reclamation of toxic rocks;
• covering the leveled surface with a layer of fertile soil or potentially fertile rocks;
• engineering equipment of the territory.

The technical stage of reclamation is the most labor-intensive and expensive.

Biological land reclamation

Biological reclamation is a set of measures aimed at restoring the fertility of disturbed lands and ensuring high productivity of crops grown on them.

In the process of mining, selective extraction of rocks is mandatory. The humus layer, potentially fertile and overburden rocks are removed, transported and stored separately.

Unsuitable and toxic rocks are placed at the base of the dump, covered with potentially fertile rocks, and covered with a humus layer of soil on top. The layer of potentially fertile and fertile rocks should be at least 1.2-1.5 m. If the areas to cover are not available or are not sufficiently prepared, the soil layer is stored in special dumps. The height of such dumps is 10-15 m, they should not be subject to surface or subsurface flooding, they must be protected from erosion, overgrowth by weeds, and maintained microbiological activity by sowing perennial grasses.

The leveling of the surface of the dumps is carried out in two stages: the first is rough, including the leveling of large ridges and elevations. In this case, areas for use in agriculture should be close to flat, without closed depressions. The general slope of the surface for Polesie can be 1-2 °, for Forest-steppe and Steppe - 1 °. Areas allocated for forest can be moderately dissected with a slope of up to 4°. On slopes of more than 4° it is necessary to erect water-retaining shafts and anti-erosion structures. Slopes can be formed in the form of terrace-like ledges.

The second stage (final) - precise planning is carried out after 1-2 years of rock shrinkage: the dumps are covered with a fertile layer of soil and transferred for development.

RECLAMATION OF LAND (from Latin re- - a prefix meaning renewal, and cp. des sols; i. recuperacion de terrenos) - a complex of mining, engineering and construction, land reclamation, agricultural, silvicultural and landscaping works aimed at restoring the productivity and economic value of lands disturbed by mining; is the main means of their reproduction and improvement of environmental conditions. The problem of reclamation is closely related to the development of the mining industry. Thus, an increase in the total volume of mineral raw materials leads to a constant increase in the area of ​​damaged land (at the beginning of 1984, over 2.5 million hectares, according to forecasts for 2005 - 6.4 million hectares).

Every year, about 150 thousand hectares of land are disturbed by mining operations, of which 40% are agricultural lands. The extraction of 1 million tons of iron ore leads to the disturbance of 14 to 640 hectares of land, manganese ore - from 76 to 600 hectares, coal - from 2.6 to 43 hectares, ores for the production of mineral fertilizers - from 22 to 97 hectares, 1 million m3 of non-metallic building materials - from 1.5 to 583 hectares. The greatest changes in the earth's surface and environmental pollution occur during open-pit mining, which accounts for over 75% of mining production. In, for example, 62,000 hectares of land are disturbed by quarries per year.

In the CCCP and in other industrialized countries, of the total area of ​​land allocated for mining enterprises, on average 20% is occupied by quarry dumps, 13% is allocated for tailings of processing plants, 5% is occupied by dumps and mine waste, 3% is turned into unsuitable land due to subsidence and failures earth's surface. Due to the increase in the volume of mining operations in the CCCP, 10-15 thousand hectares of land are required annually for dumps. The extraction and processing of minerals at mining enterprises is accompanied by disruption of natural landscape complexes (primarily soil cover). Significant areas are also damaged during the construction of utility lines. Thus, the construction of 1 km of one line of the main pipeline leads to the disruption of up to 4 hectares of land. One of the first attempts to reclaim land disturbed by mining was made in the USA (Indiana) in 1926.

In the CCCP, restoration of lands disturbed by mining has been systematically carried out since 1959. Initially, this work was carried out at separate mining enterprises in Estonia, in the Moscow region and iron ore in. An effective reclamation system is carried out during mining; yields on restored lands reach 40 centners of wheat per hectare.

Reclamation is carried out in accordance with the national economic plan of the CCCP and is consistent with the objectives of comprehensive environmental protection. In 1968, the fundamentals of land legislation of the CCP Union and the Union republics were adopted (entered into force on July 1, 1969), prescribing the bringing of disturbed lands into a state suitable for use in the national economy. In development of land legislation, a number of directive acts and regulations have been adopted on various aspects of reclamation, including the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the CCCP dated June 2, 1976 “On land reclamation, conservation and rational use of fertile soil layer in the development of mineral deposits and peat, carrying out geological exploration, construction and other works." Reclamation problems are discussed at botanical, geographical and soil international congresses. To coordinate research in the field of reclamation, symposia of the CMEA member countries are regularly held, the first of which took place in the GDR (1962), the CCCP first took part in the second symposium (1965).

The directions and methods of reclamation are determined by the mining and geological conditions of the deposit, the socio-economic and natural-climatic features of the area, development technology, economic activities and the development prospects of the area and are established on the basis of relevant projects by the authorities providing land plots for use to mining enterprises. In the regions of the Far North, deserts and uninhabited areas, the nature of reclamation work is determined in each specific case by the Council of Ministers of the Union Republic together with Agroprom CCCP, State Forestry Committee CCCP and the ministry or department to which land plots are provided for use.

Depending on the nature of the land plots and the purposes of their use, the following areas of reclamation are distinguished; agricultural - to create agricultural land on disturbed lands; forestry - forest plantations of various types; fishery - fish-breeding reservoirs; water management - reservoirs for various purposes; recreational - recreation facilities; sanitary and hygienic - for the purpose of conservation by biological or technical methods of disturbed lands that have a negative impact on the environment; construction - to bring disturbed lands into a condition suitable for industrial or civil construction. Typically, reclamation is carried out in two stages - mining (see Mining reclamation) and biological (see Biological reclamation). At the first stage, reclamation is carried out by the mining enterprise, at the second - by land users to whom the lands are transferred (or returned). To ensure the rational use of the soil layer removed during mining operations, earthing is carried out, i.e. a set of works to apply a fertile layer of soil and potentially fertile rocks to unproductive lands in order to improve them. The entire range of reclamation works is carried out at the expense of mining enterprises. Reclamation costs vary widely and depend on the natural, climatic, mining, geological, and technical conditions of the deposit being developed.

Increasing the efficiency and rate of reclamation is facilitated by: the inclusion of reclamation work in the technological chain of mining production and the use of main mining equipment for these works; reducing the volume of leveling work due to compact placement of rocks in dumps and creating a calmer surface relief; the use of hydromechanization means to supply the surface of the dump of rocks with a reclamation layer and soils; selective development and storage of overburden rocks in dumps with the placement of rocks suitable for biological reclamation on the surface of the dump; creation of a targeted structure of dumps that ensures high productivity of restored lands by improving the conditions of moisture accumulation and nutrition in the root layer; reducing the volume of work to remove soil from disturbed lands and restore the soil layer on reclaimed areas through the use of overburden rocks and processing waste with more favorable agronomic properties; development and application of methods for accelerated restoration of fertility of disturbed lands based on the use of bioactive preparations, bacterial fertilizers, phytomeliorants, structure-forming materials, etc.; development and application of effective methods for securing reclaimed surfaces and preventing wind and water erosion; development and use of specialized machines and mechanisms for reclamation work.

Reclaimed lands are considered as one of the types of products of mining enterprises, the production of which is planned and controlled.