Surface Mining Reclamation

(This page was updated 4/11/2023)

Surface Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act

The Division of Conservation (DOC) is responsible for administering the Surface-Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act (Mined Land Reclamation Program). The Act requires that producers who mine industrial materials or minerals of commercial value such as sand, gravel, limestone, clay, gypsum, shale, sandstone, silt, caliche, volcanic ash or salt be licensed to operate a mine, produers also have to register their mining sites, file a reclamation plan for each site, submit a reclamation bond and reclaim mining sites upon completion of mining operations.

ReclamationTrucks PitCrushing
The major industries affected by the Act include companies and counties who surface mine sand, gravel and limestone for aggregate. The mining of coal, production of oil and gas and mining within the banks of streams are not subject to the Act. The DOC administers the Surface Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act (K.S.A. 49-601-624) that became effective July 1, 1994. The purpose of the program is to ensure any land disturbed for mining purposes, other than coal and gas, is reclaimed.

A Reclamation Plan and a Reclamation Bond is required when a company applies for a license and registers a site. K.A.R. 11-8-8 has established the reclamation bond amounts at $400.00 per acre for sand and gravel operations, and $600.00 per acre for all other minerals. Some counties require a reclamation bond greater than the established amount to meet their conditional use order. The program requires an Annual Report and Site Registration Renewal each year indicating the number of acres affected and tons of material produced. Daily operations and conditional use orders outlined in the company's operational plan are usually not a part of the program. Rather, the program is more involved at the closing stages of a site to assist in final reclamation planning and inspection to assure reclamation requirements have been met. When all requirements are met, the Reclamation Bond can be released.


RALIS - Reclamation Ag Lime Information System

The Kansas Department of Agriculture has begun implementing a requirement that all licensing and registration renewals for all agency programs be completed online. 

The new system addresses all program licensing, registration, and reporting requirements.  The official name for the database is Reclamation Ag Lime Information System (RALIS). 

Below is the link to RALIS; we recommend saving this link to your desktop, as it will be used to renew your mining license, which is due December 31 of each year, as well as completing your Annual Mine Report, which is due April 1 of each year.

RALIS Link

Surface Mining Reclamation Forms

  • Application for Mining License

  • Application for New Site Registration

  • Change in Reclamation Responsibility

  • Electronic Payment Form

  • Conclusion of Mining Operations

  • Mined Land Reclamation Bonds & Assignments

  • Cancellation of Mine Site

  • Mine Site Transfer

  • Reclamation Approval Request

  • Reclamation Bond Release Request

  • Reclamation Plan

Governor's Mined Land Reclamation Award

Each year producers, private and county, are encouraged to submit applications for outstanding reclamation work completed during the previous year. A review committee made up of six representatives from agencies who have programs involving natural resources review the applications and select the award recipient. The award is presented by the Governor or a representative of the Governor at the Kansas Aggregate Producer's Association Annual Conference held in January. The state winner's application is then submitted for consideration for the National Association of State Land Reclamationists (NASLR) Non-coal Reclamation Award.

Governor's Mined Land Reclamation Award Brochure

Governor's Mined Land Reclamation Award Application

Award Recipients

  • Governor's

  • National

Latest News

HAMM Companies wins 2022 Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award

HAMM Companies received the 2022 Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award during the Kansas Aggregate Producers Association meeting in Lenexa in January 2023.

HAMM Companies received the 2022 Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award during the Kansas Aggregate Producers Association meeting in Lenexa in January 2023.

This award recognizes companies that excel in implementing mined land reclamation and convey a positive image of mining in Kansas; HAMM Companies were selected for their work at a quarry in Onaga. While speaking at the Association’s Jan. 12 meeting, Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Conservation representative Christina Koelzer presented the Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award to HAMM on behalf of Governor Laura Kelly.

The reclaimed area of the Onaga Quarry covers 40 acres in Pottawatomie County. The landowner wanted the HAMM company to restore the land back to usable grazing pasture with no pond or wetland. Not having any water features was a challenge but HAMM’s experienced employees followed the natural slope of the land to allow for proper drainage. Today, there is no evidence of the 28-foot-high quarry wall. The company prides itself in “proving that mining can be a temporary land use…and returned back to its original pre-mining state.” The land was seeded with the tallgrass prairie’s native grasses.

HAMM Companies is based in Perry, Kansas; it operates 16 aggregate quarries across the state and has 414 employees. The site honored with this award was mined for the Cottonwood and Neva Limestone members of the Grenola Limestone Formation. These limestone ledges provide quality construction aggregate to a variety of important construction projects in the neighboring communities.

For more information, contact Koelzer at KDA Division of Conservation, 785-564-6626 or Christina.Koelzer@ks.gov.

HAMM Companies wins 2022 Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award

Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Conservation representative Christina Koelzer presents the Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award to Rob Strome, HAMM Companies area operations manager, on behalf of Governor Laura Kelly at the Kansas Aggregate Producers Association meeting in Lenexa in January. KAPA managing director Jerry Younger is also pictured.

Statutes and Regulations