Section 220-660-300. Mineral prospecting.

(1) Description: Mineral prospecting projects excavate, process, or classify aggregate using hand-held mineral prospecting tools and mineral prospecting equipment. When prospectors locate valuable minerals through prospecting, they may attempt to recover larger quantities of the minerals using a variety of small motorized equipment, including suction dredges, high bankers, and heavy equipment. The rules in this section apply to using hand-held mineral prospecting tools and small motorized equipment.

(2) Fish life concerns: Mineral prospecting and mining activities can harm fish life and habitat that supports fish life.

(a) Direct impacts from mineral prospecting and mining activities may include:

(i) Mortality from the physical effects of disturbing eggs or fry incubating within the bed;

(ii) Mortality from passing vulnerable fish through mineral prospecting equipment; and

(iii) Lower environmental productivity resulting from habitat modifications such as altered stream beds or lowered water quality.

(b) Indirect impacts may include changes in food resources and human disturbances.

(c) The department minimizes impacts of mineral prospecting by restricting the type of mining equipment allowed, limiting excavation zones within streams, and setting allowable timing windows.

(3) General requirements:

(a) A copy of the current Gold and Fish pamphlet is available from the department, and it contains the rules that a person must follow when using the pamphlet as the HPA for the mineral prospecting project.

(b) Alternatively, a person may request exceptions to the Gold and Fish pamphlet by applying for a standard individual written HPA as described in WAC 220-660-060. The department must deny an HPA when, in the judgment of the department, the project will result in direct or indirect harm to fish life, unless enough mitigation can be assured by provisioning the HPA or modifying the proposal. The department may apply saltwater provisions to written HPAs for tidally influenced areas upstream of river mouths and the mainstem Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam.

(c) Nothing in chapter 220-660 WAC relieves a person of the duty to obtain landowner permission and any other required permits before conducting any mineral prospecting activity.

(4) Mineral prospecting in freshwater without timing restrictions:

(a) A person may mineral prospect year-round in all fresh waters of the state, except lakes. A person must follow the rules listed below, but does not need to have the Gold and Fish pamphlet on the job site when working in fresh waters of the state.

(b) When mineral prospecting without timing restrictions, a person may use only hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans;

(ii) Spiral wheels; and

(iii) Sluices, concentrators, mini rocker boxes, and mini high-bankers with riffle areas totaling three square feet or less, including ganged equipment.

(c) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use one hand-operated winch to move boulders or large woody material that is not embedded or located within the wetter perimeter. A person may use additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize boulders, or large woody material that is not embedded.

(d) A person may work within the wetted perimeter only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset.

(e) A person may not disturb fish life or redds within the bed. If a person observes or encounters fish life or redds within the bed, or actively spawning fish when collecting or processing aggregate, a person must relocate their operation. A person must avoid areas containing live freshwater mussels. If a person encounters live mussels during excavation, a person must relocate the operation.

(f) Aggregate excavation, collection, and removal:

(i) A person may excavate only by hand or with hand-held mineral prospecting tools.

(ii) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from within the wetted perimeter. See Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1: Cross section of a typical body of water, showing areas where excavation is not permitted under rules for mineral prospecting without timing restrictions. Dashed lines indicate areas where excavation is not permitted.

(iii) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, a person may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple persons may work within a single excavation site.

(iv) When collecting or excavating aggregate, a person may not stand within, or allow aggregate to enter, the wetted perimeter.

(v) A person must fill all excavation sites and level all tailing piles before moving to another excavation site or abandoning an excavation site. If a person moves boulders, a person must return them, as well as possible, to their original location.

(vi) A person may not undermine, move, or disturb large woody material embedded in the slopes or located wholly or partially within the wetted perimeter. A person may move large woody material and boulders located entirely within the frequent scour zone, but a person must keep them within the frequent scour zone. A person may not cut large woody material. See Figure 2.

Figure 2: Permitted and prohibited excavation sites in a typical body of water under rules for mineral prospecting without timing restrictions. Dashed lines indicate areas where excavation is not permitted.

(vii) A person may not undermine, cut, or disturb live, rooted woody vegetation of any kind.

(viii) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from the toe of the slope. A person also may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from an unstable slope or any slope that delivers, or might deliver sediment to the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. See Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3: Limits on excavating, collecting, and removing aggregate on stream banks.

Figure 4: Excavating, collecting and removing aggregate within the wetted perimeter is not permitted.

(g) Processing aggregate:

(i) A person may stand within the wetted perimeter when processing aggregate with pans, spiral wheels, and sluices.

(ii) A person may not stand on or process directly on redds, or disturb incubating fish life. A person may not allow tailings or visible sediment plumes (visibly muddy water) to enter redds or areas where fish life are located within the bed.

(iii) A person may not level or disturb tailing piles that remain within the wetted perimeter after processing aggregate.

(iv) If a person collected or excavated aggregate outside of the frequent scour zone, a person must classify it at the collection or excavation site before processing.

(v) When using a sluice, a person may process only classified aggregate within the wetted perimeter.

(vi) The maximum width of a sluice, measured at its widest point, including attachments, must not exceed twenty-five percent of the width of the wetted perimeter at the point of placement.

(vii) A person may process with a sluice only in areas within the wetted perimeter that are composed mainly of boulders and bedrock. A person must separate sluice locations by at least fifty feet. A person may not place structures within the wetted perimeter to check or divert the water flow.

(viii) A person may operate mini high-bankers or other concentrators only outside the wetted perimeter. A person may not allow visible sediment or muddy water to enter the wetted perimeter. A second excavation site may be used as a settling pond.

(ix) As provided in RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070, any device a person uses for pumping water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the pump intake. A person must screen the pump intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(x) A person may not excavate, collect, remove, or process aggregate within four hundred feet of any fishway, dam, or hatchery water intake.

(xi) A person may not disturb existing habitat improvement structures or stream channel improvements.

(xii) All equipment fueling and servicing must be done so that petroleum products do not enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. If a petroleum sheen or spill is observed, a person must immediately stop work, remove the equipment from the body of water, and contact the Washington military department emergency management division. A person may not return the equipment to the water until the problem is corrected. A person must store fuel and lubricants outside the frequent scour zone, and in the shade when possible.

(xiii) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately cease operations and notify the department and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(5) Mineral prospecting in fresh waters with timing restrictions:

(a) A person may mineral prospect in fresh waters of the state only during the times and with the mineral prospecting equipment limitations identified in subsection (7) of this section. A person must have the Gold and Fish pamphlet on the job site and comply with the provisions listed below.

(b) When mineral prospecting with timing restrictions, a person may use only hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans;

(ii) Spiral wheels;

(iii) Sluices, concentrators, rocker boxes, and high-bankers with riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment;

(iv) Suction dredges that have suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size. See Figure 5.

Figure 5: Dredge intake nozzle

(v) Power sluice/suction dredge combinations that have riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment; suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle; and pump intake hoses with inside diameters of four inches or less. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the suction intake nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size. See Figure 5; and

(vi) High-bankers and power sluices that have riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment, and pump intake hoses with inside diameters of four inches or less.

(c) The widest point of a sluice, including attachments, must not exceed twenty-five percent of the width of the wetted perimeter at the point of placement.

(d) The suction intake nozzle and hose of suction dredges and power sluice/suction dredge combinations must not exceed the diameters allowed in the listing for the stream or stream reach where a person is operating, as identified in subsection (7) of this section.

(e) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use one motorized winch and one hand-operated winch to move boulders and large woody material that is not embedded, and additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize them.

(f) Equipment separation:

(i) A person may use hand-held mineral prospecting tools; pans; spiral wheels; or sluices, mini rocker boxes, or mini high-bankers with riffle areas totaling three square feet or less, including ganged equipment, as close to other mineral prospecting equipment as desired.

(ii) When operating any sluice or rocker box with a riffle area larger than three square feet (including ganged equipment), suction dredge, power sluice/suction dredge combination, high-banker, or power sluice within the wetted perimeter, a person's equipment must be at least two hundred feet from all others also operating this type of equipment. This separation is measured as a radius from the center of the equipment the person is operating. A person may locate this equipment closer than two hundred feet if only one piece of equipment is actually operating within that two hundred foot radius. See Figure 6.

(iii) When operating any sluice or rocker box with a riffle area larger than three square feet (including ganged equipment), suction dredge, power sluice/suction dredge combination, high-banker, or power sluice outside of the wetted perimeter that discharges tailings or wastewater to the wetted perimeter, a person's equipment must be at least two hundred feet from all others also operating this type of equipment. This separation is measured as a radius from the center of the equipment the person is operating. A person may locate this equipment closer than two hundred feet if only one piece of equipment is actually operating within that two hundred-foot radius. See Figure 6.

Figure 6: Equipment separation requirement.

(g) As provided in RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070, any device a person uses for pumping water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the pump intake. A person must screen the pump intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(h) All equipment fueling and servicing must be done so that petroleum products do not enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. If a petroleum sheen or spill is observed, a person must immediately stop work, remove the equipment from the body of water, and contact the Washington military department emergency management division. A person may not return the equipment to the water until the problem is corrected. A person must store fuel and lubricants outside the frequent scour zone, and in the shade when possible.

(i) A person may work within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset. If a person's mineral prospecting equipment exceeds one-half the width of the wetted perimeter of the stream, a person must remove the equipment from the wetted perimeter or move it so that at least fifty percent of the wetted perimeter is free of equipment from one-half hour after official sunset to one-half hour before official sunrise.

(j) A person may not excavate, collect, remove, or process aggregate within four hundred feet of any fishway, dam, or hatchery water intake.

(k) A person must not disturb existing habitat improvement structures or stream channel improvements.

(l) A person may not undermine, move, or disturb large woody material embedded in the slopes or located wholly or partially within the wetted perimeter. A person may move large woody material and boulders located entirely within the frequent scour zone, but a person must keep them within the frequent scour zone. A person may not cut large woody material.

(m) A person may not undermine, cut, or disturb live, rooted woody vegetation of any kind.

(n) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, a person may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple individuals may work within a single excavation site.

(o) A person must fill all excavation sites and level all tailing piles before moving to another excavation site or abandoning an excavation site.

(p) A person may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from the toe of the slope. A person also may not excavate, collect, or remove aggregate from an unstable slope or any slope that delivers, or might deliver, sediment to the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone. See Figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7: Cross section of a typical body of water showing unstable slopes, stable areas, and permitted or prohibited excavation sites under rules for mineral prospecting with timing restrictions. Dashed line indicates areas where excavation is not permitted.

Figure 8: Cross section of a typical body of water showing unstable slopes, stable areas, and permitted or prohibited excavation sites under rules for mineral prospecting with timing restrictions. Dashed line indicates areas where excavation is not permitted.

(q) A person may partially divert a body of water into mineral prospecting equipment. However, at no time may the diversion structure be greater than fifty percent of the width of the wetted perimeter, including the width of the equipment. A person may not divert the body of water outside of the wetted perimeter.

(r) A person may use materials only from within the wetted perimeter, or artificial materials from outside the wetted perimeter, to construct the diversion structure by hand. Before abandoning the site, a person must remove artificial materials used to construct a diversion structure and restore the site to its approximate original condition.

(s) A person may process aggregate collected from the frequent scour zone:

(i) At any location if a person uses pans; spiral wheels; mini rocker boxes; mini high-bankers; or sluices or other concentrators with riffle areas three square feet or less, including ganged equipment.

(ii) Only in the frequent scour zone or upland areas landward of the frequent scour zone if a person uses power sluice/suction dredge combinations, high-bankers, or power sluices with riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment; or sluices or rocker boxes that have riffle areas larger than three, but less than ten square feet, including ganged equipment. A person may not discharge tailings to the wetted perimeter when using this equipment. However, a person may discharge wastewater to the wetted perimeter if its entry point into the wetted perimeter is at least two hundred feet from any other wastewater discharge entry point.

(t) A person may process aggregate collected from upland areas landward of the frequent scour zone:

(i) At any location if a person uses pans; spiral wheels; or sluices, concentrators, mini rocker boxes, and mini high-bankers with riffle areas totaling three square feet or less, including ganged equipment. A person must classify the aggregate at the excavation site before processing with this equipment within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(ii) Only at an upland location landward of the frequent scour zone if a person uses power sluice/suction dredge combinations; high-bankers; power sluices; or rocker boxes. A person may not allow tailings or wastewater to enter the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone.

(iii) Within the wetted perimeter or frequent scour zone if a person uses a sluice with a riffle area greater than three square feet. A person must classify the aggregate at the excavation site prior to processing with a sluice with a riffle area exceeding three square feet.

(u) A person may use pressurized water only for crevicing or for redistributing dredge tailings within the wetted perimeter. No other use of pressurized water is permitted.

(v) A person may conduct crevicing in the wetted perimeter, in the frequent scour zone, or landward of the frequent scour zone. The hose connecting fittings of pressurized water tools used for crevicing may not have an inside diameter larger than three-quarters of an inch. If a person crevices landward of the frequent scour zone, no sediment or wastewater may be discharged into the wetted perimeter or the frequent scour zone.

(w) A person must avoid areas containing live freshwater mussels. If a person encounters live mussels during excavation, a person must relocate the operation.

(x) A person may not disturb redds. If a person observes or encounters redds or actively spawning fish when collecting or processing aggregate, a person must relocate the operation.

(y) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately stop operations and notify the department and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(6) Mineral prospecting on ocean beaches:

(a) A person may mineral prospect year-round on ocean beaches of the state. A person must follow the rules listed below, and must have the Gold and Fish pamphlet on the job site when working on ocean beaches of the state, except as noted in this subsection.

(b) A person may mineral prospect only between the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide on beaches within the Seashore Conservation Area set under RCW 79A.05.605 and managed by Washington state parks and recreation commission.

(c) No written or pamphlet HPA is required to mineral prospect south of the Copalis River, if a person operates landward of the upper limit of ghost shrimp burrowing in the beach; waterward of the ordinary high tide line; and a person does not use fresh water from fish-bearing streams during operations. See Figure 9.

Figure 9. Beach area where no written or pamphlet HPA is required.

(d) A person may use only hand-held mineral prospecting tools and the following mineral prospecting equipment:

(i) Pans;

(ii) Spiral wheels;

(iii) Sluices, concentrators, rocker boxes, and high-bankers with riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment;

(iv) Suction dredges that have suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size;

(v) Power sluice/suction dredge combinations that have riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment; suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle; and pump intake hoses with inside diameters of four inches or less. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the suction intake nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size; and

(vi) High-bankers and power sluices that have riffle areas totaling ten square feet or less, including ganged equipment, and pump intake hoses with inside diameters of four inches or less.

(e) When operated in fish-bearing freshwater streams, the widest point of a sluice, including attachments, must not exceed twenty-five percent of the width of the wetted perimeter at the point of placement.

(f) A person may not use vehicle-mounted winches. A person may use one motorized winch and one hand-operated winch to move boulders and large woody material that is not embedded, and additional cables, chains, or ropes to stabilize them.

(g) Under RCW 77.57.010 and 77.57.070, any device a person uses for pumping water from fish-bearing waters must be equipped with a fish guard to prevent fish from entering the pump intake. A person must screen the pump intake with material that has openings no larger than five sixty-fourths inch for square openings, measured side to side, or three thirty-seconds inch diameter for round openings, and the screen must have at least one square inch of functional screen area for every gallon per minute (gpm) of water drawn through it. For example, a one hundred gpm-rated pump would require a screen with a surface area of at least one hundred square inches.

(h) All equipment fueling and servicing must be done so that petroleum products do not enter the wetted perimeter. If a petroleum sheen or spill is observed, a person must immediately stop work, remove the equipment from the body of water and beach, and contact the Washington military department emergency management division. A person may not return the equipment to the water or beach until the problem is corrected. A person must store fuel and lubricants away from the water inside a vehicle or landward of the beach, and in the shade when possible.

(i) A person may work only from one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset. If a person uses mineral prospecting equipment in a fish-bearing freshwater stream and the equipment exceeds one-half the width of the wetted perimeter of the stream, a person must remove the equipment from the wetted perimeter or move it so that at least fifty percent of the wetted perimeter is free of equipment from one-half hour after official sunset to one-half hour before official sunrise.

(j) A person may not undermine, cut, disturb, or move large woody material or woody debris jams.

(k) A person may work in only one excavation site at a time. However, a person may use a second excavation site as a settling pond. Multiple persons may work within a single excavation site.

(l) A person must backfill all trenches, depressions, or holes created in the beach during project activities before moving to another excavation site (except during use as a settling pond) or leaving an excavation site.

(m) A person may partially divert a body of water into mineral prospecting equipment. However, at no time may the diversion structure be greater than fifty percent of the width of the wetted perimeter of a fish-bearing freshwater stream, including the width of the equipment. A person may not divert the body of water outside of the wetted perimeter.

(n) A person may use materials only from within the wetted perimeter, or artificial materials from outside the wetted perimeter, to construct the diversion structure by hand. Before abandoning the site, a person must remove artificial materials used to construct a diversion structure and restore the site to its approximate original condition.

(o) A person may use pressurized water only for redistributing dredge tailings within the wetted perimeter. No other use of pressurized water is permitted.

(p) A person may not disturb live razor clams or other shellfish within the bed. If a person observes or encounters live razor clams or other shellfish during excavation, the person must relocate the operation.

(q) If at any time, as a result of project activities, a person observes a fish kill or fish life in distress, a person must immediately stop operations and notify the department, and the Washington military department emergency management division of the problem. A person may not resume work until the department gives approval. The department will require additional measures to mitigate the prospecting impacts.

(7) Authorized work times and mineral prospecting equipment restrictions by specific state waters for mineral prospecting and placer mining projects:

(a) A person may conduct mineral prospecting and placer mining under subsections (5) and (6) of this section only in the state waters, with the equipment restrictions, and during the times specified in the following table of authorized work times.

(b) The general work time for a county applies to all state waters within that county, unless otherwise indicated in the table.

(c) The work time for state waters identified in the table of authorized work times applies to all its tributaries, unless otherwise indicated. Some state waters occur in multiple counties. Check the table for the county in which mineral prospecting or placer mining is to be conducted to determine the work time for that water body.

(d) Where a tributary is identified as a boundary, that boundary is the line perpendicular to the receiving stream that is projected from the most upstream point of the tributary mouth to the opposite bank of the receiving stream. See Figure 10.

(e) Mineral prospecting and placer mining within water bodies identified in the table of authorized work times as "submit application" are not authorized under the Gold and Fish pamphlet. A person must obtain a written individual HPA to work in these water bodies.

Figure 10: Where the boundary is located if a tributary listed as a boundary.

(f) Mineral prospecting using mineral prospecting equipment that has suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be four inches or less, but must be no greater than four and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle, is authorized only in the state waters identified in the table of authorized work times, and any tributaries to them, unless otherwise indicated in the table. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size.

(g) Mineral prospecting using mineral prospecting equipment that has suction intake nozzles with inside diameters that should be five inches or less, but must be no greater than five and one-quarter inches to account for manufacturing tolerances and possible deformation of the nozzle is authorized only in the state waters specifically identified in the table of authorized work times. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size. A person may use only mineral prospecting equipment with suction intake nozzle inside diameters of four and one-quarter inches or less in tributaries of these state waters. The inside diameter of the dredge hose attached to the nozzle may be no greater than one inch larger than the nozzle size.

Table 3

Authorized Work Times and Mineral Prospecting Equipment Restrictions by Specific State Waters for Mineral Prospecting and Placer Mining Projects

[Statutory Authority: RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.020, and 77.12.047. WSR 15-02-029 (Order 14-353), § 220-660-300, filed 12/30/14, effective 7/1/15.]

RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.020, and 77.12.047. WSR 15-02-029 (Order 14-353), § 220-660-300, filed 12/30/14, effective 7/1/15.

Rules

220-660-060,220-660,