I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1819 

To protect taxpayers from liability associated with the reclamation of surface 

coal mining operations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BEYER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. 

MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 

TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To protect taxpayers from liability associated with the reclamation of surface coal mining operations, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coal Cleanup Taxpayer 

5 Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SURFACE COAL MINING BONDING. 

2 Section 509 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec3 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1259) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(c) ALTERNATIVE BONDING SYSTEM.—The Sec7 retary may approve as part of a State or Federal program 

8 an alternative system that will— 

9 ‘‘(1) achieve the objectives and purposes of the 

10 bonding program pursuant to this section; and 

11 ‘‘(2) result in no greater risk of financial liabil12 ity to the Federal Government or a State govern13 ment than the bonding program under this section.’’; 

14 and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(f) SELF-BONDING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL PROGRAMS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date 

19 of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary— 

20 ‘‘(i) may not accept the bond of the 

21 applicant itself (referred to in this sub22 section as a ‘self-bond’); but 

23 ‘‘(ii) may accept a separate surety or 

24 collateral bond, consistent with the terms 

25 under subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXISTING SELF-BONDS.—For coal 

2 mining operations covered by a self-bond ac3 cepted by the Secretary prior to the date of en4 actment of this subsection, the permittee shall 

5 replace the self-bond with another form of bond 

6 acceptable to the Secretary under this section 

7 by not later than the earlier of— 

8 ‘‘(i) the date of renewal of the permit 

9 under section 506(d); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the date of any major permit 

11 modification under section 506. 

12 ‘‘(2) STATE PROGRAMS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

14 days after the date of enactment of this sub15 section, the Secretary shall notify all State reg16 ulatory authorities that allow applicants to self17 bond that the approved regulatory programs of 

18 the State regulatory authority must be amend19 ed— 

20 ‘‘(i) to remove the authority for appli21 cants to self-bond; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) to require coal mining operations 

23 covered by a self-bond accepted by the 

24 State regulatory authority prior to the date 

25 of enactment of this subsection to replace 


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1 the self-bond with another form of bond 

2 acceptable under this section by not later 

3 than the earlier of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the date of renewal of the 

5 permit under section 506(d); and 

6 ‘‘(II) the date of any major per7 mit modification under section 506. 

8 ‘‘(g) BONDS ISSUED BY SURETY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec11 retary shall issue rules establishing limitations on 

12 surety bonds accepted under this section to minimize 

13 the risk of financial liability to the Federal Govern14 ment or a State government, including rules regard15 ing— 

16 ‘‘(A) the maximum quantity of corporate 

17 surety bonds issued by any 1 corporate surety 

18 as a percentage of the total quantity of coal 

19 mine reclamation bonds in any 1 State; 

20 ‘‘(B) the minimum percentage of surety 

21 bonds unrelated to activities regulated pursuant 

22 to this Act required to reinsure corporate surety 

23 bonds; 

24 ‘‘(C) the minimum collateralization re25 quired for corporate surety bonds; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) the minimum amount of cash assets 

2 required to be held by a corporate surety as a 

3 percentage of coal mine reclamation bonds 

4 issued by the corporate surety. 

5 ‘‘(2) EXISTING CORPORATE BONDS.—Corporate 

6 surety bonds in existence on the date of enactment 

7 of this subsection must be modified or replaced as 

8 necessary by not later than 1 year after the date on 

9 which the rule is issued under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(h) COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS.—Real property 

11 posted as collateral for a bond may not include— 

12 ‘‘(1) coal; 

13 ‘‘(2) a coal mine; 

14 ‘‘(3) land that includes a coal mine; 

15 ‘‘(4) land that is located above a coal mine; 

16 ‘‘(5) a coal processing facility; 

17 ‘‘(6) a coal waste disposal site; 

18 ‘‘(7) coal mining equipment unlikely to retain 

19 salvage or resale value; or 

20 ‘‘(8) any other property determined by the Sec21 retary. 

22 ‘‘(i) EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.—The Secretary 

23 may require the inclusion of executive compensation, in24 cluding salaries and bonuses of officers and executives, of 


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1 an applicant under this section, and any affiliated com2 pany, as collateral for a bond under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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