I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7941 
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 
establish additional considerations with regard to the adequacy of permit 
performance bonds, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 11, 2024 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HUFFMAN, 
Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 
of 1977 to establish additional considerations with regard 
to the adequacy of permit performance bonds, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bond Improvement 
and Reclamation Assurance Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION 
ACT OF 1977 REFORM. 
(a) PERMIT PERFORMANCE BONDS.—Section 509 of 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(30 U.S.C. 1259) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), to read as follows: 
‘‘(a)(1) After a surface coal mining and reclamation 
permit application has been approved but before such a 
permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the regu-
latory authority, on a form prescribed and furnished by 
the regulatory authority, a bond for performance payable, 
as appropriate, to the United States or to the State, and 
conditional upon faithful performance of all the require-
ments of this Act and the permit. 
‘‘(2) The bond shall cover that area of land within 
the permit area upon which the operator will initiate and 
conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations 
within the initial term of the permit. 
‘‘(3) As succeeding increments of surface coal mining 
and reclamation operations are to be initiated and con-
ducted within the permit area, the permittee shall file with 
the regulatory authority an additional bond to cover such 
increments in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(4) The amount of the bond required for each bond-
ed area shall— 
‘‘(A) be determined by the regulatory authority; 
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‘‘(B) depend upon the reclamation requirements 
of the approved permit; 
‘‘(C) reflect the probable difficulty of reclama-
tion giving consideration to factors including topog-
raphy, geology of the site, hydrology, and revegeta-
tion potential; 
‘‘(D) be sufficient to ensure the completion of 
the reclamation plan if the work had to be per-
formed by the regulatory authority in the event of 
bond forfeiture; and 
‘‘(E) be set at a level consistent with the rebut-
table presumption that the mine will close 5 years 
after the permit is issued. 
‘‘(5) In setting the amount of the bond under para-
graph (4), the regulatory authority shall consider— 
‘‘(A) the impact of a reasonably expected level 
of inflation over the time period that the reclamation 
is likely to occur; 
‘‘(B) the impact of an unplanned or early mine 
closure on the cost of reclamation, including whether 
there will be sufficient spoil available to reclaim the 
mine; and 
‘‘(C) any additional costs likely to be incurred 
as a result of the regulatory authority undertaking 
reclamation operations upon bond forfeiture. 
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‘‘(6) The amount of a bond for the entire area under 
1 permit may not be less than $52,593, annually adjusted 
for inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index 
for all Urban Consumers, as published by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (e), to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) The amount of the bond or deposit required and 
the terms of each acceptance of the bond of the applicant 
shall be adjusted by the regulatory authority— 
‘‘(1) from time to time— 
‘‘(A) as affected land acreages are in-
creased or decreased; or 
‘‘(B) where the cost of future reclamation 
changes due to changing circumstances, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(i) long-term water pollution dis-
charge; 
‘‘(ii) coal market conditions; 
‘‘(iii) unanticipated mine closures; and 
‘‘(iv) changes in the reclamation plan; 
‘‘(2) whenever a permit is renewed; and 
‘‘(3) whenever a permit is transferred to a new 
operator.’’. 
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(b) REVISION OF PERMITS.—Section 511 of the Sur-
face Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 1261) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c)(1) Before approving a transfer, assignment, or 
sale of the rights granted under a permit issued pursuant 
to this Act or an application for a revision of a permit 
submitted under subsection (a), the regulatory authority 
shall recalculate the amount of the bond required under 
section 509 for such permit and require the transferee, 
assignee, or purchaser of the rights granted under the per-
mit or the permittee, respectively, to post such amount. 
‘‘(2) A permittee and each covered person— 
‘‘(A) may not be released from liability under 
the permit; and 
‘‘(B) shall be jointly and severally liable for all 
reclamation costs incurred by the regulatory author-
ity to complete reclamation under the permit, includ-
ing treatment of all postmining water pollution. 
‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘covered person’ 
means, with respect to a permittee— 
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‘‘(A) a person that owns or otherwise controls 
30 percent or more of the capital interests of the 
permittee; and 
‘‘(B) a person that owns or otherwise controls 
30 percent or more of the capital interests of a per-
son described in subparagraph (A).’’. 
(c) INSPECTIONS AND MONITORING.—Section 517 of 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(30 U.S.C. 1267) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Each inspector’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(1) Each inspector’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) Each inspector, upon completion of an inspec-
tion of any surface coal mining and reclamation oper-
ations, shall forthwith inform the regulatory authority of 
any changes to conditions at such surface coal mining and 
reclamation operations that may— 
‘‘(A) result in an unanticipated increase in the 
cost of reclamation of such surface coal mining and 
reclamation operations; and 
‘‘(B) necessitate a change to the amount of the 
bond established for the permit associated with such 
surface coal mining and reclamation operations 
under section 509.’’; and 
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(2) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘electronically 
and also’’ after ‘‘available to the public’’. 
(d) RULEMAKING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this section, taking into 
account the standards in subsections (a) and (e) of 
section 509 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec-
lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1259) regarding 
bond adequacy, as amended by this section, the Sec-
retary shall issue regulations to establish guidelines 
and benchmarks for each Federal and State regu-
latory authority to determine minimum bond 
amounts under section 509 of that Act (30 U.S.C. 
1259). 
(2) DATA.—In issuing the regulations described 
in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use data from 
a representative sample of recent reclamation 
projects completed by Federal and State regulatory 
authorities as a result of bond forfeiture by a per-
mittee. 
(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The term 
‘‘regulatory authority’’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 701 of the Surface Mining 
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Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 1291). 
(B) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. 
Æ 
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