Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 405 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET - DEPARTMENT FOR NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 10 - Bond and Insurance Requirements › Section 405 KAR 10:015 - General bonding provisions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				350.020,
				350.060,
				350.062,
				350.064,
				350.093,
				350.095,
				350.100,
				350.151,
				350.465
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 350 authorizes
				the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to establish procedures
				for determining amounts for performance bonds for surface coal mining
				operations. This administrative regulation establishes criteria for the base
				determination of bond amounts and requires certain periods of liability during
				which the bonds shall remain in effect. This administrative regulation
				establishes requirements for filing and maintaining performance bonds and
				provides for adjustments in bond amounts and additional information related to
				minimum bonds and application of bonds to ensure performance of the
				requirements of KRS Chapter 350 in the event work is performed by the cabinet,
				taking into consideration such things as topography, geology, future land use,
				and the difficulty of reclamation.
Section
			 1. Bonding Requirements.
(1) An
			 applicant shall not disturb surface acreage or extend an underground shaft,
			 tunnel, or operation prior to receipt of approval from the cabinet of a
			 performance bond covering an area to be affected by surface operations and
			 facilities.
(2) After an
			 application for a new, amended, revised, or renewed permit to conduct surface
			 coal mining and reclamation operations has been approved pursuant to 405 KAR
			 Chapter 8, but before the permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the
			 cabinet, on Performance Bond, Form SME-42, a performance bond payable to the
			 cabinet.
(a) The applicant shall file the
			 Performance Bond, Form SME-42, for an operation on land other than federal
			 lands, or the Performance Bond for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation on
			 Federal Lands, Form SME-42-F, for an operation on federal land.
(b) The performance bond shall be conditioned
			 upon compliance with all of the requirements of KRS Chapter 350, 405 KAR
			 Chapters 7 through 24, and the provisions of the reclamation plan and permit,
			 and shall cover all surface coal mining and reclamation operations to be
			 conducted within the permit area or increment thereof until all reclamation
			 requirements of 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 have been met.
(c) The amount, duration, type, conditions,
			 and terms of the performance bond shall conform to the requirements of this
			 administrative regulation.
(3) A permit shall not be revised or amended
			 to include additional area unless the liability of the current bond is extended
			 to cover the entire permit area or increment as revised or amended, and the
			 liability of the supplemental bond covers the entire permit area as revised or
			 amended. Unless these conditions are met with respect to the bond, the
			 additional area shall be permitted as a separate increment of the current
			 permit area or pursuant to a new permit.
(4) A rider to the applicable performance
			 bond, confirming coverage of the revision, shall be submitted by the applicant
			 if a revision to a permit does not change the acreage of the permit area or
			 increment but:
(a) Adds a coal washer, a crush
			 and load facility, a refuse pile, or a coal mine waste impoundment to the
			 existing permit; or
(b) Alters the
			 boundary of a permit area or increment.