Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article I - Land Resources › Chapter 86 - SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND COAL MINING: GENERAL › Subchapter B - PERMITS › GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PERMITS AND PERMIT APPLICATIONS › Section 86.17 - Permit and reclamation fees

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) A
						  permit application for coal mining activities shall be accompanied by a payment
						  to the "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" for the amount of the permit application
						  fee provided in the fee schedule in subsection (b) which corresponds to the
						  type of application being submitted. For purposes of this subsection, permit
						  applications include the applications in subsection (b).
(b) The permit application fee schedule is as
						  follows:
(1)
New Permits
Fee
Surface Mining Permit
$3,250
Coal Refuse Reprocessing Permit
$1,900
Coal Refuse Disposal Permit
$3,250
Coal Preparation Plant Permit
$1,650
Anthracite Underground Mining Permit
$1,650
Bituminous Underground Mining Permit
$5,750
Post Mining Activity Permit
$300
Incidental Extraction Permit
$1,650
(2)
Major Permit Revisions
Fee
Surface Mining Permit
$300
Coal Refuse Reprocessing Permit
$300
Anthracite Coal Refuse Disposal Permit
$300
Bituminous Coal Refuse Disposal Permit
$1,250
Anthracite Coal Preparation Plant Permit
$300
Bituminous Coal Preparation Plant Permit
$1,250
Anthracite Coal Underground Mining Permit
$300
Bituminous Coal Underground Mining Permit
$1,250
(3)
Permit Transfer
Fee
All
$250
(4)
Permit Renewal
Fee
All
$250
(5)
Other Actions
Fee
Auger Safety Permit
$200
Bond Liability Revision
$100
(c) For surface coal mine facilities, coal
						  refuse reprocessing facilities and coal mining activity facilities, except for
						  bituminous underground mines, permit application fees collected will be
						  deposited in the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund. Permit
						  application fees collected for bituminous underground mines will be deposited
						  in the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Reclamation Fund. For coal refuse
						  disposal facilities, permit application fees collected will be deposited in the
						  Coal Refuse Disposal Control Fund. Permit application fees required under this
						  section will be used by the Department to cover its costs to review permit
						  applications.
(d) The Department
						  will review the adequacy of the permit application fees in this section at
						  least once every 3 years and provide a written report to the EQB. The report
						  will identify any disparity between the amount of program income generated by
						  the fees and the costs to administer these programs and contain recommendations
						  to increase fees to eliminate the disparity, including recommendations for
						  regulatory amendments to increase program fees.
(e) In addition to the bond established under
						  §§
													86.143,
						  86.145,
						  86.149 and
						  86.150 and subject to the
						  exception provided for in §
													86.283(c)
						  (relating to procedures), the applicant for a permit or a permit amendment
						  shall pay a per acre reclamation fee for surface mining activities except for
						  the surface effects of underground mining. This reclamation fee will be
						  assessed for each acre of the approved operational area and shall be paid by
						  the applicant prior to the Department's issuance of a surface mining permit. If
						  a permit amendment results in an increase in the approved operational area, the
						  reclamation fee will be assessed on the increased acreage and shall be paid by
						  the operator prior to the Department's issuance of the permit amendment.
(1) The reclamation fee will be deposited
						  into a separate subaccount within the Surface Mining Conservation and
						  Reclamation Fund called the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, as a
						  supplement to bonds forfeited from ABS Legacy Sites. The reclamation fee will
						  be used by the Department to pay the construction costs and operation and
						  maintenance costs associated with treating postmining pollutional discharges at
						  ABS Legacy Sites, and the moneys may not be used for any other purpose. The
						  interest earned on the moneys in the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account will
						  be deposited into the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account and will be used by
						  the Department to pay the construction costs and operation and maintenance
						  costs associated with treating postmining pollutional discharges at ABS Legacy
						  Sites. The interest may not be used for any other purpose. For purposes of this
						  section, operation and maintenance costs include recapitalization
						  costs.
(2) After the end of each
						  fiscal year, the Department will prepare a fiscal-year report containing a
						  financial analysis of the revenue and expenditures of the Reclamation Fee
						  O&M Trust Account for the past fiscal year and the projected revenues and
						  expenditures for the current fiscal year. The report will include the
						  Department's calculation of the required amount of the reclamation fee, the
						  proposed adjustment of the reclamation fee amount and information necessary for
						  determining the need to supplement the funding of the Reclamation Fee O&M
						  Trust Account, including an estimate of the reclamation fee for the calendar
						  year immediately following the current fiscal year. The need to supplement the
						  funding of the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account will be based on the need
						  to provide for long-term operations at ABS Legacy Sites. The fiscal-year report
						  will be submitted to the members of the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board
						  for their review and comment and will be published on the Department's web
						  site. Notice of the report's availability will be published in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
. The Department will review the
						  fiscal-year report at a meeting of the Mining and Reclamation Advisory
						  Board.
(3) The amount of the
						  reclamation fee shall be $100 per acre until December 31, 2009. Commencing
						  January 1, 2010, and continuing until either a permanent alternative funding
						  source is established or the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is actuarially
						  sound, the reclamation fee will be adjusted as necessary to ensure that there
						  are sufficient revenues to maintain a balance in the Reclamation Fee O&M
						  Trust Account of at least $3,000,000.
(i) The
						  reclamation fee will be used until the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is
						  actuarially sound unless an alternative permanent funding source in lieu of the
						  reclamation fee is used to fund the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust
						  Account.
(ii) Until the ABS Legacy
						  Sites Trust Account is actuarially sound, the alternative permanent funding
						  source must provide sufficient revenues to maintain a balance in the
						  Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account of at least $3,000,000 and to pay the
						  annual operation and maintenance costs for treating postmining pollutional
						  discharges at the ABS Legacy Sites. Funds that are not needed for annual
						  operation and maintenance or to maintain the $3,000,000 balance may be
						  deposited into the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account.
(4) Commencing January 1, 2010, and
						  continuing until the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is actuarially sound, the
						  amount of the reclamation fee will be annually calculated and, if necessary,
						  will be adjusted in multiples of $50 based on the following factors:
(i) The current balance in the Reclamation
						  Fee O&M Trust Account.
(ii) The
						  total amount of revenue into the trust account during the previous fiscal year
						  from collection of the reclamation fee, the interest accrued by the Reclamation
						  Fee O&M Trust Account, the deposits of civil penalties into the trust
						  account and deposits from other sources of moneys into the trust
						  account.
(iii) The amount of
						  ongoing operation and maintenance costs incurred by the Reclamation Fee O&M
						  Trust Account during previous fiscal years.
(iv) The projected number of acres subject to
						  the reclamation fee during the current fiscal year.
(v) The projected amount of revenue into the
						  Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account during the current fiscal year from
						  projected interest accrued by the trust account, projected deposits of civil
						  penalties and projected deposits of moneys from other sources.
(vi) The projected expenditures of the
						  Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account for operation and maintenance costs for
						  the current fiscal year.
(5) Following the Department's review of its
						  calculation of the required reclamation fee amount at a public meeting of the
						  Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board under paragraph (2), the Department will
						  publish the adjustment in the required amount of the reclamation fee in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
. Adjustments to the amount of the
						  reclamation fee will become effective upon publication in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
. The Department's determination of the
						  required amount of the reclamation fee under paragraphs (3) and (4) will be a
						  final action of the Department appealable to the EHB.
(6) The Department will cease to assess and
						  collect the reclamation fee when the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account established
						  under §
														86.187(a)
						  (relating to use of money) becomes actuarially sound. The ABS Legacy Sites
						  Trust Account will become actuarially sound when the following conditions are
						  met:
(i) Financial guarantees sufficient to
						  cover reclamation costs, including the costs to treat each discharge in
						  perpetuity, have been approved by the Department for all mine sites permitted
						  under the primacy alternate bonding system.
(ii) Construction of the necessary discharge
						  treatment facilities has been completed at the ABS Legacy Sites.
(iii) The ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account,
						  combined with the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, contains funds which
						  generate interest at a rate and in an amount sufficient to pay the annual
						  operation and maintenance costs for treating postmining pollutional discharges
						  at the ABS Legacy Sites.