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 F - BONDING AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS › AMOUNT AND DURATION OF LIABILITY › Section 86.152 - Bond adjustments

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) The
						  amount of bond required and the terms of the acceptance of the applicant's bond
						  will be adjusted by the Department from time to time as the area requiring bond
						  coverage is increased or decreased, or when the cost of future reclamation
						  changes, or when the projected subsidence damage repair liability changes. The
						  Department may specify periodic times or set a schedule for reevaluating and
						  adjusting the bond amount to fulfill this requirement. This requirement shall
						  only be binding upon the permittee and does not compel a third party, including
						  surety companies, to provide additional bond coverage and does not extend the
						  coverage of a subsidence bond beyond the requirements imposed by sections 5,
						  5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 of the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation
						  Act.
(b) A permittee may request
						  reduction of the required bond amount upon submission of evidence to the
						  Department that warrants a reduction of the bond amount by proving that the
						  permittee's method of operation or other circumstances will reduce the maximum
						  estimated cost to the Department to complete the reclamation, restoration or
						  abatement responsibilities.
(c)
						  Bond adjustments which involve unaffected portions of a permit area upon which
						  no reclamation liability has been incurred or permits that have not been
						  activated and upon which no reclamation liability has been incurred, and bond
						  adjustments which are based on revisions of the cost estimates of reclamation,
						  are not subject to the procedures of §§
													86.170-86.172 (relating to scope;
						  procedures for seeking release of bond; and criteria for release of bond),
						  except as provided in § 86.172(b) and (c).
(d) The Department will notify the permittee,
						  the surety and any person with a property interest in collateral who has
						  requested the notification, of any proposed adjustment to the bond amount. The
						  Department will also provide the permittee an opportunity for an informal
						  conference on the adjustment.
The provisions of this §
															86.152 amended under the authority
								of section 7 of The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act
								(52
								P.S. §
																1406.7); section 5 of The Clean
								Streams Law (35 P.S. §
																691.5);
								section 4.2 of the Surface Mining
								Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. §
																1396.4b); section
								3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal
								Control Act (52 P.S. §
																30.53b); and
								section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. §
																510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
															86.148 (relating to scope); 25 Pa.
								Code §
															86.151 (relating to period of
								liability); 25 Pa. Code §
															86.161 (relating to phased
								deposits of collateral); 25 Pa. Code §
															86.165 (relating to failure to
								maintain proper bond); 25 Pa. Code §
															87.119a (relating to hydrologic
								balance: water rights and replacement); and 25 Pa. Code §
															88.107a (relating to hydrologic
								balance: water rights and
								replacement).