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 J - REMINING AND RECLAMATION INCENTIVES › BONDING INCENTIVES › Section 86.281 - Financial guarantees to insure reclamation-general

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) In the Remining Financial Assurance Fund
						  there is a special account providing financial guarantees for qualified
						  operators who conduct remining. Funds in this special account may be used to
						  financially assure bonding obligations under §
													86.143 (relating to requirement to
						  file a bond) of a qualified operator engaged in remining.
(b) The financial guarantee applies to a
						  permit with remining areas approved by the Department. Operators who wish to
						  participate in this program shall demonstrate, for each permit, their
						  eligibility under §§
													86.253 and
						  86.282 (relating to operator and
						  project qualification; and participation requirements). The amount will be the
						  estimated cost for the Department to reclaim the remining area, subject to the
						  limitations established in subsection (d).
(c) The Department will designate a specified
						  amount of the financial guarantees special account in the Remining Financial
						  Assurance Fund to financially assure reclamation obligations on the permits
						  with an approved remining area.
(d)
						  The Department may not issue financial guarantees on a permit in excess of 10%
						  of the then current designated amount in the special account in the Remining
						  Financial Assurance Fund. The Department will not issue financial guarantees to
						  a mine operator if the aggregate amount of financial guarantees on permits
						  issued to the operator will exceed 30% of the then current designated amount in
						  the special account in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund. The Department
						  will not issue additional financial guarantees when the aggregate amount of
						  outstanding financial guarantees exceeds that amount resulting from dividing
						  the current designated amount in the special account in the Remining Financial
						  Assurance Fund by the historical rate of bond forfeiture under §
													86.181 (relating to general) with
						  a margin of safety determined by the Department.
(e) Upon declaration of forfeiture, the
						  specified amount of the financial guarantee from the financial guarantee
						  special account will be used with other bonds forfeited on the permit by the
						  Department to complete reclamation of the mine site in accordance with the
						  procedures and criteria in §§
													86.187-86.190. If the actual cost of
						  reclamation by the Department exceeds the specified amount of the financial
						  guarantee, additional funds from the Remining Financial Assurance Fund may be
						  used to complete reclamation.
(f)
						  The Department will hold in reserve in the remining financial assurance fund
						  funds that are not designated to underwrite remining financial guarantees. The
						  Department will use funds held in reserve in the remining financial assurance
						  fund to assure the availability of funds to cover reclamation liabilities when
						  there is a mine operator bond forfeiture under §
													86.181.
The provisions of this §
															86.281 amended under section 5 of
								The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. §
																691.5); sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface
								Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S.
								§§
																1396.4(a) and
								1396.4b); section
								3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal
								Control Act (52 P.S. §
																30.53b);
								section 7(b) of The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act
								(52
								P.S. §
																1406.7(b)); and
								section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. §
																510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
															86.282 (relating to participation
								requirements).