Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 12 - COAL MINING REGULATIONS › Subchapter J - BOND AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS › Division 4 - PROCEDURES, CRITERIA, AND SCHEDULE FOR RELEASE OF PERFORMANCE BOND › Section 12.313 - Criteria and Schedule for Release of Performance Bond

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) The Commission may release all or part of
					 the bond for the entire permit area or incremental area if the Commission is
					 satisfied that the reclamation or a phase of the reclamation covered by the
					 bond or deposit or portion thereof has been accomplished in accordance with the
					 following schedules for reclamation of Phases I, II, and III:
(1) at the completion of Phase I, after the
					 operator completes the backfilling, regrading (which may include the
					 replacement of topsoil), and drainage control of a bonded area in accordance
					 with the approved reclamation plan, 60% of the bond or collateral for the
					 applicable area;
(2) at the
					 completion of Phase II, after revegetation has been established on the regraded
					 mined lands in accordance with the approved reclamation plan, an additional
					 amount of bond. When determining the amount of bond to be released after
					 successful revegetation has been established, the Commission shall retain that
					 amount of bond for the revegetated area which would be sufficient to cover the
					 cost of reestablishing revegetation if completed by a third party and for the
					 period specified for operator responsibility in §§134.091-134.109 of
					 the Act for reestablishing revegetation. No part of the bond or deposit shall
					 be released under this Subsection so long as the lands to which the release
					 would be applicable are contributing suspended solids to streamflow or runoff
					 outside the permit area in excess of the requirements set by
					 §134.092(a)(10) of the Act and Subchapter K of this chapter (relating to
					 Permanent Program Performance Standards), or until soil productivity for prime
					 farmlands has returned to the equivalent levels of yield as nonmined land of
					 the same soil type in the surrounding area under equivalent management
					 practices as determined from the soil survey performed pursuant to
					 §134.052(a)(16) of the Act and §§
												RSA
					 12.620-RSA
					 12.625 of this title (relating to Special
					 Permanent Program Performance Standards--Operations on Prime Farmland). Where a
					 silt dam is to be retained as a permanent impoundment pursuant to Subchapter K
					 of this Chapter, the Phase II portion of the bond may be released under this
					 paragraph so long as provisions for sound further maintenance by the operator
					 or the landowner have been made with the Commission; and
(3) at the completion of Phase III, after the
					 operator has completed successfully all surface coal mining and reclamation
					 activities, the release of the remaining portion of the bond, but not before
					 the expiration of the period specified for operator responsibility in §
												RSA
					 12.395 of this title (relating to
					 Revegetation: Standards for Success) or §12.560 of the title (relating to
					 Revegetation: Standards for Success). However, no bond shall be fully released
					 until all reclamation requirements of the Act and the permit are fully
					 met.