Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 100-199 - Environmental Protection General › Chapter NR 135 - Nonmetallic Mining Reclamation › Subchapter IV - Administration and Enforcement › Section NR 135.40 - Financial assurance

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) NOTIFICATION. The regulatory authority
				  shall provide written notification to the operator of the amount of financial
				  assurance required under sub. (3).
(2) FILING. Following approval of the
				  nonmetallic reclamation permit, and as a condition of the permit, the operator
				  shall file a financial assurance with the regulatory authority. The financial
				  assurance shall provide that the operator shall faithfully perform all
				  requirements in this chapter, an applicable reclamation ordinance and the
				  reclamation plan. Financial assurance shall be payable exclusively to the
				  regulatory authority that has jurisdiction and who issues the approval for the
				  reclamation plan. In cases where the regulatory authority changes from one
				  jurisdiction to another all financial assurance shall be made payable to the
				  regulatory authority that currently has primary regulatory responsibility in
				  that jurisdiction.
(3) AMOUNT AND
				  DURATION OF FINANCIAL ASSURANCE. The amount of financial assurance shall equal
				  as closely as possible the cost to the regulatory authority of hiring a
				  contractor to complete either final reclamation or progressive reclamation
				  according to the approved reclamation plan. The amount of financial assurance
				  shall be reviewed periodically by the regulatory authority to assure it equals
				  outstanding reclamation costs. Any financial assurance filed with the
				  regulatory authority shall be in an amount equal to the estimated cost to the
				  regulatory authority for reclaiming all sites the operator has under project
				  permits. The regulatory authority may accept a lesser initial amount of
				  financial assurance provided that the permittee initiates a process to
				  continuously increase the amount of financial assurance until it is adequate to
				  effect reclamation. An escrow account may be established that is based on
				  production gross sales and serves to provide regular payments to an account
				  that is designed to grow to the amount necessary to guarantee performance of
				  reclamation by the expected time of final reclamation. The period of the
				  financial assurance is dictated by the period of time required to establish the
				  post mining land use declared and approved of in the mine reclamation plan.
				  This may extend beyond the permit if required to accomplish successful and
				  complete implementation of the reclamation plan.
(4) FORM AND MANAGEMENT. Financial assurance
				  shall be provided by the operator and shall be by a bond or an alternate
				  financial assurance. Financial assurance shall be payable to the regulatory
				  authority and released upon successful completion of the reclamation measures
				  specified in the reclamation plan. Alternate financial assurances may include,
				  but are not limited to cash, certificates of deposits, irrevocable letters of
				  credit, irrevocable trusts, established escrow accounts, demonstration of
				  financial responsibility by meeting net worth requirements, or government
				  securities. Any interest from the financial assurance shall be paid to the
				  operator. Certificates of deposit shall be automatically renewable or other
				  assurances shall be provided before the maturity date. Financial assurance
				  arrangements may include, at the discretion of the regulatory authority, a
				  blend of different options for financial assurance including a lien on the
				  property on which the nonmetallic mining site occurs or a combination of
				  financial assurance methods.
(5)
				  MULTIPLE PROJECTS. Any operator who obtains a permit from the regulatory
				  authority for 2 or more nonmetallic mining sites may elect, at the time the
				  second or subsequent site is approved, to post a single financial assurance in
				  lieu of separate financial assurance instruments for each nonmetallic mining
				  site. When an operator elects to post a single financial assurance in lieu of
				  separate financial assurances for each mining site, no financial assurances
				  previously posted on individual mining sites shall be released until the new
				  financial assurance has been accepted by the regulatory authority.
(6) MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS. In cases where
				  more than one regulatory authority has jurisdiction, a cooperative financial
				  security arrangement may be developed and implemented by the regulatory
				  authorities to avoid requiring the permittee needing to prove financial
				  assurance with more than one regulatory authority for the same nonmetallic
				  mining site. Financial assurance is required for each site and 2 or more sites
				  of less than one acre by the same operator, except that governmental units are
				  not required to obtain financial assurance.
(7) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETION AND RELEASE.
(a) The operator shall notify the regulatory
				  authority, by filing a notice of completion, at the time that he or she
				  determines that reclamation of any portion of the mining site or the entire
				  site is complete. The regulatory authority shall inspect the mine site or
				  portion thereof that was the subject of the notice of completion to determine
				  if reclamation has been carried out in accordance with the approved reclamation
				  plan. The regulatory authority may partially release the financial assurance if
				  it determines that compliance with a portion of the reclamation plan has been
				  achieved and requires no waiting period. After determining that reclamation is
				  complete, the regulatory authority shall issue a certificate of completion and
				  shall release the financial assurance.
(b) The regulatory authority shall make a
				  determination of whether or not the certification in par. (a) can be made
				  within 60 days that the request is received.
(c) A regulatory authority may make a
				  determination under this subsection that:
1.
				  Reclamation is not yet complete;
2.
				  It is not possible to assess whether reclamation is complete due to weather
				  conditions, snow cover or other relevant factors;
3. Reclamation is complete in a part of the
				  mine; or
4. Reclamation is fully
				  complete.