(a)
Liability under bonds posted for a coal surface mining activity shall continue
for the duration of the mining activities and its reclamation as provided in
the acts, regulations adopted thereunder and the conditions of the permit and
for 5 additional years after completion of augmented seeding, fertilization,
irrigation or other work necessary to achieve permanent revegetation of the
permit area.
(b) Liability under
bonds posted for the surface effects of an underground mine,
coal preparation
activity or other long-term facility shall continue for the duration of the
mining operation or use of the facility, its reclamation as provided in the
acts, regulations adopted thereunder and the conditions of the
permit, and for
5 years thereafter, except for:
(1) The risk
of water pollution for which liability under the bond shall continue for a
period of time after completion of the mining and reclamation operation. This
period of time will be determined by the Department on a case-by-case
basis.
(2) The risk of subsidence
from bituminous underground mines for which liability under the bond shall
continue for 10 years after completion of underground mining
operations.
(c) Liability
under bonds posted for coal refuse disposal activities shall continue for the
duration of the activities and for 5 years after the last year of augmented
seeding and fertilizing and other work to complete reclamation to meet the
requirements of the acts, regulations adopted thereunder, the conditions of the
permit and to otherwise protect the environment. Liability under the bond
related to the risk of water pollution from activities shall continue for a
period of time after completion of the coal refuse disposal activities. This
period of time will be determined by the Department on a case-by-case
basis.
(d) The extended period of
liability which begins upon completion of augmenting seeding, fertilization,
irrigation or other work necessary to achieve permanent revegetation of the
permit area shall include additional time taken by the permittee to repeat
augmented seeding, fertilization, irrigation or other work under a requirement
by the Department but may not include selective husbandry practices approved by
the Department, such as pest and vermin control, pruning, repair of rills and
gullies or reseeding or transplanting, or both, which constitute normal
conservation practices within the region for other land with similar land uses.
Seeding, fertilization, irrigation and repair of rills and gullies performed at
levels or degrees of management which exceed those normally applied in
maintaining use or productivity of comparable unmined land in the surrounding
area, would necessitate extending the period of liability.
(e) A portion of a
permit area requiring
extended
liability may be separated from the original area and bonded
separately upon approval by the
Department. Before determining that extended
liability should apply to only a portion of the original
permit area, the
Department will determine that the area portion is:
(1) Not significant in extent in relation to
the entire area under bond.
(2)
Limited to a distinguishable contiguous portion of the permit area.
(f) If the
Department approves a
long-term intensive agricultural postmining
land use, in accordance with §
87.159, §
88.133, §
88.221, §
88.334, §
88.381, §
88.492,§
89.88 or §
90.165, the 5-year period of
extended
liability shall commence at the date of initial planting for the
long-term intensive agricultural
land use.
(g) If the
Department issues a written
finding approving a long-term intensive agricultural
land use, the operation
shall be exempt from the requirements of §
87.147(b), §
88.121(b), §
88.209(b), §
88.322(b), §
88.492,§
89.86 or §
90.150(b). A
finding does not constitute a grant of an exception to the
bond liability
periods of this section.
(h) The
bond liability of the
permittee shall include only those actions which the
operator is obliged to take under the
permit, including completion of the
reclamation plan so that the land will be capable of supporting a postmining
land use approved under §
87.159, §
88.133, §
88.221, §
88.334, §
88.381, §
88.492, §
89.88 or §
90.166. Implementation of an
alternate postmining
land use approved under these sections which is beyond the
control of the
permittee need not be covered by the
bond.
(i) If an area is separated under subsection
(e), that portion shall be bonded separately, and the applicable period of
liability, in accordance with this section, shall begin again. The amount of
bond on the original bonded area may be adjusted in accordance with §
86.152 (relating to adjustments).
(j) Release of any bond under this section
does not alleviate the operator's responsibility to treat discharges of mine
drainage emanating from or hydrologically connected to the site, to the
standards in the permit, the act, The Clean Streams Law, the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Notes
The
provisions of this § 86.151 adopted December 19, 1980,
10 Pa.B. 4789, effective 7/31/1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended July 30,
1982, 12 Pa.B. 2473, effective 7/31/1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended June 25,
1993, effective 6/26/1993, 23
Pa.B. 3075; amended November 14, 1997, effective
11/15/1997, 27 Pa.B. 6041;
amended October 21, 2005, effective 10/22/2005, 35 Pa.B. 5775; amended March 13,
2020, effective 3/14/2020, 50
Pa.B. 1508.
The provisions of this § 86.151 amended under 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); 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); 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 §
86.159 (relating to self-bonding);
25 Pa. Code §
86.161 (relating to phased
deposits of collateral); 25 Pa. Code§
86.162c (relating to Bioenergy
Crop Bonding); 25 Pa. Code §
86.174 (relating to standards
forrelease of bonds); 25 Pa. Code §
86.175 (relating to schedule for
release of bond); 25 Pa. Code §
87.155 (relating to revegetation:
standards for successful revegetation); 25 Pa. Code §
87.156 (relating to revegetation:
techniques and frequency of measurement); 25 Pa. Code §
87.209 (relating to criteria and
schedule for release of bonds on pollution abatement areas); 25 Pa. Code §
88.129 (relating to revegetation:
standards for successful revegetation); 25 Pa. Code §
88.217 (relating to vegetation:
standards for successful vegetation); 25 Pa. Code §
88.330 (relating to revegetation:
standards for successful revegetation); 25 Pa. Code §
88.509 (relating to criteria and
schedule for release of bonds on pollution abatement areas); 25 Pa. Code §
89.86 (relating to revegetation);
and 25 Pa. Code §
90.309 (relating to criteria and
schedule for release of bonds on pollution abatement
areas).
