(a) Moneys
received from fees, fines, penalties, bond forfeitures and other moneys
received under authority of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act
(
52
P. S. §§
1396.1-
1396.19b), and interest
earned on the moneys, will be deposited in the Fund.
(1) Moneys received from the reclamation fees
required by §
86.17(e)
(relating to permit and reclamation fees), and the interest accrued on these
moneys will be deposited into a separate subaccount within the fund called the
Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account.
(i) The
Department will deposit into the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, up to
$500,000 in a fiscal year, the moneys collected from civil penalties assessed
by the Department under the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act
less the percentage of those penalty moneys due the Environmental Education
Fund under section 8 of the Environmental Education Act (35 P. S. §
7528). If the amount of penalty moneys
collected exceeds $500,000 during a fiscal year, the Department may deposit the
amount collected in excess of $500,000 into the fund and use the excess amount
in accordance with paragraph (3).
(ii) The Department may deposit into the
Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account a portion, to be determined at the
Department's discretion, of the interest earned on other moneys in the
fund.
(iii) The Department may
deposit other moneys into the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, including
appropriations, donations or the fees collected for Land Reclamation Financial
Guarantees implemented by §
86.162b (relating to Land
Reclamation Financial Guarantees) needed to facilitate full-cost bonding in
accordance with applicable law.
(iv) The moneys deposited in the Reclamation
Fee O&M Trust Account will be used to pay construction costs and operation
and maintenance costs associated with treating postmining pollutional
discharges at ABS Legacy Sites, and the moneys may not be used for any other
purpose. For purposes of this section, operation and maintenance includes
recapitalization costs. Moneys in the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account
will be held by the Commonwealth in trust for the benefit of all the people to
protect their right to pure water and the preservation of the values of the
environment. The State Treasurer will manage the investment of the funds in the
Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account with the advice of the
Department.
(2) Moneys
received from the forfeiture of bonds will be used only to reclaim land and
restore water supplies affected by the surface mining operations upon which
liability was charged on the bond, except as otherwise provided in this section
and in §
86.190 (relating to sites where
reclamation is unreasonable, unnecessary or impossible; excess funds). Interest
accrued on these moneys will be used only to reclaim land and restore water
supplies affected by surface mining operations for which the Department has
forfeited bonds, as a supplement to bond forfeiture funds.
(i) Moneys received from bonds forfeited on
ABS Legacy Sites, and the interest accrued on the moneys, will be deposited
into a separate subaccount in the Fund called the ABS Legacy Sites Trust
Account. The Department may, upon review and recommendation of the Mining and
Reclamation Advisory Board, transfer excess moneys from the Reclamation Fee
O&M Trust Account into the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account. The Department
may deposit other moneys into the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account, including
appropriations, donations, or interest earned on other moneys in the
fund.
(ii) Moneys in the ABS Legacy
Sites Trust Account, including the interest accrued by the trust account, will
be used to pay the operation and maintenance costs associated with treating
postmining pollutional discharges at ABS Legacy Sites, and the moneys may not
be used for any other purpose. Moneys in the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account
will be held by the Commonwealth in trust for the benefit of all the people to
protect their right to pure water and the preservation of the values of the
environment. The State Treasurer will manage the investment of the funds in the
ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account with the advice of the Department.
(iii) The Department may not make
disbursements from the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account until that trust account
becomes actuarially sound. The ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account will become
actuarially sound when the following conditions are met:
(A) Financial guarantees sufficient to cover
reclamation costs, including the costs to treat each discharge in perpetuity,
have been approved by the Department for all mine sites permitted under the
Primacy Alternate Bonding System.
(B) Construction of the necessary discharge
treatment facilities has been completed at the ABS Legacy Sites.
(C) The ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account,
combined with the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, contains funds which
generate interest at a rate and in an amount sufficient to pay the annual
operation and maintenance costs for treating postmining pollutional discharges
at the ABS Legacy Sites.
(iv) When the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account
becomes actuarially sound the Department will transfer the moneys in the
Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account into the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account
and the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account will terminate. At that time, the
reclamation fee or the alternative permanent funding source, whichever is in
place, will cease and the deposit of civil penalty moneys under paragpraph
(l)(i) will also cease.
(3) Other moneys deposited in the Fund may be
used to reclaim land affected by surface mining operations and for other
conservation purposes consistent with the purposes of the Fund, including
restoration of water supplies affected by surface mining operations. The
Department may also use the money in the Fund, other than the monies described
in paragraphs (1) and (2), for necessary administrative expenses, including the
purchase, lease or rental of vehicles, equipment, office space, laboratory
supplies or other supplies, materials or services and personnel and overhead
expenses.
(b) The
Department, after notifying and consulting with the landowner, will expend the
funds to reclaim the land affected by the operation in a manner which completes
the approved reclamation plan of the licensed mine operator whose bonds were
forfeited for the reclamation site or an alternative reclamation plan completed
under subsection (c). The Department will expend the funds to reclaim the land
affected by the operation in a manner which completes an alternative
reclamation plan in compliance with subsection (c) if either of the following
apply:
(1) After considering the engineering
cost estimate for completion of the approved reclamation plan of the licensed
mine operator whose bonds were forfeited for the reclamation site, the
Department determines that the plan may be amended to decrease the cost of
reclaiming the bond forfeiture site.
(2) The Department determines that completion
of the approved reclamation plan of the licensed mine operator whose bonds were
forfeited for the reclamation site is unreasonable, unnecessary or physically
impossible.
(c) If the
Department determines under subsection (b) that an alternative to the approved
reclamation plan of the licensed mine operator whose bonds were forfeited for
the reclamation site should be implemented, the Department will prepare and
implement a plan that complies with the applicable performance standards in
accordance with §
86.189(c)(2), (3) or
(4) (relating to reclamation of bond
forfeiture sites), whichever is appropriate, and that ensures that all
disturbed areas are restored to conditions that are capable of supporting
either the uses they were capable of supporting before any mining, or higher or
better uses.
