Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
Section 86.284 - Forfeiture(a) Upon forfeiture under § 86.181 (relating to general), the Department will declare forfeit the specified amount of the financial guarantee for the permit in the financial guarantees special account in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund in addition to other bonds posted by the operator to cover the reclamation obligation on the permit.(b) The Department's declaration of forfeiture under this section does not excuse the operator from meeting the requirements of this chapter or other requirements under the act.(c) Upon declaration of forfeiture, the Department will use the bond money posted by the operator and the specified amount of the financial guarantee to complete the reclamation of the mine site in accordance with the procedures and criteria in §§ 86.187-86.190.(d) The financial guarantees program may be discontinued immediately and notice published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, if 25% or greater of the total outstanding financial guarantees are subject to forfeiture. If the financial guarantees program is discontinued, no additional financial guarantees may be approved. Outstanding financial guarantees will remain in effect until released under §§ 86.170-86.175.(e) The financial guarantees program may be suspended upon notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin when the number of participating permits declared forfeit is equal to that number of permits calculated by multiplying the historical rate of forfeiture plus a margin of safety times the number of permits participating in the program. No additional financial guarantees will be approved until the total amount of financial guarantees declared forfeit has been replaced through the accumulation of annual payments or by other means.The provisions of this §86.284 amended June 17, 2011, effective 6/18/2011, 41 Pa.B. 3084; amended March 13, 2020, effective 3/14/2020, 50 Pa.B. 1508.The provisions of this §86.284 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).