Section 1396.18 - Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund; Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund; Remining Financial Assurance Fund; Department Authority for Awarding of Grants(a) Except as provided in subsection (a.1), all funds received by the secretary from license fees, from permit fees, including all reclamation fees collected by the department under this act pursuant to the department's alternate bonding program, from forfeiture of bonds, from all fines collected under section 18.5 and all civil penalties collected under section 18.4, and of cash deposits and securities, and from costs recovered under the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known as "The Clean Streams Law," shall be held by the State Treasurer in a special fund, separate and apart from all other moneys in the State Treasury, to be known as the "Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund," and shall be used by the secretary for: (1) the revegetation or reclaiming of land affected by surface mining of any coal;(2) for restoration or replacement of water supplies affected by surface mining activities; or(3) for any other conservation purposes provided by this act, and for such purposes are hereby specifically appropriated to the department. Except as provided in subsection (a.1), costs recovered under section 315(b) of "The Clean Streams Law" from a deep mine operator or operators shall be paid into the Clean Water Fund.(a.1)(1) There is hereby created a special fund in the State Treasury to be known as the "Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund." The secretary is authorized to transfer at the commencement of each fiscal year a total of one million dollars ($1,000,000) into the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund aggregated from the following sources:(i) License and permit fees except reclamation fees paid to the department under this act pursuant to the department's alternate bonding program.(ii) Fines and penalties collected under this act.(iii) Fees, fines and penalties collected pursuant to section 315 of "The Clean Streams Law," including fines and penalties from mining operations collected under section 605 or other provisions of that act.(iv) Fees, fines and penalties collected pursuant to the act of September 24, 1968 (P.L.1040, No.318) , known as the "Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act."(v) Fees, fines and penalties collected pursuant to the act of April 27, 1966 (1st Sp.Sess., P.L.31, No.1) , known as "The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act," not including funds received pursuant to section 6(a) of that act.(2) All moneys placed in the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund and the interest it accrues are hereby appropriated upon authorization by the Governor to the department for the costs of operating a remining and reclamation incentive program, including designating areas suitable for reclamation by remining and establishing and operating a remining operator's assistance program, but not including a bond credit or financial guarantees program.(a.2)(1) There is hereby created a special fund in the State Treasury to be known as the "Remining Financial Assurance Fund." The Governor is authorized to transfer up to five million dollars ($5,000,000) from the allotment set forth in section 16(a)(1) of the act of January 19, 1968 (1967 P.L. 996, No. 443), known as "The Land and Water Conservation and Reclamation Act," to the Remining Financial Assurance Fund for the purposes of the Remining Financial Assurance Fund. All moneys placed in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund are hereby appropriated upon authorization by the Governor to the department for the purpose of: (i) Providing financial assurance for the reclamation bond credit program set forth in section 4.13. (ii) Providing financial assurance for the financial guarantees program set forth in section 4.12. Interest which accrues from the Remining Financial Assurance Fund shall be transferred into the Land and Water Development Sinking Fund established in section 10 of "The Land and Water Conservation and Reclamation Act" and shall be used for the purposes established therein.
(2) Mine operators whose applications for financial assurance have been approved by the department to participate in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund shall not be required to pay any per-acre reclamation fees established by the department for the abandoned mine area covered by the proposal or permit application.(a.3) An operator must demonstrate, in order to utilize any funds from or participate in any programs funded by the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund or the Remining Financial Assurance Fund, including any of the remining incentive programs specified in sections 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 and 4.11, or the remining financial assurance programs set forth in section 4.12 or 4.13, or remining incentives promulgated in regulations pursuant to those sections, that he meets all of the following requirements:(1) The operator, any related party or any person who owns or controls the operator or is owned or controlled by the operator has no liability for reclamation or pollution at the proposed abandoned mine site.(2) The proposed activity is technologically and economically feasible at the proposed abandoned mine site and will not violate effluent limitations or water quality standards.(3) The operator is a licensed mine operator who is otherwise eligible to obtain a permit.(4) Where applicable, the operator has submitted a mining application to the department clearly indicating which areas the operator intends to remine and which areas, if any, are to be mined for the first time.(5) Where applicable, the operator has accurately calculated the amount of bond that would be needed to cover the total area to be remined and the amount needed to cover the initial area of remining.(6) The operator has requested to be considered by the department for participation in the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund, the Remining Financial Assurance Fund or both funds.(a.4) Priority for participation in the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund and the Remining Financial Assurance Fund shall be given to licensed mine operators proposing remining within areas designated suitable for reclamation by remining.(b) Funds received from the forfeiture of bonds, both surety and collateral, shall be expended by the secretary for reclaiming and planting the area of land affected by the operation upon which liability was charged on the bond, if the secretary determines such expenditure to be reasonable, necessary and physically possible. Any funds received from such forfeited bonds in excess of the amount which is required to reclaim and plant the area of land affected by the operation upon which liability was charged and funds received from bond forfeitures where reclamation and planting is determined to be unreasonable, unnecessary or physically impossible, may be used by the secretary for any of the purposes provided in subsection (a).(c) The secretary shall expend the funds for reclaiming and planting the area of land affected by the operation in such a manner as to complete the operator's approved reclamation plan. After considering the engineering cost estimate for completion of the approved reclamation plan, the secretary may amend the approved reclamation plan to minimize the cost of reclaiming the bond forfeiture area. If the secretary determines that completion of the approved reclamation plan is impossible or unreasonable, the bond forfeiture area shall be reclaimed in a manner that makes the land suitable for agriculture, forests, recreation, wildlife or water conservation. In all cases where an alternative plan is to be implemented, consideration may be given to the soil characteristics, topography, surrounding lands, proximity to urban centers, cost effectiveness and other land uses approved by the landowner and local land use agencies.(d) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, the department shall advertise for bids for reclamation of forfeited bond areas in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality in which the work is to take place. This advertisement shall appear for a minimum of two consecutive weeks. In addition, the department shall send written notice to all landowners within the project area of the proposed reclamation project: Provided, however, That based on an engineering cost estimate for completing the operator's approved reclamation plan, the secretary may negotiate and enter into a contract with the landowner or a licensed mine operator to complete the reclamation plan of a bond forfeiture area after public notice in a local newspaper of general circulation.(e) When the department advertises for bids, the department may request alternate bids, including the rental of equipment, with equipment operators to be supervised by the department during completion of the reclamation plan.(f) When a licensed mine operator desires to reclaim property on which the department has forfeited bonds for failure to complete the reclamation plan or is granted a permit on property contiguous to a property on which the department has forfeited bonds for failure to complete the reclamation plan, the operator or permittee shall be provided the opportunity to make a proposal to complete the reclamation plan of the forfeited bond area. The proposal shall contain estimated costs and the necessary information upon which the department can determine the cost effectiveness of the proposal. Upon receipt of the proposal, the secretary may negotiate and enter into a contract with the operator or permittee to complete the reclamation plan. A determination whether to negotiate shall be made by the department within thirty (30) days of receipt of the proposal; and contract negotiations shall begin within thirty (30) days of the determination to negotiate.(g) There is hereby created a Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board to assist the secretary to expend the funds for the purposes provided by this act and to advise the secretary on all matters pertaining to mining and reclamation which shall include, but not be limited to, experimental practices, alternate methods of backfilling, selection of reclamation projects, alternate reclamation methods, obligations for preexisting pollution liability, alteration of reclamation plans, reclamation fees and bonding rates and methods. (1) The board shall be comprised of the following members:(i) Three (3) coal operators, two (2) of whom shall be licensed bituminous surface mine operators and one (1) of whom shall be a licensed anthracite surface mine operator.(ii) Four (4) public members from the Citizens Advisory Council, who shall be appointed by the council.(iii) Two (2) members, one (1) from the Anthracite and Bituminous Licensed Professional Engineers and one (1) from the County Conservation Districts, who shall be appointed by the State Conservation District Commission.(iv) Four (4) members of the General Assembly, two (2) from the Senate, one (1) member from the majority party and one (1) member from the minority party, who shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, and two (2) from the House of Representatives, one (1) from the majority party and one (1) from the minority party, who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.(v) If a coal refuse energy and reclamation facility is operating within this Commonwealth, an additional one (1) member shall be an operator or employe of the coal refuse energy and reclamation facility.(2) The secretary shall chair the board and appoint the members from the coal industry, the coal refuse energy and reclamation industry and the member from the Anthracite and Bituminous Licensed Professional Engineers.(3) All members shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years, except that one-half of the initial members shall serve for three (3) years.(4) All actions of the board shall be by majority vote. The board shall meet upon the call of the secretary, but not less than quarterly, to carry out its duties under this act. The board shall select from among its members a chairperson and such other officers as it deems appropriate.(5) The board shall prepare an annual report on its activities and submit the report to the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the House Conservation Committee.(g.1) There is hereby created an Aggregate Advisory Board to assist the secretary to expend the funds for the purposes provided by section 17 of the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L.1093, No.219), known as the "Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act," and to advise the secretary on all matters pertaining to surface mining, as defined in section 3 of the "Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act," which shall include, but not be limited to experimental practices, alternate methods of backfilling, obligations for preexisting pollution liability, alteration of reclamation plans, reclamation fees and bonding rates and methods. The board shall function as follows: (1) The board shall be comprised of the secretary; three (3) aggregate surface mining operators; four (4) public members from the Citizens Advisory Council, who shall be appointed by the council; one (1) member from the County Conservation Districts, who shall be appointed by the State Conservation Commission; four (4) members of the General Assembly, two (2) from the Senate, one (1) member from the majority party and one (1) member from the minority party, who shall be appointed by the President pro tempore, and two (2) from the House of Representatives, one (1) from the majority party and one (1) from the minority party, who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.(2) The secretary shall chair the Aggregate Advisory Board and appoint the members from the aggregate industry.(3) All members shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years, except that one-half of the initial members shall serve for three (3) years.(4) All actions of the board shall be by majority vote. The board shall meet upon the call of the secretary, but not less than quarterly, to carry out its duties under this act. The board shall select from among its members such officers as it deems appropriate.(5) The board shall prepare an annual report on its activities and submit the report to the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.(h) The secretary shall not enter into a reclamation contract with any person or related party who has forfeited any bond or has been convicted of a misdemeanor within three (3) years for violating any provision of these acts: the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known as "The Clean Streams Law"; the act of September 24, 1968 (P.L. 1040, No. 318), known as the "Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act"; the act of April 27, 1966 (1st Sp.Sess., P.L. 31, No. 1), known as "The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act"; the act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L. 2119, No. 787), known as the "Air Pollution Control Act"; theact of July 7, 1980 (P.L. 380, No. 97) , known as the "Solid Waste Management Act"; or the act of November 26, 1978 (P.L. 1375, No. 325), known as the "Dam Safety and Encroachments Act." (i) The department shall publish in the Pennsylvania Bulletin each bond forfeiture project to be advertised for bids or contracts to be negotiated or proposals received. The publication shall include, at minimum, the location of the project and a brief summary of work to be done. Upon awarding a contract, the department shall publish in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the name of the recipient contractor, the location of the project, the summary of work to be done and the cost of such work.(j) The department may, upon written application, award grants to municipalities, municipal authorities and appropriate nonprofit organizations from the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund and from funds the department receives from the United States for approved abandoned mine purposes authorized by this subsection. The purposes of the grants shall be consistent with all applicable Federal and State requirements related to the source of the funds. A grant awarded under this subsection shall be subject to such terms and conditions as established by the department.Amended by P.L. TBD 2022 No. 105, § 1, eff. 1/3/2023.Amended by P.L. TBD 2014 No. 137, § 1, eff. 11/23/2014.Amended by P.L. 918 2012 No. 95, § 4, eff. 9/3/2012.1945, May 31, P.L. 1198, § 18. Amended 1949, May 23, P.L. 1730, § 1; 1953, Aug. 19, P.L. 1115, § 1; 1961, Sept. 2, P.L. 1210, § 8; 1963, July 16, P.L. 238, § 11; 1971, Nov. 30, P.L. 554, No. 147, § 13; 1980, Oct. 10, P.L. 835, No. 155, § 11, imd. effective; 1984, Oct. 12, P.L. 916, No. 181, § 3, effective in 60 days; 1992, Dec. 18, P.L. 1384, No. 173, §9, effective in 60 days; 1996, May 22, P.L. 232, No. 43, § 6, effective in 60 days.