§ 86.187. Use of money.
(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.
Authority The provisions of this § 86.187 issued under section 4.2(a) of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § 1396.4b(a)); amended under sections 4(a), (d) and (d.2) and 4.2 of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § § 1396.4(a), (d) and (d.2) and 1396.4b); 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); section 3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P.S. § 30.53b); section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 510-20); and PA. CONST. ART. 1, § 27.
Source The provisions of this § 86.187 adopted February 6, 1987, effective February 7, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 641; amended August 29, 2008, effective August 30, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 4742; amended August 21, 2015, effective August 22, 2015, 45 Pa.B. 4904. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (336566) to (336569).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 86.17 (relating to permit and reclamation fees); 25 Pa. Code § 86.145 (relating to Department responsibilities); 25 Pa. Code § 86.158 (relating to special terms and conditions for collateral bonds); 25 Pa. Code § 86.162b (relating to Land Reclamation Financial Guarantees); 25 Pa. Code § 86.186 (relating to scope); 25 Pa. Code § 86.281 (relating to financial guarantees to insure reclamation—general); 25 Pa. Code § 86.284 (relating to forfeiture); 25 Pa. Code § 86.291 (relating to financial assurance for bond credit—general); and 25 Pa. Code § 86.295 (relating to forfeiture).
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