THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BROOKS, CLYMER, DePASQUALE, EVERETT, FLECK, FREEMAN, GEIST, HESS, HORNAMAN, KORTZ, LONGIETTI, MILLER, PASHINSKI, PEIFER, PICKETT, RAPP, SCAVELLO, SWANGER AND VULAKOVICH, FEBRUARY 10, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of May 31, 1945 (P.L.1198, No.418), entitled,

as amended, "An act providing for the conservation and

improvement of land affected in connection with surface

mining; regulating such mining; providing for the

establishment of an Emergency Bond Fund for anthracite deep

mine operators; and providing penalties," further providing

for mining permit; providing for bioenergy crop bonding; and

making editorial changes.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  The definitions of "department" and "secretary"

in section 3 of the act of May 31, 1945 (P.L.1198, No.418),

known as the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act,

are amended to read:

Section 3.  Definitions.--The following words and phrases,

unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context,

shall have the following meanings:

* * *

"Department" shall mean the Department of Environmental

[Resources] Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

* * *

"Secretary" shall mean the Secretary of the Department of

Environmental [Resources] Protection of the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania.

* * *

Section 2.  Section 4(a)(2)C of the act, amended December 18,

1992 (P.L.1384, No.173), is amended to read:

Section 4.  Mining Permit; Reclamation Plan; Bond.--(a)

Before any person shall hereafter proceed to mine coal by the

surface mining method, he shall apply to the department, on a

form prepared and furnished by the department, for a permit for

each separate operation. The department is authorized to charge

and collect from persons a reasonable filing fee. Such fee shall

not exceed the cost of reviewing, administering and enforcing

such permit. As a part of each application for a permit, the

operator shall, unless modified or waived by the department for

cause, furnish the following:

* * *

(2)  Reclamation Plan. A complete and detailed plan for the

reclamation of the land affected. Except as otherwise herein

provided, or unless a variance for cause is specially allowed by

the department as herein provided, each such plan shall include

the following:

* * *

C.  A description of the manner in which the operation will

segregate and conserve topsoil and if necessary suitable subsoil

to establish on the areas proposed to be affected a diverse,

effective, and permanent vegetative cover of the same seasonal

variety native to the area of land to be affected and capable of

self-regeneration and plant succession at least equal in extent

of cover to the natural vegetation of the area: Provided,

however, That introduced species may be used in the revegetation

process where desirable and necessary to achieve the approved

post-mining land use plan: And provided further, That when the

department issues a written finding approving a long-term,

intensive, agricultural post-mining land use as part of the

permit application, the department may grant an exception to the

requirements of this clause. For areas previously disturbed by

surface mining activities that were not reclaimed to the

standards of this act, and are proposed for remining, the

department may approve a vegetative cover which, at a minimum,

shall not be less than the ground cover existing before

redisturbance and shall be adequate to control erosion and

achieve an approved post-mining land use. To the extent

consistent with this act, the department shall encourage and

promote the use of switchgrass, camelina, canola and other

bioenergy crops for the revegetation of lands affected by

surface mining activities and the land so used shall be

considered to be cropland for post-mining land use purposes.

* * *

Section 3.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 4.14.  Bioenergy Crop Bonding.--To the extent funds

are available from the appropriation to the department under

section 213 of the act of June 22, 2001 (P.L.979, No.6A), known

as the "General Appropriation Act of 2001," for the conservation

purpose of providing sum-certain financial guarantees needed to

facilitate the implementation of full-cost bonding for a fee

and, in the event of forfeiture, to finance reclamation of the

forfeited surface mining site in an amount not to exceed the

sum-certain guarantee, or to the extent funds are otherwise

appropriated, the department shall make available at no cost to

the surface mine permittee of a remining site that has

revegetated the remining site with switchgrass, camelina, canola

or other bioenergy crops sum-certain guarantees to cover Stage

III reclamation liability for the remining site under the

permittee's reclamation bond and, in the event of forfeiture, to

finance reclamation of the forfeited surface mining site in an

amount not to exceed the sum-certain guarantee.

Section 4.  Section 18(a.1) of the act, amended May 22, 1996

(P.L.232, No.43), is amended to read:

Section 18.  Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation

Fund; Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund; Remining

Financial Assurance Fund; Department Authority for Awarding of

Grants.--

* * *

(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 of Environmental Resources]

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.

* * *

Section 5.  Section 19 of the act, amended October 10, 1980

(P.L.835, No.155), is amended to read:

Section 19.  Repealer.--All acts or provisions thereof

inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed: Provided, however,

That the act of Assembly, approved the eighteenth day of June,

Anno Domini one thousand nine hundred forty-one (Pamphlet Laws,

one hundred thirty-three), entitled "An act relating to coal

stripping operations; providing for the health and safety of

persons employed therein and for the inspection and regulation

of such operations by the Department of Mines; requiring certain

information and reports, and prescribing penalties," and the act

of Assembly, approved on the twenty-fifth day of June, Anno

Domini one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven (Pamphlet Laws,

two thousand two hundred seventy-five), entitled "An act to

promote safety for the traveling public on State highways; to

extend the responsibility for subsidence of such highways by the

failure of vertical and lateral support, and declaring said

subsidence a public nuisance; to provide for inspection of mine

maps by the Department of Highways, and the furnishing to said

department of copies of such mine maps in certain cases; to

authorize entry by the Department of Highways into mines in

certain cases; and to provide for notices to the Department of

Highways of certain mining operations under or adjacent to

highways; and providing penalties," and all other acts and

provisions thereof, which regulate the mining of bituminous coal

shall not be repealed or nullified by this act, but shall remain

in full force and effect. Nothing is this act shall be construed

to abrogate or modify the power and jurisdiction of the

[Department of Environmental Resources] department to make rules

and regulations, and to administer the laws of the Commonwealth

applicable to open pit mining.

Section 6.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.