§ 86.17. Permit and reclamation fees.

 (a)  A permit application for coal mining activities shall be accompanied by a check for $250 payable to the ‘‘Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.’’

 (b)  A permit application for a coal preparation plant shall be accompanied by a check for $250 payable to the ‘‘Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.’’

 (c)  A renewal application, whether the site has not yet been activated or where coal is being extracted, shall be accompanied by a check for $250 payable to the ‘‘Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.’’ A renewal application for reclamation activities requires no application fee.

 (d)  A permit application for coal refuse disposal activities shall be accompanied by a check for $500 plus $10 per acre for acreage in excess of 50 acres payable to the ‘‘Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.’’

 (e)  In addition to the bond established under § §  86.143, 86.145, 86.149 and 86.150 and subject to the exception provided for in §  86.283(c) (relating to procedures), the applicant for a permit or a permit amendment shall pay a per acre reclamation fee for surface mining activities except for the surface effects of underground mining. This reclamation fee will be assessed for each acre of the approved operational area and shall be paid by the applicant prior to the Department’s issuance of a surface mining permit. If a permit amendment results in an increase in the approved operational area, the reclamation fee will be assessed on the increased acreage and shall be paid by the operator prior to the Department’s issuance of the permit amendment.

   (1)  The reclamation fee will be deposited into a separate subaccount within the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund called the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, as a supplement to bonds forfeited from ABS Legacy Sites. The reclamation fee will be used by the Department to pay the 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. The interest earned on the moneys in the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account will be deposited into the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account and will be used by the Department to pay the construction costs and operation and maintenance costs associated with treating postmining pollutional discharges at ABS Legacy Sites. The interest may not be used for any other purpose. For purposes of this section, operation and maintenance costs include recapitalization costs.

   (2)  After the end of each fiscal year, the Department will prepare a fiscal-year report containing a financial analysis of the revenue and expenditures of the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account for the past fiscal year and the projected revenues and expenditures for the current fiscal year. Beginning with the report for fiscal year 2008-09, the report will include the Department’s calculation of the required amount of the reclamation fee, and the proposed adjustment of the reclamation fee amount. The fiscal-year report will be submitted to the members of the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board for their review and comment and will be published on the Department’s web site. Notice of the report’s availability will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The Department will review the fiscal-year report at a meeting of the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board.

   (3)  The amount of the reclamation fee shall be $100 per acre until December 31, 2009. Commencing January 1, 2010, and continuing until either a permanent alternative funding source is established or the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is actuarially sound, the reclamation fee will be adjusted as necessary to ensure that there are sufficient revenues to maintain a balance in the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account of at least $3,000,000.

     (i)   The reclamation fee will be used until the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is actuarially sound unless an alternative permanent funding source in lieu of the reclamation fee is used to fund the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account.

     (ii)   Until the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is actuarially sound, the alternative permanent funding source must provide sufficient revenues to maintain a balance in the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account of at least $3,000,000 and to pay the annual operation and maintenance costs for treating postmining pollutional discharges at the ABS Legacy Sites. Funds that are not needed for annual operation and maintenance or to maintain the $3,000,000 balance may be deposited into the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account.

   (4)  Commencing January 1, 2010, and continuing until the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account is actuarially sound, the amount of the reclamation fee will be annually calculated and, if necessary, will be adjusted in multiples of $50 based on the following factors:

     (i)   The current balance in the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account.

     (ii)   The total amount of revenue into the trust account during the previous fiscal year from collection of the reclamation fee, the interest accrued by the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account, the deposits of civil penalties into the trust account and deposits from other sources of moneys into the trust account.

     (iii)   The amount of ongoing operation and maintenance costs incurred by the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account during previous fiscal years.

     (iv)   The projected number of acres subject to the reclamation fee during the current fiscal year.

     (v)   The projected amount of revenue into the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account during the current fiscal year from projected interest accrued by the trust account, projected deposits of civil penalties and projected deposits of moneys from other sources.

     (vi)   The projected expenditures of the Reclamation Fee O&M Trust Account for operation and maintenance costs for the current fiscal year.

   (5)  Following the Department’s review of its calculation of the required reclamation fee amount at a public meeting of the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board under paragraph (2), the Department will publish the adjustment in the required amount of the reclamation fee in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Adjustments to the amount of the reclamation fee will become effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The Department’s determination of the required amount of the reclamation fee under paragraphs (3) and (4) will be a final action of the Department appealable to the EHB.

   (6)  The Department will cease to assess and collect the reclamation fee when the ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account established under §  86.187(a) (relating to use of money) becomes actuarially sound. The ABS Legacy Sites Trust Account will become actuarially sound when the following conditions are met:

     (i)   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.

     (ii)   Construction of the necessary discharge treatment facilities has been completed at the ABS Legacy Sites.

     (iii)   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.

   This §  86.17 amended by sections 4(d) and (d.2) and 4.2(a) of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P. S. § §  1396.4(d) and (d.2) and 1396.4b(a)); 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.

   The provisions of this §  86.17 adopted December 19, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 4789, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended July 30, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2473, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended June 15, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3383; effective July 27, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 3316; amended August 6, 1993, effective August 7, 1993, 23 Pa.B. 3685; amended August 29, 2008, effective August 30, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 4742. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (244007).

   This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §  86.187 (relating to use of money); 25 Pa. Code §  86.283 (relating to procedures); and 25 Pa. Code §  88.381 (relating to general requirements).