§ 86.281. Financial guarantees to insure reclamation—general.

 (a)  In the Remining Financial Assurance Fund there is a special account providing financial guarantees for qualified operators who conduct remining. Funds in this special account may be used to financially assure bonding obligations under §  86.143 (relating to requirement to file a bond) of a qualified operator engaged in remining.

 (b)  The financial guarantee applies to remining areas approved by the Department. Operators who wish to participate in this program shall demonstrate, for each permit, their eligibility under § §  86.253 and 86.282 (relating to operator and project qualification; and participation requirements).

 (c)  For each approved permit of an eligible operator for a remining area, the Department will reserve a portion of the financial guarantees special account in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund as collateral for reclamation obligations on the remining area. The amount of the reserve will be the average cost per acre for the Department to reclaim a mine site multiplied by the number of acres in the remining area.

 (d)  Department may not issue financial guarantees on a permit in excess of 10% of the then current amount in the special account in the Remining Financial Aassurance Fund. The Department will not issue financial guarantees toa a mine operator if the aggregate amount of financial guarantees on permits issued to the operator will exceed 30% of the then current amount in the special account in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund. The Department will not issue additional financial guarantees when the aggregate amount of outstanding financial guarantees exceeds that amount resulting from dividing the current amount in the special account in the Remining Financial Assurance Fund by the historical rate of bond forfeiture under §  86.181 (relating to bond forfeiture-general) with a margin of safety determined by the Department.

 (e)  Upon declaration of forfeiture, the reserved funds will be used by the Department to complete reclamation of the remining area in accordance with the procedures and criteria in § §  86.187—86.190. If the actual cost of reclamation by the Department exceeds the amount reserved, additional funds from the Remining Financial Assurance Fund will be used to complete reclamation.

   This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §  86.282 (relating to participation requirements).