NOTICES
Bituminous Underground Mine Openings and Boreholes; Notice of Proposed Bond Rate Guidelines for Sealing
[38 Pa.B. 1547]
[Saturday, March 29, 2008]The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) seeks comments on proposed revisions to its bond rate guidelines for sealing openings and boreholes at bituminous underground coal mining operations. The revisions will affect the amount of bond set aside to cover the costs of sealing of drifts, shafts, slopes and boreholes at underground coal mining operations, and the bond calculation procedures described in Technical Guidance Document ''Conventional Bonding for Land Reclamation--Coal'' (563) 2504-001.
Background
The proposed changes are necessary to bring bond amounts in line with the actual costs the Department would incur in sealing bituminous underground mine openings if an underground mine operator were to default on its reclamation obligations. In recent years, the Department has encountered several bond forfeiture cases, in which the bond amount set aside to complete sealing work was insufficient. More recently, the Department completed an evaluation, in which it compared engineers' estimates of the costs of sealing individual mine openings with the existing bond rate guidelines. The results of this evaluation indicated that the costs derived from engineers' estimates were significantly higher than the costs derived from the existing bond rate guidelines. One reason for this disparity is that the existing bond rate guidelines fail to account for variations in the depth of mine openings or the dimensions of seals. Another reason is that existing bond rate guidelines have not been updated recently to account for the effects of inflation.
Proposed Changes
Under this proposal the option to use the existing bond rate guidelines, described in the following table, will be eliminated.
Existing Bond Rate Guidelines for Sealing
Bituminous Underground Mine Openings10 ft. or less diameter $1,400 11 to 15 ft. diameter $3,000 Nonhydraulic shaft seal--inert fill 16 to 20 ft. diameter $4,500 21 to 25 ft. diameter $8,000 Hydraulic shaft seal w/bulkhead 10 ft. or less diameter $7,600 11 to 15 ft. diameter $9,200 16 to 20 ft. diameter $10,700 21 to 25 ft. diameter $14,200 Nonhydraulic drift/slope seal Any dimension $3,900 Hydraulic drift/slope seal w/bulkhead Any dimension $6,200 12 in. or less diameter $1,500 Borehole Larger than 12 in. diameter $2,000 Under the proposed approach, bond amounts for sealing drifts, shafts and slopes will be determined based on the actual amount of labor and materials required to complete the sealing of a bituminous underground opening and the units costs ascribed to performing individual components of that work. This approach is expected to bring the projected costs of sealing an individual mine opening more in line with the actual costs the Department would incur if it had to complete the work.
In developing the proposed approach, the Department reviewed sealing plans and cost estimates included in bituminous underground mine permit applications and contracts awarded for sealing abandoned mine openings. Based on this information, the Department identified five components that effectively describe the work performed during the course of sealing a drift or slope opening and five similar components that effectively describe all work involved in sealing a shaft opening. In the case of a drift or slope opening, the basic components of sealing work include mobilization, installation of security fencing, concrete work, masonry work and placement of fill and earthwork. In the case of a shaft opening, the basic components of sealing work include mobilization, installation of security fencing, placement of concrete, placement of aggregate and placement of fill and earthwork. Differences in work components reflect differences in the nature of mine openings and methods of seal installation (drifts and slope openings are horizontal to slightly inclined; shafts openings are vertical).
After establishing the basic components of the work, the Department gathered information needed to establish unit costs for each of the components. This information was obtained from sealing cost estimates submitted with recent permit applications, reclamation contracts, Walker's Building Estimator's Reference Book, the Means Estimating Book and labor rates maintained by the Department of Labor and Industry. As the final step, the Department adjusted the unit cost of each component to current dollars using labor rates compiled by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/cpi/) and material cost indices, published in the Engineering News Record.
Using this approach, the Department developed the proposed bond rate guidelines presented in the following tables. The first table presents guidelines applicable to sealing of drift and slope openings and the second table presents guidelines applicable to sealing shaft openings. Except for mobilization costs, all guidelines are established based on cost per unit length, cost per unit area or cost per unit volume. On this basis, the cost of performing each component of the work may be determined by multiplying the applicable unit cost times the dimensions of the opening or seal. The total cost of sealing a mine opening may then be determined by adding the costs of performing each of the individual components of the work.
Proposed Unit Costs for Sealing Bituminous
Underground Mine Drift and Slope Openings
Concrete Work $128.00/cy Masonry Work $11.00 sq. ft. Fill Material and Earthwork* $23.00/cy Security Fencing $29.00/lf Mobilization Cost 5% of total amount
Proposed Unit Costs for Sealing Bituminous
Underground Mine Shaft Openings
Concrete Material $96.00/cy Aggregate Material $27.00/cy Fill Material and Earthwork* $4.00/cy Security Fencing $29.00/lf Mobilization Cost 5% of total amount * The difference in the final unit costs for the fill and earthwork of a slope or drift opening compared to the fill and earthwork of a shaft is due to differences in methods of fill placement (end dumping the fill material into a shaft versus equipment pushing the fill material into a drift or slope opening).
The Department followed a similar approach in developing revised bond rate guidelines for boreholes. Recent cost information was derived from sealing estimates included in permit applications and contracts for mine site reclamation. The compiled information included costs for sealing boreholes with diameters ranging from 2 inches to 24 inches and depths ranging from 378 to 980 feet. This information was subsequently evaluated to determine the optimal basis for establishing unit costs. Based on the results of this evaluation, the Department determined that bond rate guidelines for borehole sealing should be based on cost per foot of depth with a minimum total cost per borehole. The unit cost figures derived from the analysis were subsequently adjusted to account for inflation. For purposes of establishing a minimum total amount per borehole, the Department decided to maintain the current guideline amounts of $1,500 for boreholes 12 inches or less in diameter and $2,000 for boreholes larger than 12 inches in diameter, which have been in use since 1983. The Department has analyzed these costs and has determined that they are still sufficient for establishing minimum amounts for sealing boreholes. The proposed bond rate guidelines for sealing boreholes are as follows:
Proposed Unit Costs for Sealing Boreholes at
Bituminous Underground Mines
Dimension Unit Cost Min. Cost per Hole Borehole 12 in. or less diameter $5.50/foot $1,500 Larger than 12 in. diameter $5.50/foot $2,000 The changes to bond rate guidelines in this proposal will necessitate changes to Appendix D of Technical Guidance 563-2504-001. Those changes will be made the next time the technical guidance is opened for revision.
For background information and supporting documentation regarding the proposed bond rate guidelines, contact the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, Division of Monitoring and Compliance, P. O. Box 8461, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8461, (717) 787-5103.
Effective Date
Final revisions to the bond rate guidelines for sealing mine openings will become effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Written Comments
Interested persons may submit written comments on the rates to be used for calculating the sealing costs for boreholes, shafts and mine openings by April 28, 2008. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted. The Department will accept comments submitted by e-mail. A return name and address must be included in each e-mail transmission. Written comments should be submitted to Gregory Shuler, P. G., Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, P. O. Box 8461, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8461 or by e-mail at gshuler@state.pa.us. Questions regarding the proposed bond rates should be directed to Gregory Shuler at (717) 783-1199 or gshuler@state.pa.us.
KATHLEEN A. MCGINTY,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 08-586. Filed for public inspection March 28, 2008, 9:00 a.m.]
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