§ 86.282. Participation requirements.
(a) Upon completion of the technical review of a permit application and receipt of a request for bond, an operator may apply to participate in the financial guarantees program for a remining area if the requirements of § 86.253 (relating to operator and project qualification) are met. To participate in this program, an operator shall demonstrate to the Department’s satisfaction one of the following:
(1) The operator would be able to post a collateral bond otherwise required by this chapter and demonstrate appropriate experience in coal mining and reclamation.
(i) The operator shall demonstrate ability to post a collateral bond by meeting the following conditions for the operator’s most recently completed fiscal year and the 2 preceding fiscal years:
(A) A ratio of current assets to current liabilities of 1.5 or greater.
(B) A ratio of total liabilities to tangible net worth of 3 or less.
(ii) The operator shall submit a notarized statement signed by the operator and an independent certified public accountant (CPA), an officer of a financial institution with which the operator conducts business or other person or entity responsible for the accounts of the operator. The statement shall list the operator’s ratio of current assets to current liabilities and the operator’s ratio of total liabilities to tangible net worth for the most recently completed fiscal year and the 2 preceding fiscal years.
(iii) The operator shall demonstrate appropriate experience in coal mining and reclamation by showing that he has had a coal mining license under section 3.1 of the act (52 P. S. § 1396.3a) for 5 years or the person designated by the operator to manage the operation has a minimum of 5 years of experience in coal mining and reclamation.
(2) The operator would be able to obtain a surety bond otherwise required under this chapter. The operator will demonstrate this by submitting a letter of acceptance from a surety company licensed to do business in this Commonwealth and which writes bonds for reclamation of mine sites located in this Commonwealth or by submitting a surety bond for an equal portion of the remaining reclamation liability for the proposed remining site. The acceptance letter shall indicate the complete name and address of the surety company and state that the surety company would write the bond.
(3) The operator would be eligible to self-bond under § 86.159 (relating to self-bonding).
(4) The operator has previously participated in the remining financial guarantee program and met its reclamation obligations and made timely payments. An operator will be eligible under this subsection if it has not been cited through a notice of violation under § 86.165(a) (relating to failure to maintain proper bond) within the previous 3 years prior to the request for a remining financial guarantee.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), an operator will not be approved to participate in the financial guarantees program when the financial guarantees exceed the limits established in § 86.281(d) (relating to financial guarantees to insure reclamation—general).
(c) If an operator, CPA or other person submits false information in the financial test or falsifies other information required by this section, the operator shall be ineligible to participate in the financial guarantees program. In addition, the operator, the CPA or other person are subject to 18 Pa.C.S. § § 4903 and 4904 (relating to false swearing; and unsworn falsification to authorities).
Authority The provisions of this § 86.282 amended under section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. § 691.5); sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § § 1396.4(a) and 1396.4b); section 3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P.S. § 30.53b); section 7(b) of The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (52 P.S. § 1406.7(b)); and section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 510-20).
Source The provisions of this § 86.282 amended June 17, 2011, effective June 18, 2011, 41 Pa.B. 3084; amended March 13, 2020, effective March 14, 2020, 50 Pa.B. 1508. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (357511) to (357512).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 86.281 (relating to financial guarantees to insure reclamation—general).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
