No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7941 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7941
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to
establish additional considerations with regard to the adequacy of
permit performance bonds, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 11, 2024
Mr. Cartwright (for himself, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Huffman,
Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, and Ms. Tlaib) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to
establish additional considerations with regard to the adequacy of
permit performance bonds, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bond Improvement and Reclamation
Assurance Act''.
SEC. 2. SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977 REFORM.
(a) Permit Performance Bonds.--Section 509 of the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1259) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), to read as follows:
``(a)(1) After a surface coal mining and reclamation permit
application has been approved but before such a permit is issued, the
applicant shall file with the regulatory authority, on a form
prescribed and furnished by the regulatory authority, a bond for
performance payable, as appropriate, to the United States or to the
State, and conditional upon faithful performance of all the
requirements of this Act and the permit.
``(2) The bond shall cover that area of land within the permit area
upon which the operator will initiate and conduct surface coal mining
and reclamation operations within the initial term of the permit.
``(3) As succeeding increments of surface coal mining and
reclamation operations are to be initiated and conducted within the
permit area, the permittee shall file with the regulatory authority an
additional bond to cover such increments in accordance with this
section.
``(4) The amount of the bond required for each bonded area shall--
``(A) be determined by the regulatory authority;
``(B) depend upon the reclamation requirements of the
approved permit;
``(C) reflect the probable difficulty of reclamation giving
consideration to factors including topography, geology of the
site, hydrology, and revegetation potential;
``(D) be sufficient to ensure the completion of the
reclamation plan if the work had to be performed by the
regulatory authority in the event of bond forfeiture; and
``(E) be set at a level consistent with the rebuttable
presumption that the mine will close 5 years after the permit
is issued.
``(5) In setting the amount of the bond under paragraph (4), the
regulatory authority shall consider--
``(A) the impact of a reasonably expected level of
inflation over the time period that the reclamation is likely
to occur;
``(B) the impact of an unplanned or early mine closure on
the cost of reclamation, including whether there will be
sufficient spoil available to reclaim the mine; and
``(C) any additional costs likely to be incurred as a
result of the regulatory authority undertaking reclamation
operations upon bond forfeiture.
``(6) The amount of a bond for the entire area under 1 permit may
not be less than $52,593, annually adjusted for inflation in accordance
with the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, as published by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.''; and
(2) in subsection (e), to read as follows:
``(e) The amount of the bond or deposit required and the terms of
each acceptance of the bond of the applicant shall be adjusted by the
regulatory authority--
``(1) from time to time--
``(A) as affected land acreages are increased or
decreased; or
``(B) where the cost of future reclamation changes
due to changing circumstances, including--
``(i) long-term water pollution discharge;
``(ii) coal market conditions;
``(iii) unanticipated mine closures; and
``(iv) changes in the reclamation plan;
``(2) whenever a permit is renewed; and
``(3) whenever a permit is transferred to a new
operator.''.
(b) Revision of Permits.--Section 511 of the Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1261) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c)(1) Before approving a transfer, assignment, or sale of the
rights granted under a permit issued pursuant to this Act or an
application for a revision of a permit submitted under subsection (a),
the regulatory authority shall recalculate the amount of the bond
required under section 509 for such permit and require the transferee,
assignee, or purchaser of the rights granted under the permit or the
permittee, respectively, to post such amount.
``(2) A permittee and each covered person--
``(A) may not be released from liability under the permit;
and
``(B) shall be jointly and severally liable for all
reclamation costs incurred by the regulatory authority to
complete reclamation under the permit, including treatment of
all postmining water pollution.
``(3) In this subsection, the term `covered person' means, with
respect to a permittee--
``(A) a person that owns or otherwise controls 30 percent
or more of the capital interests of the permittee; and
``(B) a person that owns or otherwise controls 30 percent
or more of the capital interests of a person described in
subparagraph (A).''.
(c) Inspections and Monitoring.--Section 517 of the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1267) is amended--
(1) in subsection (e)--
(A) by striking ``Each inspector'' and inserting
``(1) Each inspector''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Each inspector, upon completion of an inspection of any
surface coal mining and reclamation operations, shall forthwith inform
the regulatory authority of any changes to conditions at such surface
coal mining and reclamation operations that may--
``(A) result in an unanticipated increase in the cost of
reclamation of such surface coal mining and reclamation
operations; and
``(B) necessitate a change to the amount of the bond
established for the permit associated with such surface coal
mining and reclamation operations under section 509.''; and
(2) in subsection (f), by inserting ``electronically and
also'' after ``available to the public''.
(d) Rulemaking.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this section, taking into account the
standards in subsections (a) and (e) of section 509 of the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C.
1259) regarding bond adequacy, as amended by this section, the
Secretary shall issue regulations to establish guidelines and
benchmarks for each Federal and State regulatory authority to
determine minimum bond amounts under section 509 of that Act
(30 U.S.C. 1259).
(2) Data.--In issuing the regulations described in
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use data from a
representative sample of recent reclamation projects completed
by Federal and State regulatory authorities as a result of bond
forfeiture by a permittee.
(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Regulatory authority.--The term ``regulatory
authority'' has the meaning given the term in section
701 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1291).
(B) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director
of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
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