                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

 INITIAL PAYMENTS INTO FUND; RENEWAL PAYMENTS; BONDS (§ 45.2-1045)

A. Any operator filing a permit application for a coal surface mining operation
participating in the pool fund shall pay into the Fund, as an entrance fee, a
sum equal to $1,000 for each applicable permit application. An entrance fee of
$5,000 shall be required of each operator who elects to participate in the Fund
if the Director has determined that the total balance of the Fund is less than
$1.75 million. The entrance fee shall be reduced to $1,000 when the total Fund
balance is greater than $2 million. A renewal fee of $1,000 shall be required of
each permittee in the Fund at permit renewal.

   1. For the purposes of this section, all planned expenditures shall be
   deducted from the balance of the Fund during each calendar quarter, including
   any forfeiture on which engineering cost estimates have been prepared but no
   money from the Fund has actually been expended.

   2. If the actual expenditures from the Fund are less than the engineering cost
   estimate, the difference shall be credited to the balance of the Fund during
   the calendar quarter in which the final expenditure is made from the Fund to
   accomplish the reclamation.

B. In addition to the initial payments into the Fund described in subsection A,
every operator who participates in the Fund shall furnish to the Fund a bond
that meets the criteria of § 45.2-1016 and regulations issued pursuant thereto
as follows:

   1. For an underground mining operation participating in the Fund prior to July
   1, 1991, the amount of $1,000 per acre covered by each permit. In no event
   shall such total bond be less than $40,000, except that on a permit that has
   completed all mining and for which a completion report was approved prior to
   July 1, 1991, the total bond shall not be less than $10,000.

   2. For an underground mining operation entering the Fund on or after July 1,
   1991, and for any additional acreage bonded after such date, the amount of
   $3,000 per acre. In no event shall the total bond for such underground
   operation entering the Fund on or after July 1, 1991, be less than $40,000.

   3. For any other coal mining operation participating in the Fund prior to July
   1, 1991, the amount of $1,500 per acre covered by each permit. In no event
   shall such total bond be less than $100,000, except that on a permit that has
   completed all mining and for which a completion report was approved prior to
   July 1, 1991, the total bond shall not be less than $25,000.

   4. For any other coal mining operation entering the Fund on or after July 1,
   1991, and for any additional acreage bonded after such date, the amount of
   $3,000 per acre. In no event shall the total bond for such operation entering
   the Fund on or after July 1, 1991, be less than $100,000.

C. All fees and payments provided in this article shall be in addition to
initial permit application and anniversary payments provided pursuant to &#xA7;
45.2-1010 or any other payments required in compliance with this chapter.

D. Each Fund participant shall be allowed to post incremental bonds as set forth
in &#xA7; 45.2-1016. Such bonds shall be posted in annual increments according
to a schedule contained in the permit application and approved annually by the
Director on the anniversary date.

E. Any mining operation participating in the Fund that has been in temporary
cessation for more than six months as of July 1, 1991, shall within 90 days of
that date post bond equal to the total estimated cost of reclamation for all
portions of the permitted site that are in temporary cessation. Any mining
operation participating in the Fund that has been in temporary cessation for six
months or less as of July 1, 1991, shall within 90 days after the date on which
the operation has been in temporary cessation for more than six months post bond
equal to the total estimated cost of reclamation for all portions of the
permitted site that are in temporary cessation. Any mining operation
participating in the Fund that enters temporary cessation on or after July 1,
1991, shall, prior to the date on which the operation has been in temporary
cessation for more than six months, post bond equal to the total estimated cost
of reclamation for all portions of the permitted site that are in temporary
cessation. Such bond shall remain in effect throughout the remainder of the
period during which the site is in temporary cessation. At such time as the site
returns to active status, the bond posted under this subsection may be released
if the permittee has posted bond pursuant to subsection B.

HISTORY: 1982, c. 334, § 45.1-270.3; 1983, c. 131; 1989, c. 432; 1991, c. 495;
2014, cc. 111, 135; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.