| (a) After an application for a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations has been approved but before such permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the Commission a performance bond or bonds payable to the Commission. The performance bond will be conditioned upon the faithful performance of all the requirements of the Act, this chapter (relating to Coal Mining Regulations), and the provisions of the reclamation plan and permit. The amount, duration, form, conditions and terms of the performance bond shall conform to §§12.304-12.307 of this title (relating to Amount and Duration of Performance Bond) and §§12.308-12.311 of this title (relating to Form, Conditions, and Terms of Performance Bond and Liability Insurance). (b) The bond or bonds shall cover the entire permit area, or an identified increment of land within the permit area upon which the operator will initiate and conduct surface coal mining
and reclamation operations during the initial term of the permit. As operations on succeeding areas are initiated and conducted, the permittee shall file with the Commission an additional bond or bonds to cover such areas in accordance with this section. The bond or bonds shall not be for an area that is smaller than the entire area upon which surface coal mining and reclamation operations will be conducted in a given permit term. (1) After the amount of the bond has been determined for the permit area in accordance with §§12.304-12.307 of this title (relating to Amount and Duration of Performance Bond), the permittee or applicant may either file: (A) the entire performance bond required during the term of the permit; or (B) an incremental bond schedule and the new performance bond required for the first increment in the schedule. (2) When the operator elects to "increment" the amount of the
performance bond during the term of the permit, he shall identify the initial and successive incremental areas for bonding on the permit application map submitted for approval as provided in §12.142 of this title (relating to Operation Plan: Maps and Plans), and shall specify the proportion of the total bond amount required for the term of the permit which will be filed prior to commencing operations on each incremental area. Independent increments shall be of sufficient size and configuration to provide for efficient reclamation operations should reclamation by the Commission become necessary pursuant to §§12.314-12.317 of this title (relating to Performance Bond Forfeitures Criteria and Procedures). The scheduled amount of each performance bond increment shall be filed with the Commission at least 30 days prior to the commencement of surface coal mining and reclamation operations in the next incremental area. (c) Surface disturbances which are a
part of underground operations, and other long-term operations may be bonded for a period of less than the permit term; however, continuous bond coverage must be maintained during active operations at those sites and for the applicable liability period after operations have ceased.
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