444.960. Fund, coal mine land reclamation, established, purpose, duties.
Fund, coal mine land reclamation, established, purpose, duties.
444.960. 1. A "Coal Mine Land Reclamation Fund" is herebyestablished in the state treasury. Assessments paid pursuant tothe provisions of section 444.965 shall be placed in this fund.If a permittee has filed a phase I reclamation bond pursuant tosection 444.950, and then fails to complete the reclamation planfor any land for which he has received a permit, moneys withinthe fund shall be used by the commission to complete thereclamation after the proceeds from any applicable performancebond for such reclamation have been exhausted. Any penaltylevied by the commission under section 444.970 shall be paid intothe fund.
2. Any portion of the fund not immediately needed to payfor reclamation work shall be deposited by the state treasurer ininterest-bearing accounts in the same manner as other state fundsare so deposited, and the interest earned thereon shall becredited to the fund.
3. The fund shall be allowed to accumulate until it reachesthe greater of seven million dollars or two thousand five hundreddollars times the number of acres within the state that have beenmined but which have not been released by the commission ashaving been reclaimed. Moneys which accumulate above thisceiling shall be distributed to the contributing companies on anequitable basis as determined by the commission.
4. Notwithstanding other provisions of law, the fund shallnot lapse at the end of any fiscal year, but shall be heldseparate and apart from other state funds and shall be usedsolely for the purposes authorized by the provisions of thissection.
5. All moneys assessed for the coal mine land reclamationfund after September 1, 1988, shall be allocated such that fortypercent of such assessments shall be applied to the reclamationof those permits that have been revoked by the commission priorto September 1, 1988, and sixty percent of such assessments shallbe applied to the reclamation of those permits that have beenrevoked by the commission after September 1, 1988. All moneyswithin the coal mine land reclamation fund as of September 1,1988, shall be allocated to the forty percent portion of thefund. After enough moneys have accumulated in the forty percentpool to complete reclamation of those permits that have beenrevoked by the commission prior to September 1, 1988, all moneysassessed to the coal mine land reclamation fund shall beallocated to the sixty percent fund. The moneys within therespective funds may be utilized by the commission on any aspectof reclamation.
(L. 1982 S.B. 737, A.L. 1986 S.B. 778, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1836, A.L. 1993 H.B. 312 & 257)