Ill. Admin. Code tit. 62, § 1800.40 - Requirement to Release Performance Bonds
a) Bond release application.
1) The permittee may file an application with
the Department for the release of all or part of a performance bond at any
time. The permittee may authorize a person to act on the permittee's behalf.
The Department may also initiate an application for bond release. For bond
releases initiated by the Department, the Department shall undertake the
notification and certification requirements of the applicant under this
Section.
2) Within 30 days after an
application for bond release has been filed with the Department, the applicant
shall submit a copy of an advertisement placed at least once a week for 4
successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the
surface coal mining operation. The advertisement shall be considered part of
any bond release application and shall contain the permit number and approval
date, notification of the precise location of the land affected, the number of
acres, the type and amount of the bond filed and the portion sought to be
released, the type and appropriate dates of reclamation work performed, a
description of the results achieved as they relate to the permittee's approved
reclamation plan, and the name and address of the Department to which written
comments, objections, or requests for public hearings on the specific bond
release may be submitted pursuant to subsection (d). In addition, as part of
any bond release application, the applicant shall submit copies of letters
which he or she has sent to adjoining property owners, local governmental
bodies, planning agencies, sewage and water treatment authorities, and water
companies in the locality in which the surface coal mining and reclamation
operation took place, notifying them of the intention to seek release from the
bond. The applicant shall submit a certification of publication for such
advertisement prior to the Department's final administrative decision releasing
bond.
3) The applicant shall
include in the application for bond release a notarized statement which
certifies that all applicable reclamation activities have been accomplished in
accordance with the requirements of the State Act, the regulatory program and
the approved reclamation plan. Such certification shall be submitted for each
application or phase of bond release.
b) Inspection by Department.
1) Upon filing of the bond release
application, the Department shall, within 30 days, or as soon thereafter as
weather conditions permit, conduct an inspection and evaluation of the
reclamation work involved. The evaluation shall consider, among other factors,
the degree of difficulty to complete any remaining reclamation, whether
pollution of surface and subsurface water is occurring, the probability of
future occurrence of such pollution, and the estimated cost of abating such
pollution. The surface owner, agent, or lessee shall be given notice of such
inspection and may participate with the Department in making the bond release
inspection. The Department may arrange with the permittee to allow access to
the permit area, upon request by any person with an interest in bond release,
for the purpose of gathering information relevant to the proceeding.
2) Within the later of 60 days from the
filing of the bond release application or 5 days after the expiration of the
public comment period provided under subsection (d), if no public hearing is
held pursuant to subsection (d), or within 30 days after a public hearing has
been held pursuant to subsection (d), the Department shall notify, in writing,
the permittee, the municipality and county in which the surface coal mining
operation is located, the surety, or other persons with an interest in bond
collateral who have requested notification under Section
1800.21(e),
and the persons who either filed objections in writing or objectors who were a
party to the hearing proceedings, if any, its final administrative decision to
release or not to release all or part of the performance bond. The municipality
and county shall be notified by certified mail.
c) The Department may release all or part of
the bond for the entire permit area or incremental area if the Department is
satisfied that all the reclamation or a phase of the reclamation covered by the
bond or portion thereof has been accomplished in accordance with the following
schedules for reclamation of Phases I, II, and III:
1) At the completion of Phase I, after the
operator completes the backfilling, regrading (which includes the replacement
of topsoil) and drainage control of a bonded area in accordance with the
approved reclamation plan, 60% of the bond or collateral for the applicable
area.
2) At the completion of Phase
II, after revegetation has been established on the regraded mined lands in
accordance with the approved reclamation plan, an additional amount of bond.
When determining the amount of bond to be released after successful
revegetation has been established, the Department shall retain that amount of
bond for the revegetated area which would be sufficient to cover the cost of
reestablishing revegetation if completed by a third party and for the period
specified for operator responsibility in Section 6.08(d)(2) of the State Act
for reestablishing revegetation. No part of the bond or deposit shall be
released under this subsection (c)(2) so long as the lands to which the release
would be applicable are contributing suspended solids to streamflow or runoff
outside the permit area in excess of the requirements set by Section
3.10 of the State Act and
by 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816 or 1817 or until soil productivity for prime farmland
has returned to the equivalent levels of yield as nonmined land of the same
soil type in the surrounding area under equivalent management practices as
determined from the soil survey performed pursuant to Section 2.02(a) of the
State Act and 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1823. Where a silt dam is to be retained as a
permanent impoundment pursuant to 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816 or 1817, the Phase II
portion of the bond may be released under this subsection so long as provisions
for sound future maintenance by the operator or the landowner have been made
with the Department.
3) At the
completion of Phase III, after the operator has completed successfully all
surface coal mining and reclamation activities, the release of the remaining
portion of the bond, but not before the expiration of the period specified for
operator responsibility in 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1816.116
or
1817.116.
However, no bond shall be fully released under this subsection until the
reclamation requirements of the State Act and the permit are fully
met.
d) Any person with
a valid legal interest which might be adversely affected by release of the
bond, or the responsible officer or head of any Federal, State, or local
governmental agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with
respect to any environmental, social, or economic impact involved in the
operation or which is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards
with respect to such operations, shall have the right to file a written request
for hearing and written objections to the proposed release from bond with the
Department within 30 days after the last publication of the notice required by
subsection (a)(2). If written objections are filed and a hearing is requested,
the hearing shall be held in accordance with 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1847.9.
e) If the Department disapproves the
application for release of the bond or portion of the bond, the Department
shall notify the permittee, the surety, and any person with an interest in
collateral as provided for in Section
1800.21(e),
in writing, stating the reasons for disapproval and recommending corrective
actions necessary to secure the release. The permittee, the surety, and any
person with an interest in collateral as provided for in Section
1800.21(e)
may request an administrative hearing on the disapproval of bond release by
filing a request for hearing in accordance with the procedures set forth in 62
Ill. Adm. Code
1847.3.
Notes
Amended at 27 Ill. Reg. 4683, effective March 26, 2003
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