Section 312 IAC 25-5-7 - Period of liabilityAuthority: IC 14-34-2-1
Affected: IC 14-34-3; IC 14-34-6; IC 14-34-9; IC 14-34-10
Sec. 7.
(a) Liability under the bond shall be for the duration of the surface coal mining and reclamation operation and for a period coincident with the operator's responsibility for revegetation requirements in 312 IAC 25-6-59 through 312 IAC 25-6-61, 312 IAC 25-6-120, and 312 IAC 25-6-122, except, with the approval of the director, a bond may be posted and approved to guarantee specific phases of reclamation within the permit area provided the sum of phase bonds posted equals or exceeds the total amount required under sections 8 and 9 of this rule. The scope of work to be guaranteed and the liability assumed under each phase bond shall be specified in detail.(b) The period of liability shall: (1) commence after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work;(2) continue for not less than five (5) years; and(3) begin again whenever augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work is required or conducted on the site prior to bond release, except as provided in 312 IAC 25-6-59. On lands eligible for remining included in permits issued before September 30, 2004, or any renewals thereof, the liability period is two (2) years. To the extent that success standards are established by 312 IAC 25-6-59(c)(1) or 312 IAC 25-6-120(c)(1), the lands shall equal or exceed the standards during the growing season of the last year of the responsibility period.
(c) A portion of a bonded area requiring extended liability because of augmentation may be separated from the original area and bonded separately upon approval by the department. Before determining that extended liability should apply to only a portion of the original bonded area, the department shall determine that the portion is: (1) not significant in extent in relation to the entire area under the bond; and(2) limited to isolated, distinguishable, and contiguous portions of the bonded area and does not comprise scattered or intermittent occurrences throughout the bonded area.(d) If the department approves a long-term intensive agricultural postmining land use, in accordance with 312 IAC 25-6-64 or 312 IAC 25-6-128, the applicable five (5) year or ten (10) year period of liability shall commence at the date of initial planting.(e) The bond liability of the permittee shall include only those actions that the operator is obliged to take under the permit, including completion of the reclamation plan, so that the land will be capable of supporting the postmining land use approved under 312 IAC 25-6-64 or 312 IAC 25-6-128.(f) Implementation of an alternative postmining land use approved under 312 IAC 25-6-64(c) and 312 IAC 25-6-128(c), which is beyond the control of the permittee, need not be covered by the bond. Bond liability for prime farmland shall be as specified in section 16(e)(2) of this rule. Natural Resources Commission; 312 IAC 25-5-7; filed Jun 21, 2001, 2:53 p.m.: 24 IR 3503, eff Dec 1, 2001; filed Apr 1, 2004, 3:00 p.m.: 27 IR 2455, eff Jan 1, 2005; readopted filed May 29, 2007, 9:51 a.m.: 20070613-IR-312070146RFA; filed Apr 13, 2011, 11:16 a.m.: 20110511-IR-312100547FRA, eff Jul 25, 2012; errata filed Sep 8, 2011, 3:20 p.m.: 20110921-IR-312110474ACA; readopted filed Sep 19, 2013, 10:12 a.m.: 20131016-IR-312130125RFAReadopted filed 3/26/2019, 3:40 p.m.: 20190424-IR-312190011RFA