[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 800 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 800

To protect taxpayers from liability associated with the reclamation of 
        surface coal mining operations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 30, 2017

 Ms. Cantwell (for herself, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Durbin) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                    on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To protect taxpayers from liability associated with the reclamation of 
        surface coal mining operations, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SURFACE COAL MINING BONDING.

    Section 509 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1259) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Alternative Bonding System.--The Secretary may approve as 
part of a State or Federal program an alternative system that will--
            ``(1) achieve the objectives and purposes of the bonding 
        program pursuant to this section; and
            ``(2) result in no greater risk of financial liability to 
        the Federal Government or a State government than the bonding 
        program under this section.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Self-Bonding.--
            ``(1) Federal programs.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Effective on the date of 
                enactment of this subsection, the Secretary--
                            ``(i) may not accept the bond of the 
                        applicant itself (referred to in this 
                        subsection as a `self-bond'); but
                            ``(ii) may accept a separate surety or 
                        collateral bond, consistent with the terms 
                        under subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Existing self-bonds.--For coal mining 
                operations covered by a self-bond accepted by the 
                Secretary prior to the date of enactment of this 
                subsection, the permittee shall replace the self-bond 
                with another form of bond acceptable to the Secretary 
                under this section by not later than the earlier of--
                            ``(i) the date of renewal of the permit 
                        under section 506(d); and
                            ``(ii) the date of any major permit 
                        modification under section 506.
            ``(2) State programs.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 
                shall notify all State regulatory authorities that 
                allow applicants to self-bond that the approved 
                regulatory programs of the State regulatory authority 
                must be amended--
                            ``(i) to remove the authority for 
                        applicants to self-bond; and
                            ``(ii) to require coal mining operations 
                        covered by a self-bond accepted by the State 
                        regulatory authority prior to the date of 
                        enactment of this subsection to replace the 
                        self-bond with another form of bond acceptable 
                        under this section by not later than the 
                        earlier of--
                                    ``(I) the date of renewal of the 
                                permit under section 506(d); and
                                    ``(II) the date of any major permit 
                                modification under section 506.
    ``(g) Bonds Issued by Surety.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall issue rules 
        establishing limitations on surety bonds accepted under this 
        section to minimize the risk of financial liability to the 
        Federal Government or a State government, including rules 
        regarding--
                    ``(A) the maximum quantity of corporate surety 
                bonds issued by any 1 corporate surety as a percentage 
                of the total quantity of coal mine reclamation bonds in 
                any 1 State;
                    ``(B) the minimum percentage of surety bonds 
                unrelated to activities regulated pursuant to this Act 
                required to reinsure corporate surety bonds;
                    ``(C) the minimum collateralization required for 
                corporate surety bonds; and
                    ``(D) the minimum amount of cash assets required to 
                be held by a corporate surety as a percentage of coal 
                mine reclamation bonds issued by the corporate surety.
            ``(2) Existing corporate bonds.--Corporate surety bonds in 
        existence on the date of enactment of this subsection must be 
        modified or replaced as necessary by not later than 1 year 
        after the date on which the rule is issued under paragraph (1).
    ``(h) Collateral Requirements.--Real property posted as collateral 
for a bond may not include--
            ``(1) coal;
            ``(2) a coal mine;
            ``(3) land that includes a coal mine;
            ``(4) land that is located above a coal mine;
            ``(5) a coal processing facility;
            ``(6) a coal waste disposal site;
            ``(7) coal mining equipment unlikely to retain salvage or 
        resale value; or
            ``(8) any other property determined by the Secretary.
    ``(i) Executive Compensation.--The Secretary may require the 
inclusion of executive compensation, including salaries and bonuses of 
officers and executives, of an applicant under this section, and any 
affiliated company, as collateral for a bond under this section.''.
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