Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 4.djvu/367

 PUBLIC LAW 102-486—OCT. 24, 1992 106 STAT. 3103 other work in order to assure compliance with the applicable stcuidards.". (c) DEFINITIONS. — Section 701 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1291) is amended by striking the period at the end of paragraph (32) and inserting a semicolon in lieu thereof, and by adding the following new paragraphs at the end thereof: "(33) the term 'unanticipated event or condition' as used in section 510(e) means an event or condition encountered in a remining operation that was not contemplated by the applicable surface coal mining and reclamation permit; and "(34) the term lands eligible for remining* means those lands that would otherwise be eligible for expenditures under section 404 or under section 402(g)(4).''. (d) ELIGIBILITY.— Section 404 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1234) is amended by adding the following new sentence at the end thereof: "Surface coal mining operations on lands eligible for remining shall not affect the eligibility of such lands for reclamation and restoration under this title after the release of the bond or deposit for any such operation as provided under section 519. In the event the bond or deposit for a surface coal mining operation on lands eligible for remining is forfeited, funds available under this title may be used if the amount of such bond or deposit is not sufficient to provide for adequate reclamation or abatement, except that if conditions warrant the Secretary shall immediately exercise his authority under section 410.". (e) ABANDONED COAL REFUSE SITES.—<1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to the contrary, the Secretary of the Interior shall, within one year after the enactment of this Act, publish proposed regulations in the Federal Register, and after opportunity for public comment publish final regulations, establishing environmental protection performance and reclamation standards, and separate permit systems applicable to operations for the on-site reprocessing of abandoned coal refuse and operations for the removal of abandoned coal refuse on lands that would otherwise be eligible for expenditure under section 404 and section 402(g)(4) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. (2) The standards and permit systems referred to in paragraph (1) shall distinguish between those operations which reprocess abandoned coal refuse on-site, and those operations which completely remove abandoned coal refuse from a site for the direct use of such coal refuse, or for the reprocessing of such coal refuse, at another location. Such standards and permit systems shall be premised on the distinct differences between operations for the onsite reprocessing, and operations for the removal, of abandoned coal refuse and other types of surface coal mining operations. (3) The Secretary of the Interior may devise a different standard than any of those set forth in section 515 and section 516 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, and devise a separate permit system, if he determines, on a standardby-standard basis, that a different standard may facilitate the onsite reprocessing, or the removal, of abandoned coal refuse in a manner that would provide the same level of environmental protection as under section 515 and section 516. Regulations. Federal Register, publication. 30 USC 1251a.

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