(a) Except as provided in subsection (a.1), all funds received by the secretary from license fees, from permit fees, including all reclamation fees collected by the department under this act pursuant to the department's alternate bonding program, from forfeiture of bonds, from all fines collected under section 18.5¹ and all civil penalties collected under section 18.4,² and of cash deposits and securities, and from costs recovered under the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known as “The Clean Streams Law,”³ shall be held by the State Treasurer in a special fund, separate and apart from all other moneys in the State Treasury, to be known as the “Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund,” and shall be used by the secretary for:

(a.3) An operator must demonstrate, in order to utilize any funds from or participate in any programs funded by the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund or the Remining Financial Assurance Fund, including any of the remining incentive programs specified in sections 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 and 4.11,¹³ or the remining financial assurance programs set forth in section 4.12 or 4.13, or remining incentives promulgated in regulations pursuant to those sections, that he meets all of the following requirements:

(a.4) Priority for participation in the Remining Environmental Enhancement Fund and the Remining Financial Assurance Fund shall be given to licensed mine operators proposing remining within areas designated suitable for reclamation by remining.

(b) Funds received from the forfeiture of bonds, both surety and collateral, shall be expended by the secretary for reclaiming and planting the area of land affected by the operation upon which liability was charged on the bond, if the secretary determines such expenditure to be reasonable, necessary and physically possible. Any funds received from such forfeited bonds in excess of the amount which is required to reclaim and plant the area of land affected by the operation upon which liability was charged and funds received from bond forfeitures where reclamation and planting is determined to be unreasonable, unnecessary or physically impossible, may be used by the secretary for any of the purposes provided in subsection (a).

(c) The secretary shall expend the funds for reclaiming and planting the area of land affected by the operation in such a manner as to complete the operator's approved reclamation plan. After considering the engineering cost estimate for completion of the approved reclamation plan, the secretary may amend the approved reclamation plan to minimize the cost of reclaiming the bond forfeiture area. If the secretary determines that completion of the approved reclamation plan is impossible or unreasonable, the bond forfeiture area shall be reclaimed in a manner that makes the land suitable for agriculture, forests, recreation, wildlife or water conservation. In all cases where an alternative plan is to be implemented, consideration may be given to the soil characteristics, topography, surrounding lands, proximity to urban centers, cost effectiveness and other land uses approved by the landowner and local land use agencies.

(d) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, the department shall advertise for bids for reclamation of forfeited bond areas in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality in which the work is to take place. This advertisement shall appear for a minimum of two consecutive weeks. In addition, the department shall send written notice to all landowners within the project area of the proposed reclamation project: Provided, however, That based on an engineering cost estimate for completing the operator's approved reclamation plan, the secretary may negotiate and enter into a contract with the landowner or a licensed mine operator to complete the reclamation plan of a bond forfeiture area after public notice in a local newspaper of general circulation.

(e) When the department advertises for bids, the department may request alternate bids, including the rental of equipment, with equipment operators to be supervised by the department during completion of the reclamation plan.

(f) When a licensed mine operator desires to reclaim property on which the department has forfeited bonds for failure to complete the reclamation plan or is granted a permit on property contiguous to a property on which the department has forfeited bonds for failure to complete the reclamation plan, the operator or permittee shall be provided the opportunity to make a proposal to complete the reclamation plan of the forfeited bond area. The proposal shall contain estimated costs and the necessary information upon which the department can determine the cost effectiveness of the proposal. Upon receipt of the proposal, the secretary may negotiate and enter into a contract with the operator or permittee to complete the reclamation plan. A determination whether to negotiate shall be made by the department within thirty (30) days of receipt of the proposal; and contract negotiations shall begin within thirty (30) days of the determination to negotiate.

(g) There is hereby created a Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board to assist the secretary to expend the funds for the purposes provided by this act and to advise the secretary on all matters pertaining to mining and reclamation which shall include, but not be limited to, experimental practices, alternate methods of backfilling, selection of reclamation projects, alternate reclamation methods, obligations for preexisting pollution liability, alteration of reclamation plans, reclamation fees and bonding rates and methods.

(g.1) There is hereby created an Aggregate Advisory Board to assist the secretary to expend the funds for the purposes provided by section 17 of the act of December 19, 1984 (P.L. 1093, No. 219),¹⁵ known as the “Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act,” and to advise the secretary on all matters pertaining to surface mining, as defined in section 3 of the “Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act,”¹⁶ which shall include, but not be limited to, experimental practices, alternate methods of backfilling, obligations for preexisting pollution liability, alteration of reclamation plans, reclamation fees and bonding rates and methods. The board shall function as follows:

(h) The secretary shall not enter into a reclamation contract with any person or related party who has forfeited any bond or has been convicted of a misdemeanor within three (3) years for violating any provision of these acts: the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known as “The Clean Streams Law”; the act of September 24, 1968 (P.L. 1040, No. 318), known as the “Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act”; the act of April 27, 1966 (1st Sp.Sess., P.L. 31, No. 1), known as “The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act”; the act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L. 2119, No. 787), known as the “Air Pollution Control Act”;¹⁷ the act of July 7, 1980 (P.L. 380, No. 97), known as the “Solid Waste Management Act”;¹⁸ or the act of November 26, 1978 (P.L. 1375, No. 325), known as the “Dam Safety and Encroachments Act.”¹⁹

(i) The department shall publish in the Pennsylvania Bulletin each bond forfeiture project to be advertised for bids or contracts to be negotiated or proposals received. The publication shall include, at minimum, the location of the project and a brief summary of work to be done. Upon awarding a contract, the department shall publish in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the name of the recipient contractor, the location of the project, the summary of work to be done and the cost of such work.

(j) The department may, upon written application, award grants to municipalities, municipal authorities and appropriate nonprofit organizations from the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund and from funds the department receives from the United States for approved abandoned mine purposes authorized by this subsection. The purposes of the grants shall be consistent with all applicable Federal and State requirements related to the source of the funds. A grant awarded under this subsection shall be subject to such terms and conditions as established by the department.