§ 18.04.120. Financial assurances.

A.

The county's review of financial assurances is limited to whether the financial assurances substantially meet the applicable requirements of PRC Section 2773.1 and this chapter, but, in any event, the county shall require that financial assurances for reclamation be sufficient to perform reclamation of lands remaining disturbed. Financial assurances determined to substantially meet these requirements shall be approved by the county for purposes of this chapter. Except as specified in PRC Section 2770(e) or (i), unless the operator has filed on or before January 1, 1994, an appeal pursuant to PRC Section 2770(e) with regard to nonapproval of financial assurances, and that appeal is pending before the State Mining and Geology Board, the continuation of the surface mining operation is prohibited until financial assurances for reclamation are approved by the county. (PRC Section 2770d)

B.

The county shall require financial assurances of each surface mining operation to ensure reclamation is performed in accordance with the surface mining operation's approved reclamation plan, as follows:

1.

Financial assurances may take the form of surety bonds, irrevocable letters of credit, trust funds, or other forms of financial assurances specified by the State Mining and Geology Board pursuant to PRC Section 2773.1(e), which the county reasonably determines are adequate to perform reclamation in accordance with the surface mining operation's approved reclamation plan.

2.

The financial assurances shall remain in effect for the duration of the surface mining operation and any additional period until reclamation is completed.

3.

The amount of financial assurances required of a surface mining operation for any one year shall be adjusted annually to account for new lands disturbed by surface mining operations, inflation and reclamation of lands accomplished in accordance with the approved reclamation plan.

4.

The financial assurances shall be made payable to the county and the Department of Conservation. Financial assurances that were approved by the county prior to January 1, 1993, and were made payable to the State Geologist shall be considered payable to the Department of Conservation for purposes of this chapter. However, if a surface mining operation has received approval of its financial assurances from a public agency other than the county, the county shall deem those financial assurances adequate for purposes of this section, or shall credit them toward fulfillment of the financial assurances required by this section, if they are made payable to the public agency, the county, and the Department of Conservation and otherwise meet the requirements of this section. In any event, if the county and one or more public agencies exercise jurisdiction over a surface mining operation, the total amount of financial assurances required by the county and the public agencies for any one year shall not exceed that amount which is necessary to perform reclamation of lands remaining disturbed. For purposes of this paragraph, a "public agency" may include a federal agency. (PRC Section 2773.1(a))

5.

Estimates for financial assurances shall include descriptions of the tasks to be performed, identification of equipment, labor and materials requirements, definition of units costs, total cost per task, total direct cost of reclamation, and administrative costs including costs of supervision, profit and overhead, contingencies and mobilization. Additional required information may include a site plan showing the present limits of the disturbed area to be reclaimed, and other information necessary to verify the estimate.

In projecting the costs of financial assurances, it shall be assumed without prejudice or insinuation that the surface mining operation could be abandoned by the operator and, consequently, the county or state may need to contract with a third party commercial company for reclamation of the site.

C.

Financial assurances determined not to substantially meet the requirements of PRC Section 2773.1 shall be returned to the operator within sixty days. The operator has sixty days to revise the financial assurances to address identified deficiencies, at which time the revised financial assurances shall be returned to the county for review and approval. (PRC Section 2770 d)

D.

Prior to county approval, financial assurances shall be forwarded to the Department of Conservation pursuant to Section 18.04.130 of this chapter. (PRC Section 2774(c) through (e))

E.

The decision to approve financial assurances, both with respect to the form and amount thereof, shall be made by the director of resource management. The financial assurance estimates shall be based on an approved reclamation plan. The director of resource management's decision is appealable to the planning commission within ten calendar days of the decision. The decision of the planning commission is appealable to the board of supervisors within ten calendar days of the decision.

F.

Financial assurances shall no longer be required of a surface mining operation, and shall be released, upon written notification by the county, which shall be forwarded to the operator and the Director of the Department of Conservation, that reclamation has been completed in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. If a mining operation is sold or ownership is transferred to another person, the existing financial assurances shall remain in force and shall not be released by the county until new financial assurances are secured from the new owner and have been approved by the county in accordance with PRC Section 2770. (PRC Section 2773.1(c))

G.

If the county, following a public hearing, determines that the operator is financially incapable of performing reclamation in accordance with its approved reclamation plan, or has abandoned its surface mining operation without commencing reclamation, the director of resource management shall do all of the following:

1.

Notify the operator by personal service or certified mail that the county intends to take appropriate action to forfeit the financial assurances and specify the reasons for so doing;

2.

Allow the operator sixty days to commence or cause the commencement of reclamation in accordance with its approved reclamation plan and require that reclamation be completed within the time limits specified in the approved reclamation plan or some other time period mutually agreed upon by the county and the operator;

3.

Proceed to take appropriate action to require forfeiture of the financial assurances if the operator does not substantially comply with subdivision (2) of this subsection;

4.

Use the proceeds from the forfeited financial assurances to conduct and complete reclamation in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. In no event shall the financial assurances be used for any other purpose. The operator is responsible for the costs of conducting and completing reclamation in accordance with the approved reclamation plan which are in excess of the proceeds from the forfeited financial assurances. (PRC Section 2773.1(b)(1) through (4))

(Ord. 95-6 § 2 (part), 1995)