Reclamation fee

All operators of coal mining operations subject to the provisions of this chapter shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, for deposit in the fund, a reclamation fee of 22.4 cents per ton of coal produced by surface coal mining and 9.6 cents per ton of coal produced by underground mining or 10 per centum of the value of the coal at the mine, as determined by the Secretary, whichever is less, except that the reclamation fee for lignite coal shall be at a rate of 2 per centum of the value of the coal at the mine, or 6.4 cents per ton, whichever is less. Such fee shall be paid no later than thirty days after the end of each calendar quarter beginning with the first calendar quarter occurring after August 3, 1977, and ending September 30, 2034. Together with such reclamation fee, all operators of coal mine operations shall submit a statement of the amount of coal produced during the calendar quarter, the method of coal removal and the type of coal, the accuracy of which shall be sworn to by the operator and notarized. Such statement shall include an identification of the permittee of the surface coal mining operation, any operator in addition to the permittee, the owner of the coal, the preparation plant, tripple,11 So in original. Probably should be “tipple,”. or loading point for the coal, and the person purchasing the coal from the operator. The report shall also specify the number of the permit required under section 1256 of this title and the mine safety and health identification number. Each quarterly report shall contain a notification of any changes in the information required by this subsection since the date of the preceding quarterly report. The information contained in the quarterly reports under this subsection shall be maintained by the Secretary in a computerized database. Any portion of the reclamation fee not properly or promptly paid pursuant to this section shall be recoverable, with statutory interest, from coal mine operators, in any court of competent jurisdiction in any action at law to compel payment of debts. All Federal and State agencies shall fully cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior in the enforcement of this section. Whenever the Secretary believes that any person has not paid the full amount of the fee payable under subsection (a) the Secretary shall notify the Federal agency responsible for ensuring compliance with the provisions of section 4121 of title 26. Except as provided in subsection (h), moneys deposited into the fund shall be allocated by the Secretary to accomplish the purposes of this subchapter as follows: 50 percent of the reclamation fees collected annually in any State (other than fees collected with respect to Indian lands) shall be allocated annually by the Secretary to the State, subject to such State having each of the following: 50 percent of the reclamation fees collected annually with respect to Indian lands shall be allocated annually by the Secretary to the Indian tribe having jurisdiction over such lands, subject to such tribe having each of the following: Amounts available in the fund which are not allocated to States and Indian tribes under paragraph (1) or allocated under paragraph (5) are authorized to be expended by the Secretary for any of the following: Funds made available under this paragraph may be used for reclamation or drainage abatement at a site referred to in subparagraph (A) if the Secretary makes either of the following findings: In this paragraph, the term “qualified hydrologic unit” means a hydrologic unit— that contains land and water that are— As soon as practicable after the beginning of fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter, and before making any allocation with respect to the fiscal year under subsection (g), the Secretary shall use an amount not to exceed the amount of interest that the Secretary estimates will be earned and paid to the fund during the fiscal year to transfer to the Combined Benefit Fund such amounts as are estimated by the trustees of such fund to offset the amount of any deficit in net assets in the Combined Benefit Fund as of October 1, 2006, and to make the transfer described in paragraph (2)(A). As soon as practicable after the beginning of fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, and before making any allocation with respect to the fiscal year under subsection (g), the Secretary shall use an amount not to exceed the amount of interest that the Secretary estimates will be earned and paid to the fund during the fiscal year (reduced by the amount used under subparagraph (A)) to make the transfers described in paragraphs (2)(B) and (2)(C). The transfers referred to in paragraph (1) are the following: A transfer to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund equal to the amount that the trustees of the Combined Benefit Fund estimate will be expended from the fund for the fiscal year in which the transfer is made, reduced by— the amount the trustees of the Combined Benefit Fund estimate the Combined Benefit Fund will receive during the fiscal year in— A transfer to the United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan, in an amount equal to the difference between— the amount that the trustees of the 1992 UMWA Benefit Plan estimate the 1992 UMWA Benefit Plan will receive during the next calendar year in— A transfer to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan established after July 20, 1992, by the parties that are the settlors of the 1992 UMWA Benefit Plan referred to in subparagraph (B) (referred to in this subparagraph and subparagraph (D) as “the Plan”), in an amount equal to the excess (if any) of— The excess determined under clause (i) shall be calculated by taking into account only— Individuals referred to in clause (ii)(II) shall be treated as eligible to receive health benefits under the Plan. The amount of the transfer otherwise determined under this subparagraph for a fiscal year shall be reduced by any amount transferred for the fiscal year to the Plan, to pay benefits required under the Plan, from a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association established as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding described in clause (ii). The administrator of such voluntary employees’ beneficiary association shall transfer to the Plan any amounts received as a result of such bankruptcy proceeding, reduced by an amount for administrative costs of such association. For purposes of clause (ii), the term “related coal wage agreement” means an agreement between the United Mine Workers of America and an employer in the bituminous coal industry that— For purposes of subparagraph (C), any individual who was eligible to receive benefits from the Plan as of December 20, 2006, even though benefits were being provided to the individual pursuant to a settlement agreement approved by order of a bankruptcy court entered on or before September 30, 2004, will be considered to be actually enrolled in the Plan and shall receive benefits from the Plan beginning on December 31, 2006. If, for any fiscal year, the amount of a transfer under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) is more or less than the amount required to be transferred under that subparagraph, the Secretary shall appropriately adjust the amount transferred under that subparagraph for the next fiscal year. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any interest credited to the fund that has not previously been transferred to the Combined Benefit Fund referred to in paragraph (2)(A) under this section— All amounts allocated under subsection (g)(2) before December 20, 2006, for the program described in section 1236 of this title, but not appropriated before December 20, 2006, shall be available to the Secretary to make the transfers described in paragraph (2). The Secretary shall— In addition to amounts held in reserve under subparagraph (A), there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for transfer to the fund to carry out the purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii). The limitation described in subsection (i)(3)(A) shall not apply to payments made from the reserve fund under this paragraph. The Secretary may make transfers under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) for a calendar year only if the Secretary determines, using actuarial projections provided by the trustees of the Combined Benefit Fund referred to in paragraph (2)(A), that amounts will be available under paragraph (1), after the transfer, for the next fiscal year for making the transfer under paragraph (2)(A). A transfer under paragraph (2)(C) shall not be made for a calendar year unless the persons that are obligated to contribute to the plan referred to in paragraph (2)(C) on the date of the transfer are obligated to make the contributions at rates that are no less than those in effect on the date which is 30 days before December 20, 2006. The contributions described in subclause (I) shall be applied first to the provision of benefits to those plan beneficiaries who are not described in paragraph (2)(C)(ii). From December 20, 2006, through December 31, 2010, the persons that, on December 20, 2006, are obligated to contribute to the plan referred to in paragraph (2)(C) shall be obligated, collectively, to make contributions equal to the amount described in paragraph (2)(C), less the amount actually transferred due to the operation of subparagraph (C). Calendar year 2006 is the first calendar year for which contributions are required under this clause. Except as provided in subclause (IV), the amount described in paragraph (2)(C) for calendar year 2006 shall be calculated as if paragraph (2)(C) had been in effect during 2005. The contributions required under this clause for calendar year 2006 shall not exceed the amount necessary for solvency of the plan described in paragraph (2)(C), measured as of December 31, 2006, and taking into account all assets held by the plan as of that date. The collective annual contribution obligation required under clause (ii) shall be divided among the persons subject to the obligation, and applied uniformly, based on the hours worked for which contributions referred to in clause (i) would be owed. For each of calendar years 2008 through 2010, the transfers required under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) shall equal the following amounts: Subject to paragraph (3), out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the plans described in subsection (h)(2) such sums as are necessary to pay the following amounts: To the Combined Fund (as defined in section 9701(a)(5) of title 26 and referred to in this paragraph as the “Combined Fund”), the amount that the trustees of the Combined Fund estimate will be expended from premium accounts maintained by the Combined Fund for the fiscal year to provide benefits for beneficiaries who are unassigned beneficiaries solely as a result of the application of section 9706(h)(1) of title 26, subject to the following limitations: For fiscal year 2008, the amount paid under this subparagraph shall equal— For fiscal year 2009, the amount paid under this subparagraph shall equal— For fiscal year 2010, the amount paid under this subparagraph shall equal— To the Combined Fund, $9,000,000 on October 1, 2007, $9,000,000 on October 1, 2008, $9,000,000 on October 1, 2009, and $9,000,000 on October 1, 2010 (which amounts shall not be exceeded) to provide a refund of any premium (as described in section 9704(a) of title 26) paid on or before September 7, 2000, to the Combined Fund, plus interest on the premium calculated at the rate of 7.5 percent per year, on a proportional basis and to be paid not later than 60 days after the date on which each payment is received by the Combined Fund, to those signatory operators (to the extent that the Combined Fund has not previously returned the premium amounts to the operators), or any related persons to the operators (as defined in section 9701(c) of title 26), or their heirs, successors, or assigns who have been denied the refunds as the result of final judgments or settlements if— prior to December 20, 2006, the signatory operator (or any related person to the operator)— Subject to paragraph (3), out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary of the Interior for distribution to States and Indian tribes such sums as are necessary to pay amounts described in paragraphs (1)(A) and (2)(A) of section 1240a(h) of this title. The total amount transferred under this subsection for any fiscal year shall not exceed $750,000,000. In a case in which the amount required to be transferred without regard to this paragraph exceeds the maximum annual limitation in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall adjust the transfers of funds under paragraph (1) so that— The dollar limitation under subparagraph (A) shall be increased by the amount of the cost to provide benefits which are taken into account under subsection (h)(2)(C)(ii) solely by reason of the amendments made by section 2(a) of the American Miner Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. If the dollar limitation specified in paragraph (3)(A) exceeds the aggregate amount required to be transferred under paragraphs (1) and (2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer an additional amount equal to the difference between such dollar limitation and such aggregate amount to the trustees of the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan to pay benefits required under that plan. The transfers described in subparagraph (A) shall cease as of the first fiscal year beginning after the first plan year for which the funded percentage (as defined in section 432(j)(2) of title 26) of the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan is at least 100 percent. During a fiscal year in which the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan is receiving transfers under subparagraph (A), no amendment of such plan which increases the liabilities of the plan by reason of any increase in benefits, any change in the accrual of benefits, or any change in the rate at which benefits become nonforfeitable under the plan may be adopted unless the amendment is required as a condition of qualification under part I of subchapter D of chapter 1 of title 26 [26 U.S.C. 401 et seq.]. Until such time as the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan ceases to be eligible for the transfers described in subparagraph (A)— The amount of any transfer made under subparagraph (A) (and any earnings attributable thereto) shall be disregarded in determining the unfunded vested benefits of the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan and the allocation of such unfunded vested benefits to an employer for purposes of determining the employer’s withdrawal liability under section 1381 of title 29. A transfer under subparagraph (A) shall not be made for a fiscal year unless the persons that are obligated to contribute to the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan on the date of the transfer are obligated to make the contributions at rates that are no less than those in effect on the date which is 30 days before December 20, 2019. Not later than the 90th day of each plan year beginning after December 20, 2019, the trustees of the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan shall file with the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation a report (including appropriate documentation and actuarial certifications from the plan actuary, as required by the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate) that contains— The report required under clause (i) shall be submitted electronically. The Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate shall share the information in the report under clause (i) with the Secretary of Labor. Any failure to file the report required under clause (i) on or before the date described in such clause shall be treated as a failure to file a report required to be filed under section 6058(a) of title 26, except that section 6652(e) of title 26 shall be applied with respect to any such failure by substituting “$100” for “$25”. The preceding sentence shall not apply if the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate determines that reasonable diligence has been exercised by the trustees of such plan in attempting to timely file such report. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “1974 UMWA Pension Plan” has the meaning given the term in section 9701(a)(3) of title 26, but without regard to the limitation on participation to individuals who retired in 1976 and thereafter. Funds shall be transferred under paragraphs (1) and (2) beginning in fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, and shall remain available until expended.