Section 1396.3a - Operator's license; withholding or denying permits or licenses; penalty(a)(1) After January 1, 1972, it shall be unlawful for any person to proceed to mine coal without first obtaining a license from the department. Applications for licensure shall be made annually in writing to the department, upon forms prepared and furnished by the department, and shall contain such information, as applicable, for the applicant and each person who owns or controls the applicant or is owned or controlled by the applicant as the department shall require. The application for licensure or renewal of licensure shall be accompanied by a fee of fifty dollars ($50) in the case of persons mining two thousand (2,000) tons or less of marketable coal per year, a fee of five hundred dollars ($500) in the case of persons mining three hundred thousand (300,000) tons or less of marketable coal per year and a fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for all others. It shall be the duty of all persons licensed under this section to renew the license annually. The application for renewal of a license shall be made annually at least sixty (60) days before the current license expires.(2) Any person who proceeds to mine coal as an operator without having applied for and received a license as herein provided or in violation of the terms thereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or in an amount not less than the total profits derived by him as a result of his unlawful activities, as determined by the court, together with the estimated cost to the Commonwealth of any reclamation work which may reasonably be required in order to restore the land to its condition prior to the commencement of said unlawful activities, or undergo imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. The fine shall be payable to the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Fund.(b) The department shall not issue, renew or amend the license of any person who mines coal by the surface mining method if it finds, after investigation, and an opportunity for an informal hearing that a person, partner, associate officer, parent corporation or subsidiary corporation has failed and continues to fail to comply or has shown a lack of ability or intention to comply with an adjudicated proceeding, cessation order, consent order and agreement or decree, or as indicated by a written notice from the department of a declaration of forfeiture of a person's bonds. If the department intends not to renew a license, it shall notify the licensee of that fact at least sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the license; prior to the expiration, the licensee shall be provided an opportunity for an informal hearing. This notice requirement shall not preclude the department from denying an application to renew a license within the sixty (60) day period so long as the department provides an opportunity for an informal hearing prior to not renewing the license. Any person who opposes the department's decision on issuance or renewal of a license shall have the burden of proof.(c) The application for license, renewal or permit shall be accompanied by a certificate of insurance certifying that the applicant has in force a public liability insurance policy issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in Pennsylvania covering all surface mining activities of the applicant in this State and affording personal injury and property damage protection, to be written for the term of the license, renewal or permit. The total amount of insurance shall be in an amount adequate to compensate any persons damaged as a result of surface mining activities, including but not limited to use of explosives, and entitled to compensation under the applicable provisions of State law. The total amount shall be as prescribed by rules and regulations: Provided, That the insurance or a bond guarantee shall be required as part of a mining permit application if the department determines in its best conservative estimate that the surface mining activities may affect a public or private water supply. However, it is further provided that the operator retains the option to include the required liability insurance related to section 4.2(f) of this act, pertaining to replacement or restoration of water supplies as part of the application for or renewal of a license.(1) The department shall accept a certificate of self-insurance from the applicant, in lieu of a certificate for a public liability insurance policy, accompanied by satisfactory evidence from the applicant that it meets one of the following two financial requirements for such self-insurance: (i) The applicant has: (A) a net working capital and tangible net worth each at least six times the amount of the liability coverage to be demonstrated;(B) tangible net worth of at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000); and(C) assets in the United States of at least ninety per cent of total assets or at least six times the amount of liability coverage.(ii) The applicant maintains:(A) a current bond rating equal to or better than BBB (Standard and Poor's) or Baa (Moody's);(B) tangible net worth of at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000);(C) tangible net worth at least six times the amount of the liability coverage to be demonstrated; and(D) prime assets in the United States of at least ninety per cent of total assets or six times the liability coverage to be demonstrated.(2) For purposes of this subsection, satisfactory evidence from the applicant shall be satisfied by submission of a Form 10-K Annual Report, as submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission or validation by an independent certified public accountant.(3) Clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be void one year after the effective date of this amendatory act.(d) The department shall not issue any surface mining permit or renew or amend any permit if it finds, after investigation and an opportunity for an informal hearing, that (1) the applicant has failed and continues to fail to comply with any provisions of this act or of any of the acts repealed or amended hereby or (2) the applicant has shown a lack of ability or intention to comply with any provision of this act or of any of the acts repealed or amended hereby as indicated by past or continuing violations. Any person, partnership, association or corporation which has engaged in unlawful conduct as defined in section 18.6 , which has a partner, associate, officer, parent corporation, subsidiary corporation, contractor or subcontractor which has engaged in such unlawful conduct or which controls or has controlled mining operations with a demonstrated pattern of wilful violations of any provisions of this act or the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-87,30 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq.) shall be denied any permit required by this act unless the permit application demonstrates that the unlawful conduct is being corrected to the satisfaction of the department. Persons other than the applicant, including independent subcontractors, who are proposed to operate under the permit shall be listed in the application and those persons shall be subject to approval by the department prior to their engaging in surface mining operations, and such persons shall be jointly and severally liable with the permittee for such violations of this subsection as the permittee is charged and in which such persons participate. Following the department's decision whether to approve or deny a renewal, the burden shall be on the opponents of the department's decision. If the department intends not to renew a permit, it shall notify the permittee of that fact at least sixty (60) days prior to final action on the permit renewal and the permittee shall be provided an opportunity for an informal hearing prior to final action on the permit renewal.(e) The department shall not issue a permit to initiate or conduct underground burning of anthracite coal under this act.1945, May 31, P.L. 1198, § 3.1, added 1963, July 16, P.L. 238, § 1. Amended 1968, Dec. 10, P.L. 1167, No. 370, § 2; 1971, Nov. 30, P.L. 557, No. 147, § 3; 1972, Dec. 28, P.L. 1662, No. 355, § 1; 1980, Oct. 10, P.L. 835, No. 155, §3, imd. effective; 1983 , Dec. 20, P.L. 278, No. 74, § 1, imd. effective; 1984, Oct. 12, P.L. 916, No. 181, § 1, effective in 60 days; 1992, Dec. 18, P.L. 1384, No. 173, § 3, effective in 60 days; 1996, May 22, P.L. 232, No. 43, § 2, effective in 60 days.