45.1-270.4 - Assessment of reclamation tax revenues for Fund.
§ 45.1-270.4. Assessment of reclamation tax revenues for Fund.
A. There is hereby levied a reclamation tax upon the production of coal byoperators participating in the Fund under permits issued under this chapteras set forth herein.
B. Thirty days after the end of any calendar quarter during which the totalbalance of the Fund, including interest thereon, shall be less than$1,750,000, all operators shall pay into the Fund an amount equal to:
1. Four cents per clean ton of coal produced by a surface mining operationpermitted under this chapter.
2. Three cents per clean ton of coal produced by a deep mining operationpermitted under this chapter.
3. One and one-half cents per clean ton of coal processed or loaded bypreparation or loading facilities permitted under this chapter.
C. At the end of any calendar quarter during which the total balance in theFund, including interest thereon, shall exceed two million dollars, paymentsunder this section shall cease until again required pursuant to subsection Bof this section.
1. For the purposes of subsection B of this section, all potentialobligations shall be deducted from the balance of the Fund during eachcalendar quarter, including forfeitures on which engineering costs estimateshave been prepared, but no money has actually been expended from the Fund.
2. Should the actual expenditures from the Fund be less than the engineeringcost estimate, then the difference shall be credited to the balance of theFund during the calendar quarter in which the final expenditure is made fromthe Fund to accomplish the reclamation.
D. Upon the issuance of a permit for which bond is provided pursuant to thisarticle, each operator shall pay a reclamation tax into the Fund pursuant tothe schedule set forth in subsection B of this section on coal mined andremoved under authority of that permit during the one-year period commencingwith and running from the date of the commencement of coal production,processing or loading from those operations covered under that permit.
E. In no event shall any operator pay reclamation tax under this section ontotal coal production in excess of five million tons per calendar year,regardless of the number of permits held by that operator, except as setforth in subsection D hereof. In no event shall any operator holding morethan one type of permit pay tax at a rate in excess of five and one-halfcents per ton on coal originally surface mined by that operator or in excessof four and one-half cents per ton on coal originally deep mined by thatoperator. Any operator holding one permit upon which coal is mined andprocessed or loaded shall pay only the tax applicable under this section tothe surface mining operation or deep mining operation.
(1982, c. 334; 1983, c. 131; 1987, c. 468; 1991, c. 495.)