February 23, 2021
Annual Report Certifying Work Performed at Alternative Bonding System
(ABS) Legacy Sites
Pursuant to a settlement agreement in Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen 's Clubs, Inc. v.
Quigley, Civil No. 1:99-CV-1791, dated November 2, 2016, the Department submitted to the
U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) a proposed amendment to
the federally-approved Pennsylvania surface coal mining regulatory program. The amendment,
subsequently approved by OSM on July 10, 2017 (82 FR 31715), requires the Department to,
inter alia, complete land reclamation and/or install or perform certain work on water treatment
systems at several sites (included in Lists #3 and #4, attached below) permitted under the
Commonwealth’s now-defunct Alternative Bonding System (ABS).
The settlement agreement stipulates that by January 31 of each year, the Department will provide
to OSM and make publicly available through its web site, a report certifying the progress made
during the preceding calendar year toward satisfying those obligations. This annual certification
will cease when the Department certifies that all such work at these sites is complete. The
settlement agreement further stipulated that the Department will take all actions within its
authority and control to ensure that the land reclamation and/or water treatment work at the listed
sites is completed by December 31, 201 8. This report characterizes all sites on Lists #3 and #4
not already certified as complete in the Department’s 2016 and 2017 reports, including sites for
which work was not completed by December 31, 2018. Due to site-specific complications, the
Department was not able to complete the work at all sites by the deadline set forth in the 2017
program amendment. For sites at which work was not completed, the Department submitted to
OSM, and OSM approved, an action plan to complete the work, requiring DEP to:
1. Identify remaining sites from attachment 3 needing reclamation; obstacles to
achieving goals and reclamation schedule by September 30, 2019. This was
completed and sent to OSM on August 28, 2019.
2. Develop landowner access, design and contracting packages for reclamation of
Sites to be completed by October 1, 2020.
3. Submit progress reports to OSM during PADEP/OSM periodic program management
meetings as scheduled; and
4. Complete land reclamation and treatment system work by December 31, 2020.
On December 4, 2020, the Department requested an extension under the action plan. On
December 8, 2020, OSM approved the extension with a revised completion date of December
31,2023.
In addition to certifying work the Department has performed at the ABS legacy sites identified
for needing work, the Department includes in this report steps it has taken to add or remove sites
from its list of ABS legacy sites. Under the settlement agreement and approved program
amendment, in order to add sites to, or remove sites from, the list of ABS legacy sites on Lists #1
and #2, the Department must: (1) request concurrence from OSM consistent with OSM’s
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