The commission shall be attached to the cabinet for administrative purposes and staffed by the Office of the Reclamation Guaranty Fund established pursuant to KRS § 350.512. The commission shall:
(1) Review, recommend, and promulgate administrative regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A, which are necessary to:

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 350.509

  • Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Cabinet: means the Energy and Environment Cabinet. See Kentucky Statutes 350.010
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
  • Operations: means surface coal mining operations, all of the premises, facilities, roads, and equipment used in the process of producing coal from a designated area or removing overburden for the purpose of determining the location, quality, or quantity of a natural coal deposit or the activity to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or the removal of coal. See Kentucky Statutes 350.010
  • Permittee: means a person holding a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations. See Kentucky Statutes 350.010
  • Reclamation: means the reconditioning of the area affected by surface coal mining operations under a plan approved by the cabinet. See Kentucky Statutes 350.010
  • Secretary: means the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet. See Kentucky Statutes 350.010
  • Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(a) Monitor and maintain the fund;
(b) Establish a structure for the administration of processing claims and making payments;
(c) Establish mechanisms for review of the viability of the fund and criteria for determining when a recommendation shall be made to the secretary of the cabinet to close the fund for failure to maintain actuarial soundness;
(d) Set the schedule of penalties consistent with this chapter associated with late payment, failure to pay, and defrauding the commission through the submission of fraudulent information or withholding requested documentation;
(e) Review, in accordance with the applicable administrative regulations of the cabinet and KRS § 350.515 and KRS § 350.518, all assignments of permittee classification of mine type and assessment of established fees; and
(f) Establish a structure for the payment of the assessments required in KRS
350.515(2)(b) and 350.518;
(2) Notify permittees of suspension or reinstatement of the fees required by KRS
350.518(2);
(3) Employ, in accordance with KRS § 45A.690 to KRS § 45A.725, a certified public accountant in good standing to perform an annual audit of the fund for the first five (5) years of the operations of the fund. Thereafter, the commission shall have audits performed every two (2) years or more frequently as determined necessary by the commission. Audit results shall be reported to the commission and to the Governor;
(4) Employ, in accordance with KRS § 45A.690 to KRS § 45A.725, a qualified actuary to perform an actuarial study annually for the first three (3) years of the operations of the fund. Thereafter, the commission shall have actuarial studies performed every two (2) years or more frequently as determined necessary by the commission. Results of these studies shall be reported to the commission and to the Governor;
(5) Perform all functions necessary and authorize expenditures from the fund necessary to carry out the provisions of law and the administrative regulations of the commission;
(6) Report to the Governor and the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Environment no later than December 31 of each year as to the financial status of the reclamation guaranty fund;
(7) Conduct investigations and issue subpoenas on behalf of the commission to verify reporting, payment, and other activities of permittees related to the fund. All documents produced in response to investigations and subpoenas by the
commission shall remain confidential and not subject to the provisions of KRS
61.870 to 61.882; and
(8) Bring an action in Franklin Circuit Court against any permittee for the recovery of funds spent by the commission by reason of forfeiture of that permittee. The commission may utilize the legal department of the cabinet for this purpose.
Effective: March 22, 2013
History: Created 2013 Ky. Acts ch. 78, sec. 4, effective March 22, 2013.