Pennsylvania Act 1947-472 — ANTHRACITE STRIP MINING AND CONSERVATION ACT

Act text

ANTHRACITE STRIP MINING AND CONSERVATION ACT
                 Act of Jun. 27, 1947, P.L. 1095, No. 472             Cl. 52
                                  AN ACT

     Providing for the regulation of mining of anthracite coal by the
        open pit or strip mining method and for the conservation and
        improvement of lands affected directly or indirectly by such
        mining; requiring operators to be licensed, to pay license
        fees, to secure permits to engage in strip mining and to file
        bonds conditioned for compliance with this act; requiring
        backfilling of stripping pits and leveling and planting lands
        affected to prevent erosion and the pollution of waters and
        to protect public health, safety and welfare; conferring
        powers and imposing duties upon the Department of Mines and
        Mineral Industries; providing for appeals, and imposing
        penalties, and making appropriations. (Title amended Aug. 13,
        1963, P.L.781, No.393)

        Compiler's Note:  Section 16(a)(3) of Act 317 of 1931
            provided that Act 472 is repealed insofar as it is
            inconsistent with Act 147.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  This act is an exercise of the police power to
     provide for the improvement and conservation of lands affected
     by the mining of anthracite coal by the open pit or strip mining
     method; to prevent the combustion of such coal and the pollution
     of rivers and streams and improve the use and enjoyment of such
     lands; to preserve the value of such lands for taxation to
     decrease and prevent soil erosion and aid in the protection of
     game and wild life; and generally to provide for the public
     safety, health and general welfare.
        Section 2.  Short Title.--This act shall be known and may be
     cited as the "Anthracite Strip Mining and Conservation Act."
        (2 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 3.  Definitions.--The following words and phrases,
     unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context,
     shall have the following meanings:
        "Anthracite."--The hard coal mined in the northeasterly part
     of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania commonly known as the
     Anthracite Region.
        "Strip Mining."--The mining or recovery of coal by removing
     the material which overlies the coal bed in its natural or
     previously mined condition.
        "Stripping pit."--Any trench, cut, hole or pit formed by the
     removal of the surface or coal as a result of strip mining.
        "Operation."--A stripping pit located within the boundaries
     of a mine inspection district as outlined by the Pennsylvania
     Department of Mines and Mineral Industries: Provided, That in
     all cases where a single stripping pit extends across a mine
     inspection district line such pit will not be considered as two
     operations because of being located in two mine inspection
     districts.
        "Operator."--A person, partnership, association or
     corporation engaged in strip mining of anthracite coal as a
     principal, or who is or becomes the owner of the coal recovered
     as the result of such strip mining.
        "Spoil banks."--The material of whatever nature removed and
     deposited on the surface that the underlying coal may be
     recovered.
        "Department."--The Department of Mines and Mineral Industries
     of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
        "Secretary."--The Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries.
        "Abandoned."--An operation where no coal has been produced or
     overburden removed for a period of six (6) months, verified by
     monthly reports submitted to the department by the operator and
     by inspections made by mine inspectors, unless an operator
     within thirty (30) days after receipt of notification by the
     secretary terming an operation abandoned submits sufficient
     evidence to the secretary that the operation is in fact not
     abandoned.
        "Degree."--When used in this act, shall mean inclination from
     the horizontal and in each case shall be subject to a tolerance
     of five (5) degrees.
        "Landowner."--The person, partnership, association or
     corporation, private, municipal or otherwise, in which the legal
     title to the land is vested.
        "Overburden."--The material or strata overlying a seam or
     seams of anthracite coal in its natural state.
        "Area of land affected."--The area of land from which the
     overburden is removed, except that in stripping pits not more
     than one hundred (100) feet in depth the area shall include that
     occupied by the spoil piles.
        "Deep mining."--Such mining as is presently or has previously
     been carried on by means of slope, tunnel, drift or shaft
     without the removal of the overburden.
        (3 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 4.  (a)  It shall be unlawful for any person to
     proceed to mine coal, commonly known as anthracite, by the strip
     mining method as an operator within this Commonwealth without
     first obtaining a license as a strip mining operator from the
     Department of Mines and Mineral Industries. Applications for
     licensure as strip mining operators shall be made in writing to
     the department upon forms prepared and furnished by the
     department, and shall contain such information as to the
     applicant as the department shall require, and when the
     application is made by a corporation, partnership or
     association, the names of its officers, directors and principal
     owners. The application for licensure shall be accompanied by a
     fee of three hundred dollars ($300). It shall be the duty of all
     persons licensed as strip mining operators to renew such license
     annually, and pay for each such license renewal the sum of three
     hundred dollars ($300). The application for renewal of a license
     as a strip mining operator shall be made, annually, on or before
     January 1 of the next succeeding year.
        Penalty.--Any person who proceeds to mine coal, commonly
     known as anthracite, by the strip mining method as an operator
     without having applied for and received a license as herein
     provided, 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) and not exceeding ten thousand
     dollars ($10,000), or undergo imprisonment not exceeding six
     months, or both. The fine shall be payable to the Commonwealth.
        (b)  The department shall not issue any new strip mining
     operator's license or renew any existing strip mining operator's
     license to any person or operator if it finds, after
     investigation, that the applicant for licensure or renewal has
     previously failed and continues to fail to comply with any of
     the provisions of this act as hereby amended. Where the
     applicant is a corporation, partnership or association, the
     department shall not issue such license or renewal if, after
     investigation, it finds that any principal owner or partner of
     such corporation, partnership or association, has previously
     failed and continues to fail to comply with any of the
     provisions of this act, or if any principal owner or partner is
     or has been a principal owner or partner of any other
     corporation, partnership or association, which has previously
     failed and continues to fail to comply with any of the
     provisions of this act as hereby amended.
        (4 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 5.  (a)  Before any person licensed as a strip mining
     operator shall hereafter proceed to mine coal, commonly known as
     anthracite, by the strip mining method, he shall apply to the
     Department of Mines and Mineral Industries on a form prepared
     and furnished by the department for a permit for each separate
     operation.
        (b)  As a part of each application for a permit, the operator
     shall furnish, in duplicate, a map or plan of mining and
     restoration on a scale of not less than four hundred (400) feet
     to the inch, showing the location and extent of the proposed
     stripping pit with respect to the land lines of adjoining
     properties, together with the location of any public highway,
     dwelling house or stream of water. The map of the proposed
     stripping pit shall be accompanied by cross-sections at
     intervals not to exceed five hundred (500) feet. Such cross-
     sections shall include the following information: tidal
     elevations of the surface, top of the coal seam, bottom of strip
     mine pit; the cross-sections shall provide surface elevations
     for a distance of not less than three hundred (300) feet beyond
     the outlines of the proposed stripping pit; there shall be
     located on the cross-section the outline of the proposed
     stripping pit and the approximate area of the placement of the
     overburden. The operator shall furnish a detailed proposal
     showing the manner, time and distance for backfilling. The
     operator shall be required to furnish the department with new
     maps and cross-sections at the end of each year of operation.
        (c)  Any permit issued by the department as required by this
     act shall permit the operation of the pit for a period of one
     (1) year from the date of issue unless sooner suspended by the
     secretary.
        (5 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 5.1.  Any mine inspector directed by the department
     shall have the right to enter upon and inspect all stripping
     operations for the purpose of determining conditions of safety
     and for compliance with the provisions of this act and all rules
     and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. Should an operator
     fail to comply with the requirements of this act or any rules or
     regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, the mine inspector
     shall report the matter to the secretary who shall immediately
     notify the operator by registered mail of such failure. Unless
     the operator complies with the act and such rules and
     regulations within thirty (30) days from the receipt of such
     notice, the secretary may, after hearing and final
     determination, suspend the open pit mining operator's license of
     the operator and issue a cease and desist order requiring the
     operator to immediately cease open pit mining within this
     Commonwealth until such time as it is determined by the
     secretary that the operator is in full compliance. A mine
     inspector shall have the authority to order the immediate
     stopping of any operation that is started by an unlicensed
     operator or without the operator thereof having first obtained a
     permit as required by this act or in any case where safety
     regulations are being violated.
        (5.1 added Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 6.  The operator shall file with the Department of
     Mines and Mineral Industries a bond for each operation on a form
     to be prescribed and furnished by the department payable to the
     Commonwealth and conditioned that the operator shall faithfully
     perform all the requirements of this act. The bond shall be in
     the amount of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) per acre
     nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) per acre based upon
     the number of acres of land in such operation which the operator
     estimates will be the area of land affected by strip mining
     during one (1) year immediately following the date of the permit
     issued by the department. If following an examination of the
     maps and cross-sections submitted the secretary deems it
     necessary to increase the amount of bond in excess of five
     hundred dollars ($500) per acre, he shall stipulate the amount
     of bond per acre required: Provided, That no bond shall be for
     an amount less than five thousand dollars ($5,000). Liability
     under the bond shall be for the duration of strip mining at each
     operation and for a period of five years thereafter, unless
     released prior thereto, in the manner hereinafter provided by
     this act.
        Such bond shall be signed by the operator and a corporate
     surety licensed to do business in the Commonwealth: Provided,
     however, That in lieu of a surety bond the operator may file a
     collateral bond secured by cash in the form of a certified or
     cashier's check or negotiable bonds of the United States
     Government or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania
     Turnpike Commission, the General State Authority, the State
     Public School Building Authority, or any municipality within the
     Commonwealth. The cash deposited or the market value of such
     securities shall be equal at least to the amount of the required
     bond and shall be held upon the same terms and conditions.
        The Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries shall, upon
     receipt of any such deposit of cash or securities, immediately
     deposit the same with the State Treasurer, whose duty it shall
     be to receive and hold the same in the name of the Commonwealth
     for the purpose for which such deposit is made. The State
     Treasurer shall at all times be responsible for the safe-keeping
     of such deposits.
        Any operator making such deposits shall be entitled to
     receive from the State Treasurer, on written order of the
     Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries, the whole or any
     portion of any securities so deposited, upon depositing with the
     department, in lieu thereof, a surety bond or other negotiable
     securities of the classes herein specified having a market value
     at least equal to the sum required for a bond as aforesaid.
        The operator shall also be entitled upon request to receive
     from the State Treasurer the interest or income from said
     securities deposited as aforesaid as the same become due and
     payable: Provided, however, That where securities deposited, as
     aforesaid, mature or are called, the State Treasurer, at the
     request of the operator, shall convert such securities into
     other acceptable securities designated by the operator.
        (6 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 7.  Upon application by the operator, the permit
     shall be renewed from year to year so as to cover the number of
     acres embraced in the original permit which have not been
     stripped, and upon filing the required bond for such additional
     land and such additional material as would have been required
     for the additional land had it been included in the original
     application for a permit, an amended permit shall be issued to
     the operator to cover acres which are not included in the
     original permit and which the operator estimates will be the
     area of land affected during the following year.
        (7 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 8.  Within thirty (30) days after the close of the
     year for which the permit was issued, and likewise after the
     close of each subsequent year, the operator, if he continues to
     engage in strip mining, shall file with the Department of Mines
     and Mineral Industries a new bond covering such new acres as he
     may estimate will be affected during the following year. The
     bond shall be at the rate of five hundred dollars ($500) per
     acre, unless it has been determined by the secretary that a bond
     in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) per acre is required.
     The bond shall not be less than five thousand dollars ($5,000)
     and shall be accompanied by an annual report, upon a form
     furnished by the department, setting forth the number of acres
     of land affected during the preceding year and the number of
     acres of land that will be affected during the ensuing year at
     each operation: Provided, however, That any portion of a bond
     covering an operation which may remain unencumbered at the end
     of an operational year may be applied to acres of land which the
     operator anticipates will be affected during the following year.
        (8 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 9.  Upon receipt of such annual report, the Secretary
     of Mines and Mineral Industries shall make an investigation of
     the operation and shall charge the area of land actually
     affected by strip mining during the year for which said report
     is filed against the bond or deposit filed by the operator at
     the established rate per acre of the area of land affected, but
     in no case shall the bond or deposit retained by the Secretary
     of Mines and Mineral Industries be less than five thousand
     dollars ($5,000). Should the area of land actually affected
     exceed the estimate made by the operator at the time of the
     application for the permit, the operator shall file an
     additional bond at the established rate per acre of the area of
     land affected over and above his estimate: Provided, That an
     additional bond need not be filed where the number of acres of
     land actually affected multiplied by five hundred dollars ($500)
     does not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000),
     except in those instances where the secretary has found it
     necessary to increase the rate per acre. If the work
     contemplated by the permit and bond be not completed, but the
     area of land actually affected by strip mining during the year
     is less than the estimate, the secretary shall issue a release
     of the excess of the bond or deposit upon which liability has
     not been charged, as aforesaid: Provided, That in no case shall
     any bond or deposit be released or reduced to an amount less
     than five thousand dollars ($5,000).
        (9 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 10.  (10 repealed Sept. 2, 1961, P.L.1194, No.528)
        Section 11.  The operator shall be required to backfill
     stripping pits in the following manner:
        (1)  All stripping pits not more than one hundred (100) feet
     in depth shall be completely backfilled.
        (2)  All stripping pits shall be completely backfilled for a
     distance of one hundred (100) feet from the right-of-way of any
     public highway or two hundred and fifty (250) feet from any
     occupied dwelling house, public building, school, church,
     commercial or institutional building.
        (3)  In all stripping pits in excess of one hundred (100)
     feet in depth and more than one hundred (100) feet beyond the
     right-of-way of any public highway or more than two hundred and
     fifty (250) feet beyond any occupied dwelling house, public
     building, school, church, commercial or institutional building,
     the amount of final backfill required shall be determined by the
     Land Restoration Board as hereinafter constituted. Upon approval
     of the plan of mining and restoration by said board, the
     approved plan shall be included in and become a condition of the
     permit which shall be effective and complied with until the
     operation is completed or abandoned. The amount of final
     backfill required for such stripping pits shall be determined by
     said board concurrently with the issuing of a permit, and shall
     be included in and become a condition of the permit and the
     operator shall be required to backfill to the extent specified:
     Provided, however, That alternative plans for reclamation
     wherein the land can be used for suitable purposes may be
     approved by the Land Restoration Board.
        (4)  Whenever reasonable and practicable, the department
     shall require backfilling as the open pit mining progresses.
     Within six months after the operation is completed or abandoned,
     the operator shall have backfilled all pits in accordance with
     the plan previously approved by the secretary, except in those
     instances where the pit or pits are within one hundred (100)
     feet of the right-of-way of any public highway or within two
     hundred and fifty (250) feet of any occupied dwelling house,
     public building, school, church, commercial or institutional
     building, in which case, the department shall specify the time
     within which the backfilling shall be completed in order to
     protect the public safety. All backfilling shall be completed
     before necessary backfilling equipment is removed from the
     operation.
        Provided, however, That any permit issued subsequent to the
     effective date of this amending act shall not require
     restoration or backfilling of any anthracite coal stripping pit
     stripped, affected or created prior to the effective date of
     this amending act to other than the requirements of legislation
     applicable on the date of such prior stripping.
        The permit shall also specify the distance to which the
     bottom of the spoil banks made by the strip mining operation may
     approach any stream of water having a well defined channel. Such
     distances shall be fixed by the department at such number of
     feet as in the judgment of the department, after consultation
     with the Water and Power Resources Board, taking into
     consideration the character of the overburden, is necessary to
     protect the channel of the stream.
        Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
     prohibit the relocation of any public road, in the manner
     provided by law, or the change of the course or channel of any
     stream, in the manner provided by law, upon permit issued by the
     Water and Power Resources Board.
        (11 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 12.  (12 repealed Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 13.  In any case where a strip mining excavation,
     after the same is abandoned, is likely to result in an
     accumulation of water which in the opinion of the department may
     constitute a hazard to present or future deep mining, or is
     likely to break out of the excavation and cause a flood, the
     department shall order the operator, before abandoning the
     operation, to provide proper drainage for the excavation, if the
     excavation can be drained reasonably by gravity flow.
        Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
     require the draining of a strip mining excavation where the
     accumulation of water therein, will not, in the opinion of the
     department constitute a hazard, or where such water may furnish
     means of recreation or a supply of water for domestic or
     industrial uses.
        Section 14.  In all cases in which the Secretary of Mines and
     Mineral Industries shall find as a fact that the planting of
     such areas is reasonable, practicable and likely to succeed, the
     peaks and ridges of such spoil banks shall be leveled and
     rounded off to such an extent as will permit the planting of
     trees, grasses, or grasses and trees or grasses and shrubs.
     Within one (1) year after the strip mining operation on the
     premises is terminated, the operator shall plant trees, grasses,
     or grasses and trees or grasses and shrubs, upon the surface of
     the spoil banks and the surface of backfills. Any operator,
     however, may at his option pay to the Department of Mines and
     Mineral Industries the sum of one hundred fifty dollars ($150)
     per acre for each acre of such surface of spoil banks and
     backfillings, and thereby shall be released from any duty to
     plant as herein provided. The moneys so paid from time to time
     shall be placed in a special fund in the hands of the Treasury
     Department of the Commonwealth and shall be used by the
     Department of Mines and Mineral Industries to pay the cost of
     planting such trees, grasses or grasses and trees or grasses and
     shrubs, and the supervision of such work and all other expenses
     necessary for or connected with such planting, and are hereby
     appropriated to the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries
     for such purposes. Any moneys remaining unused after such
     planting may be used for planting any other lands affected by
     strip mining of anthracite coal. All planting, required by this
     act to be done by the operator, shall be done subject to the
     supervision and approval of the Secretary of Mines and Mineral
     Industries. If, upon inspection, the Secretary of Mines and
     Mineral Industries does not approve the planting, he shall
     notify the operator in writing setting forth the objections and
     after a hearing shall order the planting to be completed in
     accordance with his final decision.
        (14 amended Nov. 25, 1970, P.L.748, No.243)
        Section 15.  Within six (6) months after the backfilling and
     other acts required by this act have been completed, the
     operator shall file with the Department of Mines and Mineral
     Industries a completion report on a form to be prescribed and
     furnished by the secretary, identifying the operation and
     stating the area of land affected by open pit mining and such
     other information as may be required by the secretary before
     releasing the bond of the operator.
        The operator shall attach to the completion report a map of
     the operation, certified by a registered professional engineer,
     showing the boundary lines of the tract or tracts, tidal
     elevations of the surface top of the coal seam and the bottom of
     the strip mine pit, the access to the operation from the nearest
     public highway, the area of land affected by open pit mining,
     the locations preserved for deep mining and the proposed plans
     in connection therewith.
        (15 amended Sept. 2, 1961, P.L.1194, No.528)
        Section 16.  If and when the Secretary of Mines and Mineral
     Industries shall find that the operator has completed the
     backfilling and other acts as required by this act, and a report
     is filed by the inspector certifying that it has been done in
     the manner prescribed by this act, the Secretary of Mines and
     Mineral Industries shall issue a release of the bond or of the
     cash and securities deposited retaining one hundred dollars
     ($100) per acre affected until such time as the planting is
     completed and certified to by the forester as being done in
     workmanlike manner at which time the retained one hundred
     dollars ($100) per acre shall be released. Upon the presentation
     of such release, the State Treasurer shall immediately return to
     the operator the amount of cash or securities specified in its
     release.
        (16 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 17.  If the operator fails or refuses to comply with
     the requirements of the act as to any area for which liability
     has been provided in the bond, the Secretary of Mines and
     Mineral Industries shall declare such portion of the bond
     forfeited, and shall certify the same to the Department of
     Justice, which department shall proceed to sue out and collect
     the amount of liability forfeited thereon; and where the
     operator has deposited cash or securities in lieu of bond, the
     Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries shall declare such
     portion of the deposit forfeited and shall direct the State
     Treasurer to pay said moneys into a special fund for the use of
     the department, or to proceed to sell said securities to the
     extent forfeited and pay the proceeds thereof into the said
     special fund. Such moneys or securities so forfeited and
     collected shall be used by the Secretary of Mines and Mineral
     Industries to pay the cost of backfilling and other acts
     required by this act, and the cost of planting as required by
     section 14 of this act.
        (17 amended Sept. 2, 1961, P.L.1194, No.528)
        Section 18.  In the event that an operator or owner desires
     to conduct deep mining upon the premises affected by strip
     mining, the said operator or owner may make this fact known to
     the secretary with the request that the backfilling of pits and
     the planting, as may be necessary to permit deep mining, be
     deferred during the period of such deep mining. In such case the
     secretary may defer the backfilling and planting. The deep
     mining shall be started within six (6) months after the recovery
     of coal by strip mining is completed. If such request is made by
     the  owner, he shall secure by bond the backfilling of such pit
     and the planting after the deep mining operation has been
     completed; if the request is made by the operator, the bond
     filed under section 6 of this act shall stand as security for
     such backfilling and planting.
        (18 amended Sept. 2, 1961, P.L.1194, No.528)
        Section 19.  Any operator, or any other person who shall be
     aggrieved by any administrative regulation, directive or order
     of the Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries, the Land
     Restoration Board, or any other administrative agency making
     application of the provisions of this act, may file a petition
     in the court of common pleas of the county where the land is
     located, alleging therein the action complained of and praying
     for remedy thereof and the said court shall proceed therein by
     rule or rules upon the proper administrative officer, body or
     authority to show cause why the petitioner should not have the
     remedy prayed for by his, her or its petition. The court in such
     proceedings shall make such procedural orders as may be
     necessary for facilitating and expediting hearings and
     disposition of the matters complained of. Every such petition
     shall specify the petitioner's objection to the action of the
     administrative officer, body or authority and such officer, body
     or authority on or before the return day of the rule shall make
     answer thereto. Such petition shall be heard by the said court
     of common pleas de novo. From the decision of the said court of
     common pleas, an appeal may be taken by either party to the
     Superior or Supreme Court of Pennsylvania as in other cases.
     Such rights to a hearing and to appeal shall also be enjoyed by
     the duly authorized officials of the political subdivision or
     subdivisions in which the land is located.
        (19 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 20.  The use of explosives for the purpose of
     blasting in connection with strip mining in the neighborhood of
     any public highway, stream of water, dwelling house, public
     building, school, church, commercial or institutional building
     or pipe line shall be done in accordance with regulations
     promulgated by and under the supervision of the Department of
     Mines and Mineral Industries.
        (20 amended Sept. 2, 1961, P.L.1194, No.528)
        Section 20.1.  There is hereby created within the department
     a Land Restoration Board to be composed of the Secretary of
     Mines and Mineral Industries who shall be chairman of the board,
     a conservationist, a representative of the anthracite industry
     and a registered professional engineer, each of whom shall be
     appointed by the Governor for terms of four years to coincide
     with the Governor's own term of office, or until his successor
     has been appointed and has qualified, and of the Deputy
     Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries assigned to anthracite
     operations.
        (20.1 added Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 20.2.  There is hereby created within the department
     a Bureau of Anthracite Conservation and Reclamation and the
     secretary shall appoint and fix the compensation of a director
     of said bureau to be known as the Director of Anthracite
     Conservation and Reclamation.
        The Bureau of Anthracite Conservation and Reclamation shall
     have the power and its duty shall be to administer all of the
     laws of this Commonwealth governing and relating to the mining
     of anthracite coal by the open pit or strip method and, subject
     to the approval of the secretary, to exercise all the powers and
     perform all the duties by law vested in and imposed upon said
     secretary in relation to such open pit or strip mining.
        (20.2 added Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 20.3.  Except as herein provided, all coal stripping
     operations coming within the provisions of this act shall be
     under the exclusive jurisdiction of the department and shall be
     conducted in compliance with such reasonable rules and
     regulations as may be deemed necessary by the secretary for the
     health and safety of those persons engaged in the work. The
     secretary through the mine inspectors shall have the authority
     and power to enforce the provisions of this act and the rules
     and regulations promulgated thereunder by him.
        (20.3 added Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 21.  Any operator who proceeds to mine coal, commonly
     known as "anthracite," by the strip mining method without having
     received a permit, or without having received an amended permit
     as herein provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
     conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than
     five hundred dollars ($500.00) and not exceeding five thousand
     dollars ($5,000.00), or undergo imprisonment not exceeding three
     (3) months, or both. The fine shall be payable to the
     Commonwealth.
        (21 amended Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 21.1.  All funds received by the Secretary of Mines
     and Mineral Industries from registration fees, from forfeiture
     of bonds, of cash deposits and securities, and from penalties
     provided under the terms of this act, shall be held by the State
     Treasurer in a special fund separate and apart from all other
     moneys in the State Treasury, to be known as the "Anthracite
     Coal Open Pit Mining Reclamation Fund," and shall be used by the
     Secretary of Mines and Mineral Industries for the sole purpose
     of administering the provisions of this act and for foresting or
     reclaiming land affected by open pit mining of anthracite coal,
     and for such purposes are hereby specifically appropriated to
     the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries.
        (21.1 added Aug. 13, 1963, P.L.781, No.393)
        Section 22.  All acts or provisions thereof inconsistent
     herewith are hereby repealed: Provided, however, That the act of
     assembly, approved the eighteenth day of June, Anno Domini, one
     thousand nine hundred forty-one (Pamphlet Laws 133), entitled
     "An act relating to coal stripping operations; providing for the
     health and safety of persons employed therein and for the
     inspection and regulation of such operations by the Department
     of Mines; requiring certain information and reports, and
     prescribing penalties," and the act of assembly, approved on the
     twenty-fifth day of June, Anno Domini, one thousand nine hundred
     thirty-seven (Pamphlet Laws 2275), entitled "An act to promote
     safety for the traveling public on State highways; to extend the
     responsibility for subsidence of such highways by the failure of
     vertical and lateral support, and declaring said subsidence a
     public nuisance; to provide for inspection of mine maps by the
     Department of Highways, and the furnishing to said department of
     copies of such mine maps in certain cases; to authorize entry by
     the Department of Highways into mines in certain cases; and to
     provide for notices to the Department of Highways of certain
     mining operations under or adjacent to highways; and providing
     penalties," and all other acts and provisions thereof, which
     regulate the mining of anthracite coal shall not be repealed or
     nullified by this act, but shall remain in full force and
     effect. Nothing in this act shall be construed to abrogate or
     modify the power and jurisdiction of the Department of Mines to
     make rules and regulations and to administer the laws of the
     Commonwealth applicable to open pit mining.
        Section 23.  This act shall become effective immediately upon
     its final enactment: Provided, however, That any person,
     partnership, association or corporation, which is engaged in
     strip mining on the effective date of the act, shall be allowed
     the period until the first day of September, one thousand nine
     hundred forty-seven (1947) to file an application, secure a
     permit and deposit a filing fee and bond with the Department of
     Mines.