Tennessee Code 59-8-212 – Tennessee surface mine reclamation fund – Other available funds
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 59-8-212
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of environment and conservation or the commissioner's designees. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
- Reclamation: means the process of backfilling, grading and shaping of the disturbed land in the affected area, constructing water control facilities, the taking of measures to control current or future air, water or soil pollution, and the planting of vegetation, and other measures. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
- Surface mining: means all or any part of the process followed in the production of minerals from a natural mineral deposit by the open pit or open cut method, auger method, highwall mining method which requires a new cut or removal of overburden, or any other mining process in which the strata or overburden is removed or displaced in order to recover the mineral. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
All sums received through the payment of fees or the forfeiture of bonds shall be placed in the state treasury and credited to a special agency account to be designated as the Tennessee surface mine reclamation fund. This fund, appropriations for which are also authorized, shall be available to the commissioner for expenditure for the reclamation and revegetation of land affected by surface mining operations, including lands so affected prior to enactment of this part; provided, that the proceeds from the forfeiture of any bond shall be used to the extent required in completing reclamation and revegetation of the area with respect to which the bond was posted. Any unencumbered and any unexpended balance of this fund remaining at the end of any fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward for the purpose of reclamation and revegetation of land as provided in this section until expended.