Pennsylvania Statutes Title 52 P.S. Mines and Mining § 1406.5f. Voluntary agreements for repair or compensation for damages to structures caused by underground mining; deed recital

(a) Nothing contained in this act shall prohibit the mine operator and the landowner at any time after the effective date of this section from voluntarily entering into an agreement establishing the manner and means by which repair or compensation for subsidence damage is to be provided. Any release contained in such an agreement shall only be valid in releasing the operator from liability under this act if it clearly states what rights are established by this act and the landowner expressly acknowledges the release as consideration for the alternate remedies provided under the agreement, except that such remedies shall be no less than those necessary to compensate the owner of a building for the reasonable cost of its repair or the reasonable cost of its replacement where the damage is irreparable. Any such release shall be null and void if no mining occurs for a period of thirty-five years within the coal field of which the coal underlying the affected surface property forms a part.

(b) In every deed for the conveyance of property for which an agreement executed pursuant to subsection (a) is effective, the grantor, at the time of transfer, shall include in the deed a recital of the agreement and any release contained therein.

(c) The duty created by section 5.5  1 to repair or compensate for subsidence damage to the buildings enumerated in section 5.4(a)  2 shall be the sole and exclusive remedy for such damage and shall not be diminished by the existence of contrary provisions in deeds, leases or agreements which relieved mine operators from such duty. Nothing herein shall impair agreements entered into after April 27, 1966, and prior to the effective date of this section, which, for valid consideration, provide for a waiver or release of any duty to repair or compensate for subsidence damage. Any such waiver or release shall only be valid with respect to damage resulting from the mining activity contemplated by such agreement.

(d) In every deed for the conveyance of property for which an agreement executed pursuant to subsection (c) is effective at the time of transfer, the grantor shall include in the deed a recital of the agreement and any release contained therein.