For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the respective meanings ascribed to them by this section:

(1) BONDS. Any revenue bonds or notes that may at any time be issued by the Alabama State Docks Department pursuant to authorization in Act No. 64, p. 115, of the Alabama Legislature of 1971 (First Special Session), as same may be amended from time to time, for the purpose of constructing any seaport facility.

(2) COMMISSIONER. The Commissioner of Revenue of the Department of Revenue of the State of Alabama.

(3) PERSON. Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, or any combination thereof.

(4) PRODUCER. Any person engaging in the business of severing coal from the soil within this state.

(5) PURCHASER. Any person acquiring title, outright or conditionally, to any interest in severed coal.

(6) SEVER. Cutting, mining, stripping, or otherwise taking or removing from the soil within Alabama.

(7) SEAPORT FACILITY. Any improvements, including any real or personal property, structure or equipment useful for any one or more of the loading, unloading, storage, or other handling of coal, coke, or any other materials or products of any kind that are useful in promoting, developing, and operating seaports within this state and that are constructed with the proceeds from the bonds as defined herein.

(8) TON. A short ton of 2,000 pounds.

(9) TRANSPORTER. Any person transporting coal from the place where it is severed or from any other place to any other place within or without the State of Alabama.

There is hereby levied, in addition to all other taxes imposed by law, an excise and privilege tax on every person severing coal within Alabama. This tax shall be paid to the commissioner by every producer who severs coal within Alabama at the rate of $.135 per ton of coal severed.

Every producer shall, within 20 days after the end of each calendar month, whether or not he shall have actually severed any coal during the preceding month, file with the commissioner a report. The report shall set forth, in a form to be prescribed by the commissioner, the amount of coal in tons, if any, severed by such producer during the next preceding calendar month, the point of severance thereof, the amount of tax due and such other information as the commissioner may reasonably require for the proper enforcement of the provisions of this article. The producer shall accompany such report with payment of the full amount of the tax shown to be due. The said report shall be signed by the producer himself in the instance of any individual producer, and by a member or officer or the manager of the producer in all other instances.

Purchasers and transporters of coal shall file a report with the commissioner, upon forms prescribed by the commissioner, within 20 days after the end of each calendar month. The report shall state the names and addresses of all producers from whom such purchaser or transporter has received coal during the respective said calendar month, the total quantity of coal so acquired and, in the case of a transporter, to whom and where each ton of coal was delivered, and such further information as the commissioner reasonably may require for the proper enforcement of the provisions of this article. The said report shall be signed by the purchaser or transporter himself, in the instance of an individual purchaser or transporter, and by a member or officer or the manager of the purchaser or transporter in all other instances.

(a) The entire proceeds from the privilege or license tax levied by Section 40-13-2 shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund. The proceeds from the special handling charge provided for by Act No. 2306 of the 1971 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of a fund to be created and known as the Special Handling Charge Fund.

(b) The amounts deposited into such funds shall be disbursed and are hereby appropriated to the extent necessary for such purpose, to pay at their respective maturities, or to redeem under the terms thereof, principal of and interest on any revenue bonds that may at any time be issued pursuant to authorization and any statute adopted at the 1971 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature or at any other legislative session prior thereto for the purpose of constructing any seaport facility; provided, that amounts deposited into the Special Handling Charge Fund shall be first expended to the extent necessary for such purposes before any amounts are drawn from the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund.

(c) From the balance remaining in the Special Handling Charge Fund during each fiscal year there is hereby appropriated and there shall be paid by the State Treasurer into a reserve fund or funds established for the bonds until there is on deposit an amount equal to the maximum principal and interest becoming due on the bonds in any one year; to the extent that the balance remaining in the Special Handling Charge Fund is inadequate to fully fund the reserve fund, the reserve fund shall be funded from the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund.

(d) The balance thereafter remaining in the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund during each fiscal year shall be transferred as provided by Section 40-13-6.

(e) The balance, if any, in the Special Handling Charge Fund is hereby appropriated and shall be used by the State Treasurer to pay, at his discretion, principal and interest on the bonds in future years or to redeem portions of the bonds.

In each fiscal year when the funds then on deposit in the special fund or funds created for retirement of the bonds equal the amount needed to pay all the principal and interest becoming payable on the bonds within the succeeding 12 months and the funds then on deposit in the reserve fund or funds created for the bonds equal the maximum principal and interest becoming due on the bonds in any one year, the severance tax proceeds remaining in the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund, shall be credited to the State General Fund; provided however, that if at the end of any fiscal year of the state, beginning with the fiscal year ending September 30, 1987, the Director of the Alabama State Docks Department shall have notified the Director of Finance in writing, at least five days prior to the close of the fiscal year, that the revenues to be derived by the Alabama State Docks Department from the operations of its coal handling facilities for the then current fiscal year are anticipated to be insufficient to pay the aggregate of (1) the expenses (exclusive of depreciation) incurred in operating and maintaining the facilities during such fiscal year and (2) principal and interest that came due during such fiscal year on those bonds of the Alabama State Docks Department for payment of which the revenues have been pledged (which notification shall specify the amount of the expected deficiency), then the remaining severance tax proceeds shall remain in the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund and shall not be transferred to the State General Fund. Following the filing of such notification, a report shall be filed by the Director of the Alabama State Docks Department with the Director of Finance within 30 days after the close of such fiscal year, supported by such documentation as may be deemed appropriate by the Director of Finance and attesting to the amount of the actual deficiency, computed as described above, incurred in the operation of the facilities during the immediately preceding fiscal year. Upon receipt of the report and such other documentation from the department as the Director of Finance may specify, the Director of Finance, if satisfied as to the accuracy of the amount of the actual deficiency as reflected in the report and accompanying documentation, shall authorize to be transferred, and to the extent herein provided there is hereby in such event appropriated, to the Alabama State Docks Department an amount equal to the lesser of (i) the actual amount of any deficiency computed as described herein or (ii) the balance contained in the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund as of the immediately preceding September 30. Beginning with the 1992-93 fiscal year, the first three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) of any moneys remaining in the Alabama State Docks Bulk Handling Facility Trust Fund after such transfer to the Alabama State Docks Department shall be transferred directly to the Alabama Mining Academy. Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) shall be transferred to the Tuscaloosa County General Fund; five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to the Jefferson County General Fund; and two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to the Walker County Economic and Industrial Development Authority and any remaining moneys shall be credited to the State General Fund. The Tuscaloosa County General Fund allocation shall be distributed as follows: One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to the Town of Vance; one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to the Town of Brookwood; one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000) to the Tuscaloosa County Public Library; and one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000) to the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education. In any year in which the total amount allocated to the Tuscaloosa County General Fund, the Jefferson County General Fund, and the Walker County Economic and Industrial Development Authority is insufficient to provide the total allocations for the three, the amount that is available shall be prorated among the three in the same proportion as the designated allocations. In the event the Tuscaloosa County General Fund receives less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), the distributions to the Town of Vance, the Town of Brookwood, and the Tuscaloosa County Public Library shall collectively have priority. In the event the allocation to the Tuscaloosa County General Fund is less than three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($325,000), the total amount available shall be prorated among the Town of Vance, the Town of Brookwood, and the Tuscaloosa County Public Library in the same proportion as the designated allocations.

Of the above amount to the Alabama Mining Academy, a small portion of said sum shall be used to retrain Alabama coal miners, who have been terminated from their employment, for other occupational opportunities.

The excise and privilege tax imposed by this article shall terminate on October 1, 2006, unless extended by an act of the Legislature of the State of Alabama.

No political subdivision of the State of Alabama, including counties, cities, special taxing districts or other taxing instrumentalities, shall levy a tax upon the excise or privilege of severing coal in Alabama. It is the intent hereof that all taxing authority upon the excise or privilege of severing coal as is granted in Section 40-13-2 shall inure to the State of Alabama exclusively.

Any producer, purchaser or transporter who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each such offense, and the willful filing of any false report shall constitute perjury and shall be punished as such.

When used in this article, unless the context plainly indicates otherwise, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

(1) PERSON. Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, or any other legal entity;

(2) SEVER. Cutting, mining, stripping, deep mining, or otherwise taking or removing coal or lignite from the soil within the county;

(3) TON. A short ton of 2,000 lbs.;

(4) FISCAL YEAR. A 12 month period from January 1 through December 31;

(5) POLICE JURISDICTION and MUNICIPAL LIMITS. Such terms shall refer to police jurisdictions and municipal limits as such police jurisdictions and municipal limits existed on January 1, 1977.

Any laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the Department of Revenue is authorized and empowered to and shall levy and collect an excise and privilege tax on every person severing coal or lignite within the State of Alabama in an amount equal to $0.20 per ton of coal or lignite severed.

The proceeds collected pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be deposited with the state Department of Revenue and shall be distributed by it at intervals of not more than 60 days as follows:

(1) There shall be distributed to the governing body of each municipality within the police jurisdiction or municipal limits of which coal or lignite was severed an amount equal to 50 percent of the tax collected under this article from the severance of coal or lignite occurring within such police jurisdiction or municipal limits; and

(2) There shall be distributed to the governing body of each county within which coal or lignite was severed other than within the police jurisdiction or municipal limits of a municipality an amount equal to 100 percent of the tax collected under this article from the severance of coal or lignite not severed within the police jurisdiction or municipal limits of a municipality, and, in addition, there shall be distributed to each such county 50 percent of the tax collected under this article from the severance of coal or lignite within the police jurisdiction or municipal limits of each municipality in such county within which there occurred the severance of coal or lignite.

In any case in which more than one municipality has, pursuant to the laws of the State of Alabama, police jurisdiction over an area, computations of tonnage severed and the distribution of taxes collected under this article shall be prorated equally among such municipalities with such overlapping police jurisdictions as to such area of overlapping jurisdictions only.

(a) The relevant books of every person engaged in the severing of coal or lignite in the State of Alabama shall be open to inspection by duly authorized agents of the Department of Revenue selected or appointed for the purpose of aiding in the collection and enforcement of the tax imposed by this article.

(b) The Department of Revenue is authorized and empowered to issue such forms and to make reasonable rules, regulations and promulgations as may be necessary to enforce and collect the tax imposed by this article, including the imposition of a delinquent penalty not to exceed 10 percent of the amount of such tax; provided, however, that such penalty may be waived by the Department of Revenue if a good and sufficient reason therefor is shown.

Any person who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $5,000 for each such offense.

The provisions of this article are supplemental and shall be construed in pari materia with Article 1 of this chapter and Act No. 906, H. 1867, 1975 Regular Session (Acts 1975, p. 1803) as amended by Act No. 368, S. 262, Regular Session of 1976, and any other laws regulating excise and privilege taxes on the severance of coal or lignite; provided, however, that those laws or parts of laws, including specifically any laws imposing or authorizing local, county, municipal, or other severance taxes, except as set out in this section, on coal or lignite, are hereby repealed and all counties, municipalities, and taxing authorities now or hereafter existing in the State of Alabama are prohibited from enacting and implementing any excise or privilege tax on any person severing coal or lignite within the State of Alabama.

This article may be cited as the Alabama Uniform Severance Tax Act.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) BORROW PIT. An area from which soil or other unconsolidated materials are removed to be used, without further processing, for highway or road construction and maintenance.

(2) COMMISSIONER. The Commissioner of Revenue of the Alabama Department of Revenue.

(3) DEPARTMENT. The Alabama Department of Revenue.

(4) OPERATOR. Any person engaged in mining or quarrying operations in the state, whether individually, jointly, or through a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated company, or by agent, employee, or contractor.

(5) PERSON. Any individual or individuals, partnership, limited partnership, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, business trust, or any other association of persons.

(6) PRODUCER. An operator engaged in the sale of severed materials.

(7) PURCHASER. A person acquiring severed materials from a producer and liable for the tax imposed hereunder.

(8) SEVERED MATERIAL. Shall mean all natural minerals, including, but not limited to, sand, gravel, sandstone, granite, shale, clay, except clay that produces lightweight aggregate, dolomite, and limestone.

(9) STATE. The State of Alabama and its departments and agencies.

(10) TON. A short ton of 2,000 pounds.

There is hereby levied, in addition to all other taxes imposed by law, a severance tax on the purchaser of all severed material severed from the ground and sold as tangible personal property. The tax shall be levied primarily to compensate the county for the use of its roads and infrastructure and also for the benefit, health, safety, and economic development of the county in which the severed material is severed and the proceeds thereof shall be distributed and allocated as provided in Section 40-13-58.

The term 'severed material,' as defined in subdivision (8) of Section 40-13-52 shall not include lime or limestone used for agricultural purposes or for pollution control or abatement purposes, nor rock dust used for settling coal dust in underground mines or similar uses, nor any natural minerals used for the purpose of producing portland cement, nor processed sand used in the foundry cores, mold, and linings, nor clay that produces lightweight aggregate, marble and marble by-products, iron ore, quartzite, coal, oil, and natural gas and the severance of marble and marble by-products, iron ore, quartzite, coal, oil, and natural gas shall not be subject to the provisions of this article.

(a) The tax levied by this article shall apply to all severed material severed from the ground within this state and sold as tangible personal property, regardless of the place of sale or the fact that delivery may be made outside the county, except that no tax shall be due on any such minerals that are sold to a purchaser for use outside the state if such minerals are not transported on public roads in Alabama. Records relating to minerals purchased for use outside the state, including method of delivery, shall be available for verification and audit purposes to the department.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), or any other provisions in this article to the contrary:

(1) Any severed material severed from the earth by an operator or producer and moved from one place to another on the same site, or transported to another site owned by the same operator or producer shall not be considered a severance thereof for purposes of taxation; and

(2) Any severed materials or any other kind of material when severed and used for fill by an operator, producer or any other person, whether from the same construction site, job site, borrow pit, or any site other than a commercial quarry shall be exempt from the severance tax levied by this article.

(3) Chert shall be exempt from the severance tax levied by this article, including any county or municipality owned and operated chert facility.

(c) Any severed material which has been severed and on which any county severance tax has accrued prior to October 1, 2004, in the county in which the severance has occurred shall be exempt if such tax has been paid.

(a) The rate of the tax shall be ten cents ($0.10) per ton on severed material sold as tangible personal property. Provided, however, that naturally occurring unprocessed sand may be taxed at a higher rate by a local act and all such tax collected at such higher rate shall be remitted directly to the jurisdiction in which the operator severing such naturally occurring unprocessed sand is located.

(b) The tax levied by this article shall be collected by the producer and become due and payable by the purchaser thereof at the time of sale or delivery, whichever first occurs, provided that the tax shall be identified as a severance tax on a bill of sale, invoice, or similar sales document to the purchaser thereof, otherwise the tax shall instead be the obligation of the producer.

(c) A producer shall be allowed a credit against the tax levied hereunder for any severed material severance tax remitted to any county in connection with severed materials severed in one county and transported into another county for further processing by the producer or an affiliate of the producer.

(a) The department shall administer and collect this tax and shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary and reasonable for the administration of this article. It shall be the duty of the department to include in such regulations an appropriate method to allocate funds collected to the county where the severed material was severed or processed.

(b) The department and producers shall use the inventory accounting principle known as 'first in-first out' in determining the tax payable on stockpiles or inventories of severed material sold, and to which county the tax revenue should be allocated, regardless of where the severed material is stored or sold.

For the purpose of ascertaining the amount of tax due and payable under this article, it shall be the duty of all producers to transmit to the department, on or before the twentieth day of the month next succeeding the month in which the tax accrues, a return upon the forms provided by the department. The return shall show the month or period covered, the total number of tons of each type of severed material sold from each production unit operated, owned, or controlled by the producer in each county during the period covered, the amount of the tax due, and such other information as the department may reasonably require to allocate the tax between raw materials severed and finished products sold, as the case may be in particular counties. The return shall be signed by the producer and shall be accompanied by the full amount of the tax shown to be due in good and immediate funds.

(a) The tax levied by this article shall become delinquent on the twenty-first day of the month next succeeding the month in which the tax is due. Provided, however, that the department, for good cause shown, may extend the time for making a return required under this article.

(b) The department may impose interest and penalties on unpaid taxes which become delinquent. One-half of all interest and penalties collected with respect to the tax imposed by this article shall be retained by the department to help defray the expenses of administration and collection of the tax.

(a) All revenues collected from the tax levied pursuant to this article, less an amount to cover the expenses of administration and collection and one-half of all interest and penalties collected, as provided in subsection (b) of Section 40-13-57, shall be remitted quarterly to the governing body of the county from which the severed material was severed within 60 days following the end of a calendar quarter. Notwithstanding the above, the aggregate amount retained by the department to defray the expenses described herein shall not exceed 1.5 percent of the total revenues collected during such calendar quarter and shall be credited to its current service revenue.

(b) The revenues remitted to a county as provided in subsection (a) shall be deposited into a fund held and dispensed by the county commission and designated as the severed material severance tax fund. At least 75 percent of such funds shall be allocated and utilized by the county for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the county’s road system or, if provided by local legislation, for a local economic development authority, public transit, construction and maintenance of county roads and bridges, or the reclamation of lands where natural materials have been severed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, revenues distributed to Franklin County as provided in subsection (a) shall be allocated and utilized exclusively for economic development. Twenty-five percent of the funds distributed to a county as a result of the severance of materials from within the corporate limits of a municipality in the county shall be expended by the county on county roads or other projects authorized by this article within the corporate limits of that municipality.

(c) Revenues collected by the tax imposed by this article shall be remitted back to the county from which the severed material was originally produced based on total tons severed in such county subject to the severance tax multiplied by the rate of tax, less sums due the department, as provided in subsection (a), based on forms submitted to the department from the operator or producer.

(d) Any adjustment of taxes, interest, or penalties which is necessary to adjust any error in the calculation, collection, or disbursement may be made at a subsequent collection or disbursement.

All acts or parts of laws in conflict herewith are hereby repealed, including, but not limited to, Act 99-255, 1999 Regular Session, Act 94-478, 1994 Regular Session, as amended by Act 98-242, 1998 Regular Session and Act 91-609, 1991 Regular Session. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the tax levied pursuant to this article shall not be operative in any county in which, on October 1, 2004, there is a local law which levies a severance tax on natural material in an amount of 25 cents ($.25) or more per ton of severed material. This article provides the only method and manner to tax the severance of severed materials subject to the tax levied herein. This article shall preempt all local acts, now or in the future, except as provided herein, regarding the taxation of the severance of the severed material subject to the tax levied herein. Provided, however, that notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the Legislature shall be allowed and shall have the power to tax, by local act or local law applicable to a single county, the severance of materials and/or any use thereof which is not subject to the tax levied by this article or which is otherwise excepted or exempted from the tax levied herein.

Within 90 days after October 1, 2004, any county may elect to have the provisions of this article inapplicable to their county. Such election must be made by an affirmative, majority vote of the membership of the county commission so electing to exempt the county from the provisions of this article. Any county making such election shall not receive the proceeds or benefits of any tax collected under this article. Should any county, after electing to be exempted from this article, determine to have the provisions of this article apply to the county, then such county must repeal such previous election by a majority vote of the membership of the county commission and this article shall then apply to such county and the terms and provisions of this article, as amended, shall supersede and take precedence over any act or resolution of the county taxing the severance of materials within such county. Any election under this section shall be filed with the department.

(a) Any person required by this article to make a return, pay a tax, keep records, or furnish information deemed necessary by the commissioner or the computation, assessment, or collection of the tax imposed by this article, who fails to make the return, pay the tax, keep the records, or furnish the information at the time required by law or regulation, in addition to other penalties provided by law, shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided by law. Each required procedure and each required record shall constitute a separate offense.

(b) Any person who willfully or fraudulently makes and signs a return, not believing the return to be true and correct as to every material fact, shall be guilty of a Class C felony, and upon conviction, shall be punished as provided by law. Each return shall constitute a separate offense. Additionally, any person who willfully or fraudulently makes and signs a return shall be subject to the penalties prescribed for perjury under the laws of the state.

(c) If noncompliance with any provision of this article is due to any intent to evade payment, the person liable for the payment may be restrained and enjoined from severing severed material from any production unit from which severed material may be severed and sold and upon which the tax is due.

(d) Proceedings to enforce this article shall be instituted in the name of the state by the Attorney General upon the request of the commissioner.

(e) The assessment and collection of any tax imposed hereunder shall be governed by the Alabama Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights and Uniform Revenue Procedures Act, as amended.

(f) For purposes of this section, in addition to its ordinary legal meaning and its defined meaning under this article, 'person' includes an officer or employee of a corporation or a partner, member or employee of a partnership or limited liability entity that is under a duty to perform the act in respect to which the violation occurs.