A. After a surface coal mining and reclamation permit application has been approved but before such a permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the Department, on a form prescribed and furnished by the Department, a bond for performance payable to the state, and conditional upon faithful performance of all the requirements of law and the permit. Such bond shall be signed by the operator as principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety licensed to do business in the state. The bond shall cover that area of land within the permit area upon which the operator will initiate and conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations within the initial term of the permit. Bonding will occur in one-year increments for the life of the permit and shall cover that segment of the permit area to be affected during the increment. As one-year increments of surface coal mining and reclamation operations are to be initiated and conducted within the permit area, the permittee shall file with the Department an additional bond or bonds to cover such increments in accordance with this section.

B. The amount of the bond required for each bonded area shall depend upon the reclamation requirements of the approved permit, and shall reflect the probable difficulty of reclamation and giving consideration to such factors as topography, geology of the site, hydrology, and revegetation potential, and shall be determined by the Department. The amount of the bond for coal mining shall be sufficient to assure the completion of the reclamation plan if the work had to be performed by the Department in the event of forfeiture, and in no case shall the bond for the entire area under one permit be less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) unless the permit area is less than sixty-seven (67) acres, in which case a minimum bond of fifteen percent (15%) of the total original bond shall be maintained until completion of the reclamation.

Liability under a surface coal mining bond shall be for the duration of the surface coal mining and reclamation operation and for a period coincident with the operator's responsibility for revegetation requirements. The bond shall be executed by the operator and a corporate surety licensed to do business in Oklahoma, except that the operator may elect to deposit cash, negotiable bonds of the United States Government or of Oklahoma, negotiable certificates of deposit of any bank organized or transacting business in the United States, Certificates of Deposit or irrevocable letters of credit from a bank or lending institution licensed to do business in the State of Oklahoma. The cash deposit or market value of such securities shall be equal to or greater than the amount of the bond required for the bonded area.

C. A bond shall not be cancelable by the surety except after not less than ninety (90) days' prior written notice to the Department and the arrangement of a replacement bond suitable to the Department. Bonds may be continued in effect from year to year, and a new bond need not be provided for each permit year. The penalty of the bond or amount of cash and securities, as provided in subsection B of this section, shall be increased or reduced from time to time as affected land acreages are increased or decreased or when the cost of future reclamation changes.

D. If the license to do business in the state of any surety upon a bond filed with the Department pursuant to the Coal Reclamation Act shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within thirty (30) days after receiving notice thereof from the Department, shall substitute for such surety a good and sufficient corporate surety licensed to do business in the state. Upon failure of the operator to make substitution of surety as provided in this section, the Department shall have the right to suspend the permit of the operator to conduct operations upon the land described in such permit until such substitution has been made.

E. The Department may accept the bond of the applicant itself without separate surety when the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department the existence of a suitable agent to receive service of process, and a history of financial solvency and continuous operation sufficient for authorization to self-insure or bond such amount.

F. Such bond or security shall remain in effect until the mined acres have been reclaimed, approved and released by the Department.

Amended by Laws 1982, c. 181, § 7, emerg. eff. April 20, 1982; Laws 1985, c. 339, § 3, emerg. eff. July 30, 1985.