Oklahoma § 45-745.6

§ 45-745.6.

Performance bond.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 45. Mines and Mining

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

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 45. Mines and Mining

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.