Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 444
Rights and Duties of Miners and Mine Owners
←444.870
Section 444.875.1
444.880→
August 28, 2015
Release of all or part of performance bond, procedure--objections may be filed.
444.875. 1. The permittee may file a request with the commission for the
release of all or part of a performance bond or deposit. Within thirty days
after any application for bond release has been filed, the operator shall
submit a copy of an advertisement placed at least once a week for four
successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the
surface coal mining operation. Such advertisement shall be considered part
of any bond release application and shall contain a notification of the
precise location of the land affected, the number of acres, the permit and
the date approved, the amount of the bond filed and the portion sought to be
released, and the type and appropriate dates of reclamation work performed,
and a description of the results achieved as they relate to the operator's
approved reclamation plan. In addition, as part of any bond release
application, the applicant shall submit copies of letters which he has sent
to adjoining property owners, local governmental bodies, planning agencies,
sewage and water treatment authorities, and water companies in the locality
in which the surface coal mining and reclamation activities took place,
notifying them of his intention to seek release from the bond. At the time
of final or phase III bond release submittal, the operator shall include
evidence that an affidavit has been recorded with the recorder of deeds in
the county where the mined land is located, generally describing the parcel
or parcels of land where operations such as underground mining, auger mining,
covering of slurry ponds, or other underground activities occurred which
could impact or limit future use of that land. This requirement shall be
applicable to mined land where phase I reclamation was completed on or after
September 1, 1992.
2. Upon receipt of the notification and request, the commission shall
cause to be conducted within thirty days an inspection and evaluation of the
reclamation work involved. Such evaluation shall consider, among other
things, the degree of difficulty to complete any remaining reclamation,
whether pollution of surface and subsurface water is occurring, the
probability of continuance or future occurrence of such pollution, and the
estimated cost of abating such pollution. The commission shall notify the
permittee in writing of its decision to release or not to release all or part
of the performance bond or deposit within sixty days from the filing of the
request, if no public hearing is held pursuant to subsection 6 of this
section, and if there has been a public hearing held pursuant to subsection 6
of this section, within thirty days thereafter.
3. The commission may release in whole or in part said bond or deposit
if satisfied the reclamation covered by the bond or deposit or portion
thereof has been accomplished according to the following schedule:
(1) When the operator completes the backfilling, regrading, and drainage
control of a bonded area in accordance with his approved reclamation plan,
the release of not more than sixty percentum of the bond or deposit for the
applicable permit area;
(2) After revegetation has been established on the regraded mined lands
in accordance with the approved reclamation plan, the release of a portion of
the bond or deposit may be approved. When determining the amount of bond to
be released after successful revegetation has been established, the
commission shall retain that amount of bond for the revegetated area which
would be sufficient for a third party to cover the cost of reestablishing
revegetation for the period specified for operator responsibility in section
444.855 for reestablishing revegetation. No part of the bond or deposit
shall be released under this subdivision so long as the lands to which the
release would be applicable are contributing suspended solids to streamflow
or runoff outside the permit area in excess of the requirements set by
subdivision (10) of subsection 2 of section 444.855 or until soil
productivity for prime farm lands has returned to equivalent levels of yield
as nonmined land of the same soil type in the surrounding area under
equivalent management practices as determined from the soil survey performed
pursuant to subdivision (16) of subsection 2 of section 444.820. Where a silt
dam is to be retained as a permanent impoundment pursuant to subdivision (8)
of subsection 2 of section 444.855, the portion of bond may be released under
this subdivision so long as provisions for sound future maintenance by the
operator or the landowner have been made with the commission;
(3) When the operator has completed successfully all surface coal mining
and reclamation activities, the release of the remaining portion of the bond,
but not before the expiration of the period specified for operator
responsibility in section 444.855; provided, however, that no bond shall be
fully released until all reclamation requirements are fully met.
4. If the commission disapproves the application for release of the bond
or portion thereof, the commission shall notify the permittee, in writing,
stating the reasons for disapproval and recommending corrective actions
necessary to secure said release and allowing opportunity for a public
hearing unless a hearing has been held.
5. When any application for total or partial bond release is filed, the
commission shall notify the county and/or municipality in which a surface
coal mining operation is located by certified mail within thirty days from
the date the application is filed.
6. Any person with a valid legal interest which might be adversely
affected by release of the bond or the responsible officer or head of any
federal, state, or local governmental agency which has jurisdiction by law or
special expertise with respect to any environmental, social, or economic
impact involved in the operation, or is authorized to develop and enforce
environmental standards with respect to such operations shall have the right
to file written objections to the proposed release from bond within sixty days
after the application was filed. If written objections are filed, and a
hearing requested, the commission shall inform all the interested parties of
the time and place of the hearing, and the date, time, and location of such
public hearing shall be advertised by the commission in a newspaper of
general circulation in the locality for two consecutive weeks, and the
commission shall hold a public hearing in the locality of the surface coal
mining operation proposed for bond release or in Cole County, at the option of
the objector, within ninety days after the application has been filed.
7. For the purpose of such hearing the commission shall have the
authority and is hereby empowered to administer oaths, subpoena witnesses or
written or printed materials, compel the attendance of witnesses, or
production of the materials, and take evidence including, but not limited to,
inspections of the land affected and other surface coal mining operations
carried on by the applicant in the general vicinity. A verbatim record of
each public hearing shall be made, and a transcript made available on the
motion of any party or by order of the commission. The chairman may designate
one commission member as hearing officer, or may appoint a member in good
standing of the Missouri bar as hearing officer to hold the hearing and make
recommendations to the commission, but the commission shall make the final
decision thereon and any member participating in the decision shall review
the record before making decision.
(L. 1979 H.B. 459, A.L. 1993 H.B. 312 & 257)
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