(1)The permittee
may file a request with the office for the release of all or part of a performance
bond or deposit. The permittee shall submit with such request a copy of a
publication to be placed by the permittee 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 publication 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, 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
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(1) The permittee
may file a request with the office for the release of all or part of a performance
bond or deposit. The permittee shall submit with such request a copy of a
publication to be placed by the permittee 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 publication 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, 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, the operator shall,
prior to the filing of a request for release of performance bond or deposit, provide
written notice of such operator's intention to seek release from the bond to
adjoining property owners and appropriate local government bodies, municipalities,
regional planning commissions, boards of county commissioners, county planning
agencies, sewage and water treatment authorities, and water conservancy and
water conservation districts in the locality in which the surface coal mining
operations took place, and copies of such notifications shall be submitted to the
office within thirty days of the filing of any request for release under this section.
(2) Upon receipt of a request for the release of a performance bond or
deposit, the office shall, within thirty days or as soon thereafter as weather
conditions permit, conduct an inspection and evaluation of the reclamation work
involved. Such evaluation shall consider, among other things, the results of
inspections and monitoring conducted pursuant to section 34-33-122, the degree of
difficulty to complete any remaining reclamation, and whether pollution of surface
or subsurface water is occurring, the probability of continued pollution, and the
estimated cost of abating such pollution. The written results of such inspection and
evaluation shall be made immediately available for public inspection in the offices
of the office of mined land reclamation.
(3) Any person with a valid legal interest which might be adversely affected
by release of the bond or any federal, state, or local government 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 or comments upon the requested release from bond with the
office within thirty days after the last publication of the notice required in
subsection (1) of this section. Upon receipt of any such objections or comments,
copies thereof shall be transmitted to the permittee.
(4) The office shall provide written notification to the permittee of its
proposed decision to release or not release all or part of the performance bond or
deposit together with written reasons for such proposed decision within sixty days
from the date of completion of the inspection and evaluation as required in
subsection (2) of this section. The office shall further publish written notice of its
proposed decision once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation in the locality of the surface coal mining operation and shall immediately
provide written notification of its proposed decision by certified mail to the board of
county commissioners of the county in which the surface coal mining operation is
located.
(5) If no request for an adjudicatory hearing as provided in subsection (6) of
this section is received within the time periods specified therefor, the proposed
decision of the office shall be final.
(6) The board shall hold an adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision of
the office upon the receipt of a written request for hearing from any person with a
valid legal interest which might be adversely affected by the proposed decision of
the office or from the responsible officer or head of any federal, state, or local
government agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect
to any environmental, social, or economic impact involved in the operation or which
is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards with respect to such
operations. The request for an adjudicatory hearing must state with specificity the
reasons why the hearing is requested and must be received within thirty days of
issuance of the proposed decision of the office. Prior to the adjudicatory hearing,
the board shall inform all interested parties of the time and place of the hearing and
shall publish the date, time, and location of such hearing in a newspaper of general
circulation in the locality of the surface coal mining operation for two consecutive
weeks after receipt of a request for hearing. The board shall hold an adjudicatory
hearing on the proposed decision of the office within thirty days of the receipt of
any written request for such hearing and shall render a written decision affirming or
reversing, in whole or in part, the decision of the office within thirty days following
the conclusion of the adjudicatory hearing.
(7) The adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision of the office shall be
conducted pursuant to section 24-4-105, C.R.S., and, for the purpose of such
hearing, the board 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 adjudicatory hearing required by this article shall be made and a transcript
made available on the request of any party to such hearing or by order of the board.
(8) Without prejudice to the rights of any person which might be adversely
affected, the applicant, or the responsibilities of the office pursuant to this section,
the office may hold an informal conference as provided in section 34-33-118 to
resolve any written comments or objections on the request for release, if such
conference concludes by the sixtieth day following the inspection and evaluation
required in subsection (2) of this section.
(9) The bond or deposit shall be released, in whole or in part, if the office, or
the board where an adjudicatory hearing is held pursuant to subsection (6) of this
section, is satisfied the reclamation covered by the bond or deposit or portion
thereof has been accomplished as required by this article, according to the
following schedule:
(a) Up to sixty percent of the bond or collateral for the applicable permit
area shall be released when the operator completes backfilling, regrading, and
drainage control of a bonded area in accordance with his approved reclamation
plan;
(b) An additional portion of the bond or collateral shall be released when
revegetation has been established on the regraded mined lands in accordance with
the approved reclamation plan. When determining the amount of bond to be
released after successful revegetation has been established, the board or office
shall retain that amount of the bond for the revegetated area which would be
sufficient for a third party to cover the cost of reestablishing revegetation and for
the period specified for operator responsibility in section 34-33-120 of
reestablishing revegetation. No part of the bond or deposit shall be released under
this paragraph (b) 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 section 34-33-120 (2)(j) or until soil productivity
for prime farmlands 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 section 34-33-110 (2)(q).
Where a silt dam is to be retained as a permanent impoundment pursuant to section
34-33-120 (2)(h), a portion of the bond may be released under this paragraph (b) so
long as provisions for sound future maintenance by the operator or the landowner
have been made with the office.
(c) The remaining portion of the bond shall be released when the operator
has successfully completed all surface coal mining and reclamation operations, but
not before the expiration of the period specified for operator responsibility in
section 34-33-120; except that no bond shall be fully released until all reclamation
requirements of this article are fully met.