Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 11 - Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality › Part 8 - Geology Regulations › Chapter 2 - Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality Regulations Governing Surface Coal Mining › Subchapter 2.4 - Bond and Insurance Requirements for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations › Rule 11-8-2.4-45 - Procedures, Criteria and Schedule for Release of Performance Bond › Section 11-8-2.4-45-4503 - Criteria and Schedule for Release of Performance Bond

Current through June 25, 2024
(a) The Permit Board may release all or part
					 of the bond for the entire permit area or incremental area if the Permit Board
					 is satisfied that all the reclamation or a phase of the reclamation covered by
					 the bond or portion thereof has been accomplished in accordance with the
					 following schedules for reclamation of Phases I, II and III:
(1) At the completion of Phase I, after the
					 operator completes the backfilling, regrading (which may include the
					 replacement of topsoil) and drainage control of a bonded area in accordance
					 with the approved reclamation plan, 60 percent of the bond or collateral for
					 the applicable area.
(2) At the
					 completion of Phase II, after revegetation has been established on the regraded
					 mined lands in accordance with the approved reclamation plan, an additional
					 amount of bond. When determining the amount of bond to be released after
					 successful revegetation has been established, the Permit Board shall retain
					 that amount of bond for the revegetated area which would be sufficient to cover
					 the cost of reestablishing revegetation if completed by a third party and for
					 the period specified for operator responsibility in §
												53-9-45
					 for reestablishing revegetation. No part of the bond or deposit shall be
					 released under this paragraph 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 Subchapter 2.V of these
					 regulations or until soil productivity for prime farmlands has returned to the
					 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 § 2539 of these regulations. Where a
					 silt dam is to be retained as a permanent impoundment pursuant to Subchapter 2,
					 the Phase II portion of the bond may be released under this paragraph so long
					 as provisions for sound future maintenance by the operator or the landowner
					 have been made with the regulatory authority.
(3) At the completion of Phase III, after 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 §
												53-9-45
					 and these regulations. However, no bond shall be fully released under
					 provisions of this section until reclamation requirements of the Act and the
					 permit are fully met.