J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                     1349

not exceed the acreage for which bond has been provided, and upon
failure to comply, the Director of the Bureau of Mines shall stop
further removal of overburden until the area affected has been re-
duced to the acreage for which bond has been provided. No addi-
tional permit shall be issued to any operator until he shall comply
with the provisions of this section. Liability under such bond shall
be for the duration of open pit mining at each operation, and for
a period of one year thereafter, unless released prior thereto in a
manner elsewhere provided by this subheading. Such bond shall be
signed by the operator and a corporate surety licensed to do busi-
ness in the State; provided, however, that the operator may elect
to deposit cash or United States government securities with the De-
partment in lieu of the surety bond hereinafter required. The cash
deposit or par value of such securities shall be equal to the sum
required for a bond and shall be upon the same terms and conditions.
The Director of the Bureau of Mines, hereinafter called the "Direc-
tor," shall, upon receipt of any such deposit of cash or securities,
immediately place the same with the State Treasurer, whose duty
it shall be to receive and hold the same in the name of the State, in
trust, for the purposes for which such deposit is made. The State
Treasurer shall at all times be responsible for the custody and safe-
keeping of such deposits. The operator making the deposit shall be
entitled from time to time to demand and receive from the State
Treasurer, on the written order of the secretary, the whole or any
portion of any securities so deposited upon depositing with him, in
lieu thereof, other United States government securities of a par value
at least equal to the sum required for a bond as aforesaid, and also
to demand, receive and recover the interest and income from said
securities as the same become due and payable; provided, however,
that where securities deposited as aforesaid, mature or are called,
the State Treasurer, at the request of the operator, shall convert
such securities into other acceptable securities designated by the
operator. Contemporaneous with, and as a condition precedent to,
the filing of said certificate and any renewal thereof, the operator
shall pay to the Department a filing fee of fifty dollars ($50.00).

665.

(b) At the request of the landowner and with the approval of the
Director, a pond may be constructed in lieu of back fill to the extent
of the area covered by such pond, except that no such pond shall be
permitted to be constructed in Garrett County.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1963.

Approved April 30, 1963.

CHAPTER 619
(House Bill 514)

AN ACT to add new Section 296A to Article 66½ of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1957 Edition), title "Motor Vehicles," subtitle
"Operation of Vehicles Upon Highways," to follow immediately