2464

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 900

BY adding to

Article — Natural Resources

Section 7-507.1

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1974 Volume and 1975 Supplement)

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That Sections 7-504(a), 7-505(e) and 7-514 of
Article — Natural Resources, of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1974 Volume and 1975 Supplement) be and they
are hereby repealed and reenacted, with amendments, to
read as follows:

Article — Natural Resources

7-504.

(a) A person may not mine coal by the open—pit
mining method as an operator within the State without
first obtaining a license from the [bureau] DEPARTMENT.
Each application for a license as an open-pit mining
operator shall be made in writing to the [bureau]
DEPARTMENT, on a form the [bureau] DEPARTMENT furnishes
and accompanied by a [$100] $200 fee. The application
shall contain information concerning the applicant as
required by the [bureau] DEPARTMENT. In the case of an
application submitted by a corporation, partnership, or
association, the application shall contain information
concerning officers, directors, and principal owners, as
the [bureau] DEPARTMENT requires. Every person licensed
as an open—pit mining operator shall renew his license
annually[,] and pay a $10 renewal fee. The application
for renewal of a license as an open—pit mining operator
shall be made on or before January 1 of the next
succeeding year.

7-505.

(e) In addition to any fee required in this
subtitle, [every] EACH applicant for a permit to
[surface] mine coal BY OPEN-PIT OR STRIP METHOD shall pay
TO the [director] DEPARTMENT, before the permit is
issued, a special reclamation fee of [$30] $40 for each
acre of land affected. The State shall contribute an
equal amount. This fee shall be deposited in the
bituminous coal open—pit mining reclamation fund. The
payment shall be based on the same number of acres as
that for which a bond is required. Each year, the
Governor shall place an item in the State budget to
provide for the matching money required by this
subsection. The matching funds may be provided by the
State in the current budget at the time the permit is
issued or in the next succeeding State budget.