MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                               391

BY adding to

Article — Natural Resources
Section 7-506(d)
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1974 Volume and 1975 Supplement)

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That Section 7-506(a) of Article - Natural
Resources, of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1974 Volume
and 1975 Supplement) be and it is hereby repealed and
reenacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

Article — Natural Resources

7-506.

(a) After receiving notification from the Director
of the Bureau that an application for a permit has been
approved[,] but [prior to] BEFORE commencing open—pit
mining, the operator shall file on a form furnished by
the Bureau, a bond for each operation payable to the
State and conditioned that the operator will perform
faithfully every requirement of this subtitle. The
[[bond shall be for [$400] NOT]] AMOUNT OF THE BOND SHALL
BE DETERMINED BY THE SECRETARY AND MAY NOT BE LESS THAN
$500 per acre based on the number of acres of land
affected[. However, no bond may be filed] AND for NOT
less than $3,000. The liability of the operator under
the bond shall be for the duration of open—pit mining at
each operation [,] and for a period of five years
thereafter, unless he is released prior to that time or
his liability is extended for a longer period in a
portion reserved for haulage ways, deep mining, or auger
mining locations as provided in § 7-509 (b) OF THIS
SUBTITLE. The bond shall be executed by the operator and
a corporate surety licensed to do business in the State.
Instead of a corporate surety, either of the following is
acceptable:

(1) A deposit of cash or negotiable bonds of the
United States government. The cash deposit or market
value of the securities shall be at least equal to the
required sum of the bond. On receipt of a deposit of
cash or securities, the Director immediately shall place
it with the State Treasurer, who shall receive and hold
the deposit in trust, in the name of the State for the
purposes for which it is made. The State Treasurer is
responsible for the custody and safekeeping of the
deposit. The operator, making the deposit, may demand
and receive from the State Treasurer all or any portion
of any deposited securities, if he replaces them with
other negotiable securities of the class specified as
having a market value at least equal to the sum of the
bond; or

(2) A certificate of deposit in an amount equivalent