Missouri Revised Statutes Title XXIX. Ownership and Conveyance of Property § 444.570. Bond, amount--commission may waive

Before the issuance of the permit, the operator shall file with the commission, in such form as the commission prescribes, a bond payable to the state treasurer, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all requirements of the commission in accordance with the provisions of sections 444.500 to 444.755, any such rules and regulations pursuant thereto, and conditions in the permit. The bond shall be signed by the operator as principal, and by a corporate surety licensed to do business in the state of Missouri and approved by the commission. In lieu of a bond with surety, an applicant may furnish to the commission a personal bond, on conditions as above described, secured by a certificate of deposit in an amount equal to that of the required surety bond. The penal sum of the bond shall be determined by the commission at not less than three hundred dollars nor more than seven hundred dollars for coal for each acre, or fraction thereof, of the area of land affected, with a minimum bond of two thousand dollars, except that the commission may by regulation waive the minimum bond or acreage bond, or both, as to any class of operators who do not affect more than one acre of land annually, where the strip mining operation will not, in the judgment of the commission, result in significant harmful effects on the air, water, land, fish, wildlife or other natural resources of the state. In determining the amount of the bond within the above limits, the commission shall take into consideration the character and nature of the overburden, the future suitable use of the land involved and the cost of reclamation to be required. The bond shall remain in effect until the mined acreages have been reclaimed, approved and released by the commission. Upon receipt of the permit application, the fee provided for in section 444.540 and the filing of the bond provided for in this section, the commission shall issue the permit if the operator meets the requirements of sections 444.500 to 444.755 and the rules and regulations of the commission adopted pursuant to section 444.720.