(1) The permittee may file a request with the office for the release of all or part of a performance bond or deposit. The permittee shall submit with such request a copy of a publication to be placed by the permittee at least once a week for four successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the surface coal mining operation. Such publication shall be considered part of any bond release application and shall contain a notification of the precise location of the land affected, the number of acres, the permit and the date approved, the amount of the bond filed and the portion sought to be released, the type and appropriate dates of reclamation work performed, and a description of the results achieved as they relate to the operator's approved reclamation plan. In addition, the operator shall, prior to the filing of a request for release of performance bond or deposit, provide written notice of such operator's intention to seek release from the bond to adjoining property owners and appropriate local government bodies, municipalities, regional planning commissions, boards of county commissioners, county planning agencies, sewage and water treatment authorities, and water conservancy and water conservation districts in the locality in which the surface coal mining operations took place, and copies of such notifications shall be submitted to the office within thirty days of the filing of any request for release under this section. (2) Upon receipt of a request for the release of a performance bond or deposit, the office shall, within thirty days or as soon thereafter as weather conditions permit, conduct an inspection and evaluation of the reclamation work involved. Such evaluation shall consider, among other things, the results of inspections and monitoring conducted pursuant to section 34-33-122, the degree of difficulty to complete any remaining reclamation, and whether pollution of surface or subsurface water is occurring, the probability of continued pollution, and the estimated cost of abating such pollution. The written results of such inspection and evaluation shall be made immediately available for public inspection in the offices of the office of mined land reclamation. (3) Any person with a valid legal interest which might be adversely affected by release of the bond or any federal, state, or local government agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental, social, or economic impact involved in the operation, or is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards with respect to such operations, shall have the right to file written objections to or comments upon the requested release from bond with the office within thirty days after the last publication of the notice required in subsection (1) of this section. Upon receipt of any such objections or comments, copies thereof shall be transmitted to the permittee. (4) The office shall provide written notification to the permittee of its proposed decision to release or not release all or part of the performance bond or deposit together with written reasons for such proposed decision within sixty days from the date of completion of the inspection and evaluation as required in subsection (2) of this section. The office shall further publish written notice of its proposed decision once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the surface coal mining operation and shall immediately provide written notification of its proposed decision by certified mail to the board of county commissioners of the county in which the surface coal mining operation is located. (5) If no request for an adjudicatory hearing as provided in subsection (6) of this section is received within the time periods specified therefor, the proposed decision of the office shall be final. (6) The board shall hold an adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision of the office upon the receipt of a written request for hearing from any person with a valid legal interest which might be adversely affected by the proposed decision of the office or from the responsible officer or head of any federal, state, or local government agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental, social, or economic impact involved in the operation or which is authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards with respect to such operations. The request for an adjudicatory hearing must state with specificity the reasons why the hearing is requested and must be received within thirty days of issuance of the proposed decision of the office. Prior to the adjudicatory hearing, the board shall inform all interested parties of the time and place of the hearing and shall publish the date, time, and location of such hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the surface coal mining operation for two consecutive weeks after receipt of a request for hearing. The board shall hold an adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision of the office within thirty days of the receipt of any written request for such hearing and shall render a written decision affirming or reversing, in whole or in part, the decision of the office within thirty days following the conclusion of the adjudicatory hearing. (7) The adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision of the office shall be conducted pursuant to section 24-4-105, C.R.S., and, for the purpose of such hearing, the board shall have the authority and is hereby empowered to administer oaths, subpoena witnesses or written or printed materials, compel the attendance of witnesses or production of the materials, and take evidence, including, but not limited to, inspections of the land affected and other surface coal mining operations carried on by the applicant in the general vicinity. A verbatim record of each adjudicatory hearing required by this article shall be made and a transcript made available on the request of any party to such hearing or by order of the board. (8) Without prejudice to the rights of any person which might be adversely affected, the applicant, or the responsibilities of the office pursuant to this section, the office may hold an informal conference as provided in section 34-33-118 to resolve any written comments or objections on the request for release, if such conference concludes by the sixtieth day following the inspection and evaluation required in subsection (2) of this section. (9) The bond or deposit shall be released, in whole or in part, if the office, or the board where an adjudicatory hearing is held pursuant to subsection (6) of this section, is satisfied the reclamation covered by the bond or deposit or portion thereof has been accomplished as required by this article, according to the following schedule: (a) Up to sixty percent of the bond or collateral for the applicable permit area shall be released when the operator completes backfilling, regrading, and drainage control of a bonded area in accordance with his approved reclamation plan; (b) An additional portion of the bond or collateral shall be released when revegetation has been established on the regraded mined lands in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. When determining the amount of bond to be released after successful revegetation has been established, the board or office shall retain that amount of the bond for the revegetated area which would be sufficient for a third party to cover the cost of reestablishing revegetation and for the period specified for operator responsibility in section 34-33-120 of reestablishing revegetation. No part of the bond or deposit shall be released under this paragraph (b) 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 section 34-33- 120 (2)(j) or until soil productivity for prime farmlands has returned to 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 section 34-33-110 (2)(q). Where a silt dam is to be retained as a permanent impoundment pursuant to section 34-33-120 (2)(h), a portion of the bond may be released under this paragraph (b) so long as provisions for sound future maintenance by the operator or the landowner have been made with the office. (c) The remaining portion of the bond shall be released when the operator has successfully completed all surface coal mining and reclamation operations, but not before the expiration of the period specified for operator responsibility in section 34-33-120; except that no bond shall be fully released until all reclamation requirements of this article are fully met.
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