Exploration for oil, gas, or minerals by means of geophysical activities shall be exercised only pursuant to permit issued by the department, upon the applicant’s complying with the following conditions: (1) The applicant must have legal permission, which can be in the form of a lease, written permission of an owner of the minerals, or an affidavit of the applicant affirming that he or she will obtain permission to explore through geophysical operations for oil, gas, or minerals underlying the lands. (2) The applicant shall post a good and sufficient surety bond or other form of security with the department in such amount as the department may determine is adequate to protect areas upon which geophysical operations are conducted from failure by the applicant to restore the area to the general condition and the contour similar to that in existence prior to such operations. The bond shall contain reasonable standards and safeguards from which to determine whether any sum should be paid by the surety. (3) The applicant shall contract with a person or persons, acceptable to the department, who are not regular employees of the applicant, whose duties shall be to accompany each geophysical crew utilizing explosives and to witness the location and depth of each seismic hole and the loading and detonation of all explosive charges in each hole, and who shall report to the supervisor of oil and gas, Bureau of Geology, on these activities. The department shall share geophysical permit information with a county or municipality upon request and may, on its own initiative, share such information with a county or municipality. The county or municipality shall maintain the confidential status of such information, as required by s. 377.2408(3), and such information shall be exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). However, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication, no county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state may adopt or establish programs to accomplish the purposes of this section.
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