§181-5 Bond. Contemporaneously with and as a condition precedent to the issuance of the permit, the operator shall file with the board of land and natural resources and thereafter shall keep in full force and effect until the operator shall be released therefrom as hereinafter provided, a bond payable to the State, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully and fully perform all duties and requirements to be performed and observed by the operator as provided in the permit and by this chapter. The bond shall be signed by the operator as principal and by a surety company authorized to do business in the State. The penalty of the bond shall be in an amount fixed by the board based on the reasonable cost of restoring and rehabilitating the land covered by the permit but not to exceed $300 an acre of land proposed thereafter by the operator to be subjected to strip mining for the ensuing year. The penalty of the bond shall from time to time be increased or reduced by the board pro tanto in accordance with the number of acres added to the land for strip mining operations or in accordance with the number of acres to which the bond is no longer operative because of the operator's withdrawal of acreage or by reason of the operator's performance of the operator's obligations subsequent to the issuance of the permit.

Any operator may execute the bond without surety if the operator deposits with the board cash in the amount of the bond fixed by the board as provided in this section covering the land proposed by the operator to be stripped in the ensuing year and the permit issued shall therefor be limited to the number of acres for which the deposit is made or may be increased later by the board on receipt by it of additional deposits. The deposits shall be retained by the board as a guaranty by the operator for the faithful performance of the operator's bond. Should the operator fail to carry out the requirements set forth in section 181-6 or to carry out the plan of reclamation, the board may cause them to be carried out and may use the funds deposited or may proceed against the bond to pay therefor. The board shall release any bond and shall repay any deposits no longer necessary to be maintained for the purposes of this chapter, upon showing by the operator that this chapter has been complied with. [L 1957, c 161, §6; am L 1959, c 20, §5; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §21; am L 1961, c 132, §2; Supp, §98C-6; HRS §181-5; gen ch 1985]