444.950.  Phase I reclamation bond requirements — rules, procedure to adopt — rights and duties of mine owners. — 1.  An applicant shall, consistent with the timing provided for in subsection 1 of section 444.830, file a phase I reclamation bond pursuant to this section.  The phase I reclamation bond shall be a minimum of two thousand five hundred dollars per permitted acre for every acre permitted and bonded on August 28, 1993, unless the phase I reclamation bond has been released pursuant to section 444.875, except that it shall be a minimum of ten thousand dollars per acre for the coal preparation area.  The phase I reclamation bond for areas other than coal preparation areas may be adjusted annually by the commission based upon calculations conducted by the director, but shall not be increased by more than two hundred fifty dollars per year per acre or a maximum of five thousand dollars per acre.  The phase I bond for coal preparation areas may also be adjusted annually by the commission based upon calculations conducted by the director, but shall not be increased by more than five hundred dollars per year per acre or a maximum of fifteen thousand dollars per acre.  The changes shall be proposed by the commission through the normal rulemaking process.  The calculations of the minimum phase I reclamation bond amount required shall depend upon the reclamation requirements of the approved permits, and shall reflect the probable difficulty of reclamation, giving consideration to such factors as site topography, geology, hydrology, and revegetation potential.  In no case shall the phase I reclamation bond be less than ten thousand dollars per permit, except that for those operators with less than one thousand bonded acres, the minimum bond shall be the equivalent of twenty acres of phase I reclamation bond for each acre of open pit, as determined by the approved mining plan.  For the purposes of this section, the open pit shall be the area between the crest of the highwall to the toe of the spoil.

  2.  No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of this chapter shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024.

  3.  The phase I reclamation bond shall be executed by the operator and a corporate surety licensed to do business in the state, except that the operator may elect to deposit cash, irrevocable letters of credit, negotiable bonds of the United States government or of the state of Missouri, or negotiable certificates of deposit of any bank organized or transacting business in the United States.  The cash deposit or market value of such securities shall be equal to or greater than the amount of the bond required for the bonded area.

  4.  The commission may accept the phase I reclamation bond of the applicant himself without the separate surety provided for in subsection 3^* of this section when the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the commission the existence of a suitable agent to receive service of process and a history of financial solvency and continuous operation sufficient for authorization to self-insure or bond such amount or, in lieu of the establishment of a bonding program, as set forth in this section, the commission may adopt an alternative system that will achieve the objectives and purposes of the bonding program pursuant to this section, and which is consistent with or pursuant to the purposes of P.L. 95-87, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

  5.  Liability under the phase I reclamation bond will continue until the commission determines that phase I reclamation has been completed, whereupon the commission may release no less than eighty percent of the phase I reclamation bond.  The remaining phase I reclamation bond shall remain in effect until phase III liability is released.  In the event of forfeiture, the total amount of the phase I reclamation bond filed shall be available for the completion of all phases of reclamation.