(a) The bond filed with the commissioner shall be payable to the state of Tennessee and shall be executed by the operator and a corporate surety that is approved by the commissioner and properly authorized to act as corporate surety and licensed to do business in this state; provided, however, that the operator may elect to deposit cash, irrevocable letters of credit or certificates of deposit with the state treasurer in lieu of a corporate surety if the instruments are executed in accordance with guidelines set forth by the commissioner. The state treasurer shall receive and hold the deposits in the name of the state of Tennessee, in trust, for the purposes for which the deposit is made and shall at all times be responsible for the custody and safekeeping of the deposits. The operator making the deposit shall be entitled from time to time to demand and receive from the treasurer, on the written order of the commissioner, the whole or any portion of any instruments so deposited upon depositing with the treasurer, in lieu of the deposits, other instruments of the classes specified in this section having a value at least equal to the sum of the bond or instrument and also to demand and recover any interest income from instruments as the interest becomes due and payable.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 59-8-207

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of environment and conservation or the commissioner's designees. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Operation: means all of the premises, facilities, and equipment and the use thereof in the process of removing and exploring for minerals from a designated surface mine area. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
  • Operator: means any person, partnership or corporation engaged in surface mining who removes or intends to remove more than two hundred fifty (250) tons of any mineral from the earth by surface mining within twelve (12) successive calendar months. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
  • Overburden: means all earth and other materials which are removed to gain access to the mineral in the process of surface mining. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
  • Provisions of this part: means the rules, regulations and orders issued by the commissioner pursuant to this part as well as the words of the sections themselves. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
  • Reclamation: means the process of backfilling, grading and shaping of the disturbed land in the affected area, constructing water control facilities, the taking of measures to control current or future air, water or soil pollution, and the planting of vegetation, and other measures. See Tennessee Code 59-8-202
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The bond or cash deposit or marketable value of the securities, which shall be conditioned upon the faithful performance of the provisions of this part, shall not be less than six hundred dollars ($600) for each estimated acre or fraction thereof affected by the respective operation. Liability under such bond shall be continuous until the reclamation provisions of this part have been fulfilled. The amount of the bond shall be increased or decreased to take account of any change in the acreage covered by the permit as provided in § 59-8-205(a)(2).
(c) In those counties requiring a performance bond of two thousand dollars ($2,000) or more per acre, the operator may at the operator’s option present evidence of such bond to the commissioner in lieu of filing a bond with the commissioner. The commissioner may in the commissioner’s discretion accept such evidence of the existence of such a performance bond in lieu of a bond filed with the commissioner. However, if the bond is released by county authorities prior to such time as the commissioner would normally release all or part of it, the commissioner may require a new performance bond to be filed as required by this section.
(d) No performance bond shall be charged for land upon which overburden is deposited if, in the opinion of the commissioner, the deposition of such overburden amounts to reclamation of a previously mined area.
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