Section 444.368 - Financial assurance instrument required, form, amount - confidential information not to be released - duration, use, forfeiture - release of1. Before a permit can be issued, the operator shall file a demonstration of financial assurance in the form of a bond, certificate of deposit, letter of credit, insurance, company guarantee, escrow agreement or other form of financial assurance as approved by the director.2. Any financial assurance instrument shall be in such form as the director prescribes, to the benefit of the state of Missouri, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all terms of the permit and all requirements of sections 444.352 to 444.380. The financial assurance instrument shall be signed by the operator and shall be in the penal sum of one thousand dollars for each acre or fraction of an acre of the metallic minerals waste management area, but not less than twenty thousand dollars for each permit. In a particular instance where the circumstances are such as to warrant an exception, the director, in his discretion, may reduce the amount of the bond for a particular operation to less than the required amount, but in no event less than the minimum of twenty thousand dollars for each permit.3. The financial assurance instrument shall remain in effect until the area has been closed, approved and released by the director.4. If a bond is furnished, it shall be signed by the operator as principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety, licensed to do business in this state as surety.5. No financial assurance instrument shall be cancelled or terminated by the operator except after no less than ninety days' notice and substitution by some other financial assurance approved by the director. An operator shall not operate a metallic minerals waste management area at any time without adequate financial assurance approved by the director.6. In the event a company guarantee is furnished, it shall be in the form of a letter, duly executed by an officer of the company, guaranteeing the required amount of financial assurance, accompanied by a financial test statement demonstrating ownership of real property or mining rights in the state of Missouri of an assessed valuation of at least three times the amount of the required financial assurance.7. In the event a company furnishes an "other form of financial assurance" as provided in subsection 1 of this section, which is in the form of a financial test based on information such as income, net worth, assets, liabilities, or working capital, and such information is not customarily disclosed by the company to the general public, such information, at the written request of the company, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed by the director or employees of the department of natural resources.8. The director shall give written notice to the operator of any violation of sections 444.352 to 444.380 and if corrective measures are not commenced within ninety days, the director may proceed as provided in section 444.378 to request forfeiture of the financial assurance.9. The director may conduct remedial measures in keeping with provisions of sections 444.352 to 444.380 with respect to land upon which financial assurance has been forfeited.10. Whenever an operator has completed all requirements for closure and inspection-maintenance under the conditions of this permit and the provisions of sections 444.352 to 444.380 as to any area, he shall notify the director. If the director determines that the operator has completed the requirements for any area or portion of an area, the director shall release the operator from further obligations regarding the affected land and the financial assurance shall be released or reduced proportionately.L. 1989 H.B. 321 § 8, A.L. 1993 H.B. 312 & 257