Section 5

(225 ILCS 715/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4506) Sec. 5. Application for permit; bond; fee; permit. (a) Application for a permit shall be made upon a form furnished by the Department, which form shall contain a description of the tract or tracts of land and the estimated number of acres thereof to be affected by surface mining by the applicant to the tenth succeeding June 30, which description shall include the section, township, range, and county in which the land is located and shall otherwise describe the land with sufficient certainty so that it may be located and distinguished from other lands, and a statement that the applicant has the right and power by legal estate owned to mine by surface mining and to reclaim the land so described. Such application shall be accompanied by: (i) a bond or security meeting the requirements of Section 8 of this Act; and (ii) a fee of $150 for every acre and fraction of an acre of land to be permitted. (b) An operator desiring to have a permit amended to cover additional land may file an amended application with the Department with such additional fee and bond or security as may be required under the provisions of this Act. Such amendment shall comply with all requirements of this Act. (c) An operator may withdraw any land covered by a permit, excepting affected land, by notifying the Department thereof, in which case the penalty of the bond or security filed by such operator pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be reduced proportionately. (d) (Blank). (e) Every application, and every amendment to an application, submitted under this Act shall contain the following, except that the Director may waive the requirements of this subsection (e) for amendments if the affected acreage is similar in nature to the acreage stated in the permit to be amended: 1. a statement of the ownership of the land and of the minerals to be mined; 2. the minerals to be mined; 3. the character and composition of the vegetation and wildlife on lands to be affected; 4. the current and past uses to which the lands to be affected have been put; 5. the current assessed valuation of the lands to be affected and the assessed valuation