Section 12-5-135. Requirement of bond or letter of credit

   (a) A performance bond or letter of credit shall be provided to the director by any water well contractor or driller for the conduct of drilling operations to ensure compliance with the procedures and standards contained in this part.

(b) The bond or letter of credit required in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be:

   (1) Conditioned upon faithful compliance with the conditions and terms of this part; and

   (2) In such amount as determined by the director to ensure compliance with the procedures and standards contained in this part, but in any event not to exceed $75,000.00.

(c) Such performance bond or letter of credit shall be placed on file with the director in one of the following forms:

   (1) A performance bond, payable to the director and issued by an insurance company authorized to issue such bonds in this state; or

   (2) An irrevocable letter of credit issued in favor of and payable to the director from a commercial bank or other financial institution approved by the director.

(d) The council shall not issue any new license or renew any old license unless the license application is accompanied by a letter from the director or his designee stating that the applicant's bond or letter of credit is acceptable. Failure to provide an acceptable bond or irrevocable letter of credit shall constitute grounds for denial of the issuance or renewal of a license.

(e) Upon a determination by the director that a water well contractor, driller, or other person responsible for the conduct of the drilling operation has failed to meet the standards as set out in this part, the director may, after written notice of the failure to the contractor, driller, or other person responsible for the conduct of the drilling operation in accordance with subsections (e) and (f) of Code Section 12-5-136:

   (1) Forfeit or draw that amount of such bond or letter of credit that the director determines necessary to correct the violations;

   (2) Expend such amount for such purposes;

   (3) Enter into contracts for such purposes; and

   (4) Require the replacement of that amount of such bond or letter of credit forfeited or drawn upon.

(f) If a business has more than one water well contractor, that business, in lieu of obtaining bonds or irrevocable letters of credit for each individual licensee, may substitute a blanket bond or blanket irrevocable letter of credit for all water well contractors within that business. The blanket bond or blanket irrevocable letter of credit shall be payable to the director in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00.

(g) The bond or irrevocable letter of credit provided for in this Code section shall have state-wide application.

(h) Upon delivery of the prescribed bond or irrevocable letter of credit to the director, no other bond or irrevocable letter of credit shall be required of any water well contractor or driller for the purposes of protecting the state or any political subdivision of the state or the citizens thereof from water well contractors or drillers who fail to meet the standards as set out in this part or for any other like purpose required by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or a political subdivision thereof.

(i) No bond or irrevocable letter of credit provided for in this Code section shall be accepted by the director from any water well contractor or driller who shall drill any well or borehole for the purpose of injecting any surface water into the Floridan aquifer in any county governed by the Georgia coastal zone management program provided by Code Section 12-5-327 after July 1, 2003, and before July 1, 2014.

Code 1981, § 12-5-135, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 1192, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 963, § 3; Ga. L. 1999, p. 760, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 315, § 11; Ga. L. 2003, p. 607, § 8; Ga. L. 2009, p. 330, § 2/HB 552; Ga. L. 2010, p. 878, § 12/HB 1387.