1. Beginning on September 1, 1988, every permittee that files a phase I reclamation bond pursuant to section 444.950 shall pay an assessment, in addition to all other taxes and fees which may be due, to the commission for deposit in the coal mine land reclamation fund.

2. For permittees who file phase I reclamation bonds, the assessment shall be paid monthly by each permittee based on coal sold, shipped, or otherwise disposed of. The assessment shall be paid at the rate of forty-five cents per ton for the first fifty thousand tons sold, shipped or otherwise disposed of in a calendar year, and thirty cents per ton for the next fifty thousand tons sold, shipped or otherwise disposed of in such calendar year. Thereafter, during any calendar year, no further assessment shall be due for that permittee.

3. Whenever the total balance in the fund exceeds seven million dollars as of the close of the state‘s fiscal year, no assessments shall be required during the state’s next fiscal year except that each new permittee filing a phase I reclamation bond pursuant to section 444.950 shall pay assessments pursuant to section 444.960 and this section until the permittee’s payments equal those made by an existing permittee of comparable size. Whenever the fund balance is less than seven million dollars at the close of the state’s fiscal year, all permittees who have elected to file phase I reclamation bonds pursuant to section 444.950 shall pay assessments to the fund as provided for in subsection 2 of this section.

4. After the date when enough moneys have accumulated in the forty percent pool to complete reclamation on sites revoked prior to September 1, 1988, whenever the fund balance falls below seven million dollars, the tonnage assessments provided for in subsection 2 of this section shall resume at the rate of twenty-five cents per ton for the first fifty thousand tons and fifteen cents per ton for the second fifty thousand tons of coal sold, shipped or otherwise disposed of in a calendar year by a permittee. The tonnage assessment shall remain in effect until the fund balance is at least seven million dollars at the close of the state’s fiscal year.

5. After September 1, 1998, whenever the fund balance falls below two million dollars, the assessment rate established in subsection 2 of this section shall increase to a per ton rate of thirty cents per ton for the first fifty thousand tons and twenty cents per ton for the second fifty thousand tons of coal sold, shipped or otherwise disposed of in a calendar year by a permittee. The increased tonnage assessment shall remain in effect until the fund balance is at least three million dollars at the close of the state’s fiscal year, at which time the assessment will revert to the rate established pursuant to subsection 4 of this section.