Upon receipt of the notification and request, the Department shall within thirty (30) days conduct an inspection and evaluation of the reclamation work involved. Such evaluation shall consider, among other things, the degree of difficulty to complete any remaining reclamation, whether pollution of surface and subsurface water is occurring, the probability of continuance or future occurrence of such pollution, and the estimated cost of abating such pollution. The Department shall notify the permittee in writing of its decision to release or not to release all or part of the performance bond or deposit within sixty (60) days from the filing of the request, if no public hearing is held and if there has been a public hearing held within thirty (30) days thereafter.