295.57 Application procedure.

1,708 words·~8 min read·/wi/chapter-295/295-57-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(1)Submission.

(a)An applicant shall submit the application for a mining permit as provided in s. 295.47 .

(b)The department shall protect as confidential any information, other than effluent data, contained in an application for a mining permit, upon a showing that the information is entitled to protection as a trade secret, as defined in s. 134.90

(c), and any information relating to production or sales figures or to processes or production unique to the applicant or that would tend to adversely affect the competitive position of the applicant if made public.

(2)Determination of administrative completeness.

(a)The department shall review an application for a mining permit and, within 30 days after the application is submitted, shall determine either that the application is complete or that additional information is needed. If the department determines that the application is complete, the department shall notify the applicant in writing of that fact within the 30-day period and the date on which the department sends the notice is the day on which the application is administratively complete.

(b)If the department determines under par.

(a)that an application is incomplete, the department shall notify the applicant in writing and may make one request for additional information during the 30-day period specified in par.

(a). Within 10 days after receiving additional requested information from the applicant, the department shall notify the applicant in writing as to whether it has received all of the requested information. The day on which the department sends the 2nd notice under this paragraph is the day on which the application is administratively complete.

(c)If the department fails to meet the 30-day time limit under par.

(a)or the 10-day time limit under par.

(b), the application is administratively complete on the last day of the 30-day time limit or 10-day time limit.

(d)The department may request additional information needed to process a mining application from the applicant after the application is administratively complete, but the department may not delay the determination of administrative completeness based on a request for additional information.

(3)Notice of additional approvals. Within 30 days after the mining permit is administratively complete under sub.

(2), the department shall notify the applicant in writing of any approval required for the construction or operation of the mining site that was not previously identified by the department.

(3m)Receipt of certain approvals. If a storm water discharge permit under s. 283.33

(a)or a water quality certification under rules promulgated under subch. II of ch. 281 to implement 33 USC 1341

(a)is needed for a mining operation, the person applying for the mining permit may apply for and be issued the permit or certification.

(4)Public information and notice.

(a)The department shall make available for review in the city, village, or town in which the proposed mining site is located, information concerning the proposed mining, including all of the following:

1. The application for the mining permit, including the mining plan, reclamation plan, and mining waste site feasibility study and plan of operation.

2. Any of the following relating to an approval other than the mining permit:

a. The application.

b. A draft approval.

c. Information or summaries relating to the approval.

3. The environmental impact statement, environmental impact report, and any additional supporting information used in the department’s evaluation of the proposed mining.

4. The department’s analyses and preliminary determinations relating to any approval.

(b)The department shall distribute a notice that describes the availability of the information under par.

(a); the opportunity for written public comment, including an invitation for the submission of written comments by any person within 45 days after the date of the publication of the notice; and the date, time, and location of the public informational hearing and that includes any additional information that a law concerning any approval requires to be provided. The department shall publish the notice as a class 1 notice under ch. 985 and shall publish notice on the department’s Internet site. The date on which the department first publishes the notice on its Internet site shall be considered the date of the publication of the notice required to be published under this paragraph. The department shall also send the notice to all of the following:

1. The clerk of any city, village, town, or county with zoning jurisdiction over the proposed mining site.

2. The clerk of any city, village, town, or county within whose boundaries any portion of the proposed mining site is located.

3. The clerk of any city, village, or town, contiguous to any city, village, or town within whose boundaries any portion of the proposed mining site is located.

4. The main public library of each city, village, town, or county with zoning jurisdiction over the proposed mining site or within whose boundaries any portion of the proposed mining site is located.

5. Any regional planning commission for the area within which the proposed mining site lies.

6. Any state agency that the department knows is required to grant a permit or other authorization necessary for the construction or operation of the proposed mining project.

7. The federal environmental protection agency, U.S. army corps of engineers, and states potentially affected by the proposed discharge if a water discharge permit under ch. 283 or a wetland permit that constitutes a water quality certification as required by 33 USC 1341

(a)is to be considered at the public informational hearing.

8. The federal environmental protection agency and appropriate agencies in other states that may be affected if an air pollution control permit under ch. 285 is to be considered at the public informational hearing.

9. If a water withdrawal permit under s. 295.61 for a withdrawal of surface water is to be considered at the public informational hearing, the persons specified in s. 30.18

(a).

10. If an individual permit under s. 30.12 for a structure through which water transferred from the Great Lakes basin would be returned to the source watershed through a stream tributary to one of the Great Lakes is to be considered at the public informational hearing, the governing body of each city, village, and town through which the stream flows or that is adjacent to the stream downstream from the point at which the water would enter the stream.

11. Any person upon request. The department’s notice under this subdivision may be given through an electronic notification system established by the department.

12. The applicant.

13. Any other person to whom the department is required to give notice of any proposed determination, application, or hearing concerning an approval under the laws relating to the issuance of any approval or under s. 1.11 .

(c)The department shall coordinate the public comment period for the mining permit with the public comment period for any other approval for the mining operation, except that if an application for an approval is filed too late to allow public comment within the public comment period for the mining permit, the department shall issue separate notice, as described in par.

(b), for the approval after the application is filed.

(5)Informational hearing. The department shall hold a public informational hearing before it approves or denies an application for a mining permit and not less than 30 days after the date of the publication of the notice under sub.

(b). The department shall hold the public informational hearing in the county where the majority of the proposed mining site is located. The department shall hold a single public informational hearing covering the mining permit, all other approvals, and the environmental impact statement, except that if an application for an approval is filed too late to allow the application to be considered at the public informational hearing for the mining permit, the department shall hold a separate public informational hearing on the approval in the county where the majority of the proposed mining site is located not less than 30 days after the date of the publication of the notice under sub.

(b)for the approval. The department shall publish the notice on its Internet site not more than 10 days after the application is considered to be complete under sub.

(b)1. The public informational hearing under this subsection is not a contested case hearing under ch. 227 . At the hearing, the department shall take testimony on all of the following with regard to any proposed withdrawal of groundwater or surface water:

(a)The public rights in any body of water and the related environment that may be injured by the proposed withdrawal of groundwater or surface water.

(b)The public benefits provided by increased employment, economic activity, and tax revenues from the proposed mining operation.

(c)The direct and indirect social and economic costs and benefits of the proposed mining operation.

(d)Whether the proposed withdrawal of groundwater or surface water will consume nonsurplus water.

(e)The rights of competing users of the groundwater or surface water.

(f)Any other water withdrawal issues identified by the department as relevant to the decision of whether to issue or deny a permit.

(6)Summary. After considering the comments received under subs.

(4)and

(5)and before acting on the application for the mining permit, the department shall prepare a summary of the comments and the department’s response to the comments.

(7)Deadline for acting on mining permit application.

(a)No later than the deadline specified by the applicant under s. 295.47

(am)or, if the applicant does not specify a deadline under s. 295.47

(am), no more than 420 days after the day on which the application for a mining permit is administratively complete under sub.

(2), the department shall approve the application, and issue a mining permit, or deny the application, in accordance with s. 295.58 , unless the department and the applicant agree to extend the deadline. The department and the applicant may agree to not more than one extension and that extension may not exceed 60 days. The department and the applicant may enter into an extension only if one of the following applies: