289.31 Operating license.

(1) License requirement. No person may operate a solid waste facility or hazardous waste facility unless the person obtains an operating license from the department. The department shall issue an operating license with a duration of one year or more except that the department may issue an initial license with a duration of less than one year. The department may deny, suspend or revoke the operating license of a solid waste facility for failure to pay fees required under this chapter or for grievous and continuous failure to comply with the approved plan of operation under this chapter or, if no plan of operation exists with regard to the facility, for grievous and continuous failure to comply with the standards adopted under s. 289.05 (1) and (2). The department may deny, suspend or revoke the operating license of a hazardous waste facility for any reason specified under s. 291.87 (1m).

(2) Environmental impact statement not required. A determination under this section does not constitute a major state action under s. 1.11 (2).

(3) Issuance of initial license. The initial operating license for a solid waste disposal facility or a hazardous waste facility shall not be issued unless the facility has been constructed in substantial compliance with the operating plan approved under s. 289.30. The department may require that compliance be certified in writing by a registered professional engineer. The department may by rule require, as a condition precedent to the issuance of the operating license for a solid waste disposal facility, that the applicant submit evidence that a notation of the existence of the facility has been recorded in the office of the register of deeds in each county in which a portion of the facility is located.

(4) Notice; hazardous waste facilities.

(am) Before issuing the initial operating license for a hazardous waste facility, the department shall give notice of its intent to issue the license by all of the following means:

1. Publishing a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, in a newspaper likely to give notice in the area where the facility is located.

2. Broadcasting a notice by radio announcement in the area where the facility is located.

3. Providing written notice to each affected municipality.

4. Publication of the notice on the department's Internet website.

5. Providing notice to interested persons upon request. The notice may be given through an electronic notification system established by the department.

(bm) The notice provided under par. (am) 1., 3., 4., and 5. shall include all of the following:

1. The name and address of the applicant.

2. A summary that contains a brief, precise, easily understandable, plain language description of the subject matter of the license.

3. Information indicating where more information about the subject matter of the license may be viewed on the department's Internet website.

(cm) For the purpose of determining the date on which public notice is provided under this subsection, the date on which the department first publishes the notice on its Internet website shall be considered the date of public notice.

(5) Feasibility report and plan of operation not subject to review. In any judicial review under ss. 227.52 to 227.58 of the department's decision to issue or deny an operating license, no element of either the feasibility report or the plan of operation, as approved by the department, is subject to judicial review.

(6) No right to hearing. There is no statutory right to a hearing before the department concerning the license but the department may grant a hearing on the license under s. 289.07 (1).

(7) Monitoring requirements.

(a) In this subsection, “monitoring" means activities necessary to determine whether contaminants are present in groundwater, surface water, soil or air in concentrations that require investigation or remedial action. “Monitoring" does not include investigations to determine the extent of contamination, to collect information necessary to select or design remedial action, or to monitor the performance of remedial action.

(b) Upon the renewal of an operating license for a nonapproved facility, the department may require monitoring at the facility as a condition of the license.

(c) The owner or operator of a nonapproved facility is responsible for conducting any monitoring required under par. (b).

(d) The department may require by special order the monitoring of a closed solid or hazardous waste disposal site or facility which was either a nonapproved facility or a waste site, as defined under s. 292.01 (21), when it was in operation.

(e) If the owner or operator of a site or facility subject to an order under par. (d) is not a municipality, the owner or operator is responsible for the cost of conducting any monitoring ordered under par. (d).

(f) If the owner or operator of a site or facility subject to an order under par. (d) is a municipality, the municipality is responsible for conducting any monitoring ordered under par. (d). The department shall, from the environmental fund appropriation under s. 20.370 (4) (dv), reimburse the municipality for the costs of monitoring that exceed an amount equal to $3 per person residing in the municipality for each site or facility subject to an order under par. (d), except that the maximum reimbursement is $100,000 for each site or facility. The department shall exclude any monitoring costs paid under the municipality's liability insurance coverage in calculating the municipal cost of monitoring a site or facility.

(g) The department shall promulgate rules for determining costs eligible for reimbursement under par. (f).

(8) Closure agreement. Any person operating a solid or hazardous waste facility which is a nonapproved facility may enter into a written closure agreement at any time with the department to close the facility on or before July 1, 1999. The department shall incorporate any closure agreement into the operating license. The operating license shall terminate and is not renewable if the operator fails to comply with the closure agreement. Upon termination of an operating license under this subsection as the result of failure to comply with the closure agreement, the department shall collect additional surcharges and base fees as provided under s. 289.67 (3) and (4) and enforce the closure under ss. 299.95 and 299.97.

(9) Daily cover. Within 12 months after receiving a request from a person operating a foundry or a scrap dealer in this state, the department shall modify the operating license issued under sub. (1) to a person operating a municipal waste landfill to require the operator to use foundry sand from the foundry or shredder fluff from the scrap dealer's operation as daily cover at part or all of the municipal waste landfill for a period specified in the request, if all of the conditions in s. 289.30 (5) are met.

(10) Voluntary party certificate of completion. When the department issues a certificate of completion under s. 292.15 (2) (a) 3., (ae) 3., (af) 3., or (ag) 2. for all or a portion of a solid waste facility with an operating license under this section, the operating license for the solid waste facility or the portion of the solid waste facility covered by the certificate of completion is terminated.

History: 1995 a. 227 s. 569, 570; 2011 a. 103, 167; 2013 a. 333; 2015 a. 204; 2017 a. 59; 2017 a. 365 s. 112.

Corporate officers responsible for the overall operation of a facility are personally liable for violations. State v. Rollfink, 162 Wis. 2d 121, 469 N.W.2d 398 (1991).