293.49 Mining; department grant or denial of permit.

(1)

(a) Except as provided in sub. (2) and except with respect to property specified in s. 41.41 (11), within 90 days of the completion of the public hearing record, the department shall issue the mining permit if it finds:

1. The mining plan and reclamation plan are reasonably certain to result in reclamation of the mining site consistent with this chapter and any rules adopted under this chapter and the department has approved the mining plan.

2. The proposed operation will comply with all applicable air, groundwater, surface water and solid and hazardous waste management laws and rules of the department.

2m. The technology that will be used at the proposed operation is capable of resulting in compliance with all applicable air, groundwater, surface water, and solid and hazardous waste management laws and rules of the department and is reasonably certain to result in compliance with these laws and rules at the proposed mining site.

3. In the case of a surface mine, the site is not unsuitable for mining. The preliminary determination that a site was not unsuitable for mining under s. 293.45 may not be conclusive in the determination of the site's suitability for mining under this section. However, at the hearing held under this section and s. 293.43, testimony and evidence submitted at the prospecting permit proceeding relevant to the issue of suitability of the proposed mining site for surface mining may be adopted, subject to the opportunity for cross-examination and rebuttal, if not unduly repetitious.

4. The proposed mine will not endanger public health, safety or welfare.

5. The proposed mine will result in a net positive economic impact in the area reasonably expected to be most impacted by the activity.

6. The proposed mining operation conforms with all applicable zoning ordinances.

(b) Each approval or denial shall be made in findings of fact, conclusions of law and an order setting forth reasons with clarity and in detail. The department may modify the operator's proposed mining or reclamation plans in order to meet the requirements of this chapter, and, as modified, grant its approval.

(2) Within 90 days of the completion of the public hearing record, the department shall deny the mining permit if it finds any of the following:

(a) That the site is unsuitable for surface mining, if the application is for a proposed surface mine.

(b) That the applicant has violated and continues to fail to comply with this chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter.

(c) That the applicant, principal shareholder of the applicant or a related person has within 10 years before the application is submitted forfeited a mining reclamation bond that was posted in accordance with a permit or other approval for a mining operation in the United States, unless the forfeiture was by agreement with the entity for whose benefit the bond was posted and the amount of the bond was sufficient to cover all costs of reclamation.

(d) That the applicant, a related person or an officer or director of the applicant has, within 10 years before the application is submitted, been convicted of more than one felony for violations of laws for the protection of the natural environment arising out of the operation of a mining site in the United States, unless one of the following applies:

1. The person convicted has been pardoned for all of the felonies.

2. The person convicted is a related person or an officer or director of the applicant with whom the applicant terminates its relationship.

3. The applicant included in its permit application under s. 293.37 (1) a plan to prevent the occurrence in this state of events similar to the events that directly resulted in the convictions.

(e) That the applicant or a related person has, within 10 years before the application is submitted, declared bankruptcy or undergone dissolution that resulted in the failure to reclaim a mining site in the United States in violation of a state or federal law and that failure has not been remedied and is not being remedied.

(f) That, within 10 years before the application is submitted, a mining permit or other mining approval issued to the applicant or a related person was permanently revoked because of a failure to reclaim a mining site in the United States in violation of state or federal law and that failure has not been and is not being remedied.

(3) The department may not deny a mining permit under sub. (2) (c) to (f) if the person subject to the convictions, forfeiture, permanent revocation, bankruptcy or dissolution is a related person but the applicant shows that the person was not the parent corporation of the applicant, a person that holds more than a 30 percent ownership in the applicant, or a subsidiary or affiliate of the applicant in which the applicant holds more than a 30 percent interest at the time of the convictions, forfeiture, permanent revocation, bankruptcy or dissolution.

(4) The prior issuance of a prospecting permit under s. 293.45 for all or part of a site shall, in and of itself, be given no weight in the decision to grant or deny a mining permit under this section, and the department must find, in any order granting, or granting with conditions, a mining permit that no weight was given in the decision to the prior issuance of a prospecting permit. However, to the extent that testimony and evidence submitted at the prospecting permit proceedings is relevant to the issue of whether to grant or deny a mining permit, the testimony and evidence may be adopted in the mining permit proceedings, subject to the opportunity for cross-examination and rebuttal to the extent that the testimony and evidence are not unduly repetitious.

(5) The department shall send its statement, together with a copy of its rules and finding as to whether the applicant has otherwise satisfied the requirements of this chapter, to the applicant and to the other parties.

(6) Except as otherwise provided in ss. 293.53 (2), 293.55 to 293.59, 293.63, 293.81 and 293.83, mining permits shall be valid for the life of the project unless canceled under s. 293.83 (1) or (3) or 293.85 or revoked under s. 293.87 (2) or (3).

(7) The department, in granting a permit under this section, shall require the permit holder to perform adequate monitoring of environmental changes during the course of the permitted activity and for such additional period of time as is necessary to satisfactorily complete reclamation and completely release the permit holder from any bonds required.

(8) No operator may engage a general contractor or affiliate to operate a mining site if the general contractor or affiliate has been convicted of more than one felony for violation of a law for the protection of the natural environment arising out of the operation of a mining site in the United States within 10 years before the issuance of the operator's permit, unless the general contractor or affiliate receives the department's approval of a plan to prevent the occurrence in this state of events similar to the events that directly resulted in the convictions.

History: 1995 a. 227 s. 771, 773, 777, 778, 779, 994; 1997 a. 171; 2017 a. 134.