35-12-108. Quantity of water available; analysis; public comment; opinions.

(a) If an applicant applies for an industrial siting permit, pursuant to W.S. 35-12-106, or for a waiver of the application provisions, pursuant to W.S. 35-12-107, for a facility which requires the use of eight hundred (800) or more acre feet of the waters of this state annually, the applicant shall prepare and submit to the state engineer a water supply and water yield analysis with a request for a preliminary and final opinion as to the quantity of water available for the proposed facility.

(b) Within ninety (90) days after the applicant has submitted an acceptable water supply and yield analysis, the state engineer, at the applicant's expense, shall complete a comprehensive review of the water supply and water yield analysis submitted.

(c) Within five (5) days after completion of the review, the state engineer shall render a preliminary opinion as to the quantity of water available for the proposed facility. The preliminary opinion, or a reasonable summary, shall be published for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the proposed facility is to be located. The expense of the publication shall be borne by the applicant.

(d) The state engineer may hold a public hearing before rendering a final opinion on the water supply and water yield analysis.

(e) In rendering a final opinion as to the quantity of water available for the proposed facility, the state engineer shall consider any comments which are submitted in writing within twenty (20) days of the last date of publication.

(f) Within thirty (30) days after the last date of publication, the state engineer shall render a final opinion. The final opinion shall:

(i) Be submitted to the industrial siting council and the public service commission;

(ii) Be binding on the industrial siting council for the purposes of issuing an industrial siting permit; and

(iii) Be reviewed by the public service commission prior to its issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity.

(g) The state engineer's preliminary and final opinion shall not create a presumption concerning injury or noninjury to water rights, nor shall those opinions be used as evidence in any administrative proceeding or in any judicial proceeding concerning water right determinations or administration.