(1) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL. (a) Except as provided in sub. (2) and except with respect to property specified in s. 41.41 (11), the department shall issue a mining permit if it finds all of the following: 1. That the mining plan and reclamation plan are reasonably certain to result in reclamation of the mining site consistent with this subchapter. 2. That the waste site feasibility study and plan of operation complies with s. 295.51. 3. That the applicant has committed to conducting the proposed mining in compliance with the mining permit and any other approvals issued for the mining. 3m. That the proposed mining is likely to meet or exceed the requirements of any municipal floodplain zoning ordinance applicable to the proposed mining under s. 295.607 (3) to the extent that the ordinance has not been made inapplicable to the proposed mining by a local agreement under s. 295.443 (1m). 4. That the proposed mining is reasonably certain not to result in substantial adverse impacts to public health, safety, or welfare. 5. That the proposed mining will result in a net positive economic impact in the area reasonably expected to be most impacted by the mining. 6. That the applicant has applied for all necessary zoning approvals applicable to the proposed mining. (b) The department shall approve or deny an application for a mining permit in writing and shall include the reasons for its decision with clarity and in detail. The department may modify the applicant’s proposed mining plan, reclamation plan, or mining waste site feasibility study and plan of operation in order to meet the requirements of this subchapter, and, as modified, approve the application. The approval of the application for a mining permit constitutes the approval of the mining plan, reclamation plan, and waste site feasibility study and plan of operation. In its decision on the application for a mining permit, the department shall include a final decision on compliance with s. 1.11 and the requirements of s. 295.53, discussing all of the following: 1. Whether the department has considered the environmental impact statement and comments received on it. 2. Whether the department has complied with ss. 1.11 and 295.53. 3. Whether, consistent with social, economic, and other essential considerations, the department has adopted all practicable means within its authority to avoid or minimize any harm to the environment and, if not, why not. (2) CRITERIA FOR DENIAL. The department shall deny the mining permit if it finds any of the following: (a) That the site is unsuitable for mining. (b) That the proposed mining may reasonably be expected to create any of the following situations: 1. Hazards resulting in irreparable, substantial physical damage to any of the following that cannot be prevented under the requirements of this subchapter, avoided to the extent practicable by removal from the area of hazard, or offset by purchase or by obtaining the consent of the owner: a. A dwelling house. b. A public building. c. A school. d. A church. e. A cemetery. f. A commercial or institutional building. g. A public road. 2. Irreparable substantial environmental damage to lake or stream bodies despite adherence to the requirements of this subchapter. This subdivision does not apply to an activity that the department has authorized under statute, except that the destruction or filling in of a lake bed may not be authorized unless it is authorized under s. 295.60, 295.605, or 295.61. 3. Landslides or substantial deposition from the proposed mining operation in stream or lake beds which cannot feasibly be prevented and which have not been authorized under s. 295.60 or 295.605. (c) That the applicant has violated, and continues to fail to comply with, this subchapter. (d) Subject to sub. (3), 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 authorization 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. (e) Subject to sub. (3), 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. 295.47 a plan to prevent the occurrence in this state of events similar to the events that directly resulted in the convictions. (f) Subject to sub. (3), 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. (g) Subject to sub. (3), that, within 10 years before the application is submitted, a mining permit or other authorization for mining 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) EXCEPTION FROM DENIAL CRITERIA. The department may not deny a mining permit under sub. (2) (d) to (g) 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) STATEMENT. The department shall send a statement as to whether the applicant has satisfied the requirements of this subchapter to the applicant and to the other persons specified in s. 295.57 (4) (b) 1. to 9. (5) DURATION OF APPROVALS. (a) A mining permit is valid for the life of the mining project, subject to the enforcement provisions under s. 295.79. (b) An approval under s. 295.60 or 295.61 remains valid for the life of the mining project, subject to the enforcement provisions under s. 295.79. (c) An approval issued for a mining project under ch. 23, 29, 30, 31, 169, 281, 283, 285, 289, or 291, except for a permit under ch. 283 or 285 that is subject to a federal requirement limiting its duration, remains valid for the life of the mining project, subject to the enforcement provisions applicable to the approval. (6) EFFECTIVE DATE OF APPROVALS. A mining permit and any other approval is issued upon mailing and is final and effective upon issuance. (7) MERCHANTABLE BY-PRODUCTS. In a mining permit, the department shall require the operator to treat merchantable byproducts as refuse if after 3 years from the time the merchantable by-products result from or are displaced by mining the material has not been transported off the mining site, unless removal is continuing at a rate of more than 12,000 cubic yards per year. (8) GENERAL CONTRACTOR OR AFFILIATE. 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 mining 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.
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