Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 100-199 - Environmental Protection - General › Chapter NR 132 - Nonferrous Metallic Mineral Mining › Section NR 132.115 - Mining permit denial

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) Within 90 days of the completion of the
				record for the public hearing held under s.
				293.43,
				Stats., 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, ch. 293, Stats., or
				any rule adopted under ch. 293, Stats.
(c) That any of the following situations may
				reasonably be expected to occur during or subsequent to mining:
1. Landslides or substantial deposition from
				the proposed operation in stream or lake beds which cannot be feasibly
				prevented.
2. Significant surface
				subsidence that cannot be reclaimed because of the geologic characteristics
				present at the proposed site.
3.
				Hazards resulting in irreparable damage to any of the following that cannot be
				prevented under the requirements of this chapter, avoided to the extent
				applicable by removal from the area of hazard, or mitigated by purchase or by
				obtaining the consent of the owner:
a.
				Dwelling houses.
b. Public
				buildings.
c. Schools.
e. Cemeteries.
f. Commercial or institutional
				buildings.
g. Public
				roads.
h. Other public property
				designated by the department by rule.
4. Irreparable environmental damage to lake
				or stream bodies despite adherence to the requirements of this chapter. This
				subdivision does not apply to an activity that the department has authorized
				pursuant to statute, except that the destruction or filling in of a lakebed
				shall not be authorized notwithstanding any other provision of law.
(d) 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 person for
				whose benefit the bond was posted and the amount of the bond was sufficient to
				cover all costs of reclamation.
(e)
				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 any 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. NR 132.107 plans to prevent the occurrence in this state
				of events similar to the events that directly resulted in the
				convictions.
(f) That the
				applicant or a related person has, within 10 years before the application is
				submitted, filed a petition for 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) 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.