AB426-ASA1,25,2524 Subchapter III
25 ferrous metallic mining
AB426-ASA1,26,1
1295.40 Legislative findings. The legislature finds all of the following:
AB426-ASA1,26,3 2(1) That attracting and aiding new mining enterprises and expanding the
3mining industry in Wisconsin is part of Wisconsin public policy.
AB426-ASA1,26,6 4(2) That mining for nonferrous metallic minerals is different from mining for
5ferrous minerals because in mining for nonferrous metallic minerals, sulfite
6minerals react, when exposed to air and water, to form acid drainage.
AB426-ASA1,26,10 7(3) That if the mineral products and waste materials associated with
8nonferrous metallic sulfide mining operations are not properly managed and
9controlled, they can cause significant damage to the environment, affect human
10health, and degrade the quality of life of the affected community.
AB426-ASA1,26,13 11(4) That the special concerns surrounding nonferrous metallic mining warrant
12more stringent regulatory measures than those warranted for ferrous mining
13operations.
AB426-ASA1,26,16 14(5) That the provisions in ch. 293, 2009 stats., are a deterrent to ferrous mining
15in this state and are not necessary to ensure that ferrous mining will be conducted
16in an environmentally sound manner.
AB426-ASA1,26,20 17(6) That simplifying and shortening the permitting process for ferrous metallic
18mineral mining when compared to nonferrous metallic mineral mining, as
19Minnesota and Michigan have done, will encourage ferrous metallic mineral mining
20in Wisconsin and create jobs and generate resources for the state.
AB426-ASA1,27,2 21(7) That because of the fixed location of ferrous mineral deposits in the state,
22it is probable that mining those deposits will result in adverse impacts to areas of
23special natural resource interest and to wetlands, including wetlands located within
24areas of special natural resource interest and that, therefore, the use of wetlands for
25bulk sampling and mining activities, including the disposal or storage of mining

1wastes or materials, or the use of other lands for mining activities that would have
2a significant adverse impact on wetlands, is presumed to be necessary.
AB426-ASA1,27,3 3295.41 Definitions. In this subchapter:
AB426-ASA1,27,6 4(1) "Air pollution" means the presence in the atmosphere of one or more air
5contaminants in such quantities and of such duration as is injurious to human health
6or welfare, animal or plant life, or property.
AB426-ASA1,27,8 7(2) "Applicant" means a person who applies for, or is preparing to apply for, an
8exploration license or a mining permit or who files a bulk sampling plan.
AB426-ASA1,27,13 9(3) "Approval" means any permit, license, certification, contract, or other
10authorization that the department issues, or any other action by the department,
11that is required for exploration, to engage in bulk sampling at a bulk sampling site,
12or to construct or operate a mining site, including any action required for any of the
13following:
AB426-ASA1,27,1614 (a) The withdrawal of land entered as county forest land under s. 28.11 and any
15modification of, or amendment to, a county forest land use plan necessitated by the
16withdrawal of the land.
AB426-ASA1,27,1717 (b) The withdrawal of land entered as forest cropland under s. 77.10.
AB426-ASA1,27,2018 (c) The withdrawal of land designated as managed forest land under subch. VI
19of ch. 77 and any modification of, or amendment to, a managed forest land
20management plan necessitated by the withdrawal of the land.
AB426-ASA1,27,23 21(4) "Background water quality" means the concentration of a substance in
22groundwater as determined by monitoring at locations that will not be affected by
23a mining site.
AB426-ASA1,28,3
1(5) "Baseline water quality" means the concentration of a substance in
2groundwater or surface water as determined by monitoring before mining operations
3begin.
AB426-ASA1,28,5 4(6) "Borrow materials" means soil or rock used in construction or reclamation
5activities.
AB426-ASA1,28,10 6(7) "Bulk sampling" means excavating in a potential mining site by removing
7less than 10,000 tons of material for the purposes of obtaining site-specific data to
8assess the quality and quantity of the ferrous mineral deposits and of collecting data
9from and analyzing the excavated materials in order to prepare the application for
10a mining permit or for any other approval.
AB426-ASA1,28,12 11(8) "Closing" means the time at which a mining waste site ceases to accept
12mining wastes.
AB426-ASA1,28,14 13(9) "Closure" means the actions taken by an operator to prepare a mining waste
14site for long-term care and to make it suitable for other uses.
AB426-ASA1,28,16 15(10) "Construct" means to engage in a program of on-site construction,
16including site clearing, grading, dredging, or filling of land.
AB426-ASA1,28,17 17(11) "Department" means the department of natural resources.
AB426-ASA1,28,19 18(12) "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, or placing of
19a substance into or on any land or water.
AB426-ASA1,28,22 20(14) "Environmental impact report" means a document submitted by a person
21seeking a mining permit that discloses environmental impacts of the proposed
22mining.
AB426-ASA1,28,24 23(15) "Environmental impact statement" means a detailed statement under s.
241.11 (2) (c).
AB426-ASA1,29,3
1(16) "Environmental pollution" means contaminating or rendering unclean or
2impure the air, land, or waters of the state, or making the air, land, or waters of the
3state injurious to public health or animal or plant life.
AB426-ASA1,29,4 4(17) "Exploration license" means a license under s. 295.44.
AB426-ASA1,29,7 5(18) "Ferrous mineral" means an ore or earthen material in natural deposits
6in or on the earth that primarily exists in the form of an iron oxide, including taconite
7and hematite.
AB426-ASA1,29,9 8(19) "Fill area" means an area proposed to receive or that is receiving direct
9application of mining waste.
AB426-ASA1,29,11 10(20) "Freeboard" means the height of the top of a dam above the adjacent liquid
11surface within the impoundment.
AB426-ASA1,29,13 12(21) "Groundwater" means any of the waters of the state occurring in a
13saturated subsurface geological formation of rock or soil.
AB426-ASA1,29,15 14(22) "Groundwater quality" means the chemical, physical, biological, thermal,
15or radiological quality of groundwater at a site or within an underground aquifer.
AB426-ASA1,29,19 16(23) "Groundwater quality standards" means numerical values consisting of
17enforcement standards and preventive action limits contained in Table 1 of s. NR
18140.10, and Table 2 of s. NR 140.12, Wis. Adm. Code, and any preventive action limits
19for indicator parameters identified under s. NR 140.20 (2).
AB426-ASA1,29,22 20(24) "Leachate" means water or other liquid that has been contaminated by
21dissolved or suspended materials due to contact with refuse disposed of on the
22mining site.
AB426-ASA1,30,4 23(25) "Merchantable by-product" means all waste soil, rock, mineral, liquid,
24vegetation, and other material directly resulting from or displaced by the mining,
25cleaning, or preparation of minerals, during mining operations, that are determined

1by the department to be marketable upon a showing of marketability made by the
2operator, accompanied by a verified statement by the operator of his or her intent to
3sell the material within 3 years from the time it results from or is displaced by
4mining.
AB426-ASA1,30,10 5(26) "Mining" means all or part of the process involved in the mining of a
6ferrous mineral, other than for exploration, including commercial extraction,
7agglomeration, beneficiation, construction of roads, removal of overburden, and the
8production of refuse, involving the removal of more than 15,000 tons of earth
9material a year in the regular operation of a business for the purpose of extracting
10a ferrous mineral.
AB426-ASA1,30,11 11(27) "Mining permit" means the permit under s. 295.58.
AB426-ASA1,30,14 12(28) "Mining plan" means a proposal for mining on a mining site, including a
13description of the systematic activities to be used for the purpose of extracting
14ferrous minerals.
AB426-ASA1,30,19 15(29) "Mining site" means the surface area disturbed by mining, including the
16surface area from which the ferrous minerals or refuse or both have been removed,
17the surface area covered by refuse, all lands disturbed by the construction or
18improvement of haulageways, and any surface areas in which structures,
19equipment, materials, and any other things used in the mining are situated.
AB426-ASA1,31,2 20(30) "Mining waste" means tailings, waste rock, mine overburden, waste
21treatment sludges, or other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid,
22or contained gaseous material, resulting from mining or from the cleaning or
23preparation of ferrous minerals during mining operations, except that "mining
24waste" does not include topsoil and mine overburden intended to be returned to the
25mining site or used in the reclamation process and that is placed on the mining site

1for those purposes, as provided for in the approved mining plan, and does not include
2merchantable by-products.
AB426-ASA1,31,7 3(31) "Mining waste site" means any land or appurtenances thereto used for the
4storage or disposal of mining waste or for the storage of merchantable by-products,
5but does not include land or appurtenances used in the production or transportation
6of mining waste, such as the concentrator, haul roads, or tailings pipelines, that are
7part of the mining site.
AB426-ASA1,31,10 8(32) "Nonferrous metallic mineral" means an ore or other earthen material to
9be excavated from natural deposits on or in the earth for its metallic content but not
10primarily for its iron oxide content.
AB426-ASA1,31,13 11(33) "Operator" means any person who is engaged in mining, or who holds a
12mining permit, whether individually, jointly, or through subsidiaries, agents,
13employees, or contractors.
AB426-ASA1,31,14 14(34) "Overburden" means any unconsolidated material that overlies bedrock.
AB426-ASA1,31,17 15(35) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability company,
16partnership, association, local governmental agency, interstate agency, state agency,
17or federal agency.
AB426-ASA1,31,19 18(36) "Piping" means the progressive erosion of materials from an embankment
19or foundation caused by the seepage of water.
AB426-ASA1,31,21 20(37) "Principal shareholder" means any person who owns at least 10 percent
21of the beneficial ownership of an applicant or operator.
AB426-ASA1,31,24 22(38) "Reagent" means a substance or compound that is added to a system in
23order to bring about a chemical reaction or is added to see if a reaction occurs to
24confirm the presence of another substance.
AB426-ASA1,32,3
1(39) "Reclamation" means the process by which an area physically or
2environmentally affected by exploration or mining is rehabilitated to either its
3original state or to a state that provides long-term environmental stability.
AB426-ASA1,32,5 4(40) "Reclamation plan" means the proposal for the reclamation of an
5exploration site under s. 295.44 (2) (b) or a mining site under s. 295.49.
AB426-ASA1,32,7 6(41) "Refuse" means all mining waste and all waste materials deposited on or
7in the mining site from other sources, except merchantable by-products.
AB426-ASA1,32,10 8(42) "Related person" means any person that owns or operates a mining site
9in the United States and that is one of the following when an application for a mining
10permit is submitted to the department:
AB426-ASA1,32,1111 (a) The parent corporation of the applicant.
AB426-ASA1,32,1312 (b) A person that holds more than a 30 percent ownership interest in the
13applicant.
AB426-ASA1,32,1514 (c) A subsidiary or affiliate of the applicant in which the applicant holds more
15than a 30 percent ownership interest.
AB426-ASA1,32,20 16(44) "Subsidence" means lateral or vertical ground movement caused by a
17failure, initiated at the mine, of a man-made underground mine, that directly
18damages residences or commercial buildings, except that "subsidence" does not
19include lateral or vertical ground movement caused by earthquake, landslide, soil
20conditions, soil erosion, soil freezing and thawing, or roots of trees and shrubs.
AB426-ASA1,32,23 21(45) "Tailings" means waste material resulting from beneficiation of crushed
22ferrous minerals at a concentrator or from washing, concentration, or treatment of
23crushed ferrous minerals.
AB426-ASA1,33,3
1(46) "Unsuitable" means that the land proposed for mining is not suitable for
2mining because the mining activity will more probably than not destroy or
3irreparably damage any of the following:
AB426-ASA1,33,64 (a) Habitat required for survival of species of vegetation or wildlife designated
5as endangered through prior inclusion in rules adopted by the department, if the
6endangered species cannot be reestablished elsewhere.
AB426-ASA1,33,107 (b) Unique features of the land, as determined by state or federal designation
8and incorporated in rules adopted by the department, as any of the following, which
9cannot have their unique characteristic preserved by relocation or replacement
10elsewhere:
AB426-ASA1,33,1111 1. Wilderness areas.
AB426-ASA1,33,1212 2. Wild and scenic rivers.
AB426-ASA1,33,1313 3. National or state parks.
AB426-ASA1,33,1414 4. Wildlife refuges and areas.
AB426-ASA1,33,1515 5. Listed properties, as defined in s. 44.31 (4).
AB426-ASA1,33,20 16(46m) "Wastewater and sludge storage or treatment lagoon" means a
17man-made containment structure that is constructed primarily of earthen
18materials, that is for the treatment or storage of wastewater, storm water, or sludge,
19and that is not a land disposal system, as defined in s. NR 140.05 (11), Wis. Adm.
20Code.
AB426-ASA1,33,21 21(47) "Waters of the state" has the meaning given in s. 281.01 (18).
AB426-ASA1,33,23 22(48) "Water supply" means the sources and their surroundings from which
23water is supplied for drinking or domestic purposes.
AB426-ASA1,33,24 24(49) "Wetland" has the meaning given in s. 23.32 (1).
AB426-ASA1,34,11
1295.43 Responsibilities related to mining. The department shall serve as
2the central unit of state government to ensure that the impact from mining and
3reclamation on the air, lands, waters, plants, fish, and wildlife in this state will be
4minimized and mitigated to the extent practicable. The administration of
5occupational health and safety laws and rules that apply to mining remain
6exclusively the responsibility of the department of safety and professional services.
7The powers and duties of the geological and natural history survey under s. 36.25 (6)
8remain exclusively the responsibility of the geological and natural history survey.
9Nothing in this section prevents the department of safety and professional services
10and the geological and natural history survey from cooperating with the department
11in the exercise of their respective powers and duties.
AB426-ASA1,34,12 12295.44 Exploration. (1) Definitions. In this section:
AB426-ASA1,34,1313 (a) "Abandonment" means the filling or sealing of a drillhole.
AB426-ASA1,34,1614 (b) "Clay slurry" means a fluid mixture of native clay formation or commercial
15clay or clay mineral products and water prepared with only the amount of water
16necessary to produce fluidity.
AB426-ASA1,34,1817 (c) "Concrete grout" means a mixture consisting of type A portland cement and
18an equal or lesser volume of dry sand combined with water.
AB426-ASA1,34,2019 (d) "Driller" means a person who performs core, rotary, percussion, or other
20drilling involved in exploration for ferrous minerals.
AB426-ASA1,34,2221 (e) "Drilling site" means the area disturbed by exploration, including the
22drillhole.
AB426-ASA1,34,2423 (f) "Dump bailer" means a cylindrical container with a valve that empties the
24contents of the container at the bottom of a drillhole.
AB426-ASA1,35,2
1(g) "Explorer" means any person who engages in exploration or who contracts
2for the services of drillers for the purpose of exploration.
AB426-ASA1,35,103 (h) "Exploration" means the on-site geologic examination from the surface of
4an area by core, rotary, percussion, or other drilling, where the diameter of the hole
5does not exceed 18 inches, for the purpose of searching for ferrous minerals or
6establishing the nature of a known ferrous mineral deposit, including associated
7activities such as clearing and preparing sites or constructing roads for drilling.
8"Exploration" does not include drilling for the purpose of collecting soil samples or
9for determining radioactivity by means of placement of devices that are sensitive to
10radiation.
AB426-ASA1,35,1211 (i) "License year" means the period beginning on July 1 of any year and ending
12on the following June 30.
AB426-ASA1,35,1413 (j) "Neat cement grout" means a mixture consisting of type A portland cement
14and water.
AB426-ASA1,35,1615 (k) "Termination" means the filling of drillholes and the reclamation of a
16drilling site.
AB426-ASA1,35,22 17(2) License. No person may engage in exploration, or contract for the services
18of drillers for purposes of exploration, without an annual license from the
19department. The department shall provide copies of the application for an
20exploration license to the state geologist upon issuance of the exploration license. A
21person seeking an exploration license shall file an application that includes all of the
22following:
AB426-ASA1,35,2323 (a) An exploration plan that includes all of the following:
AB426-ASA1,35,2524 1. A description of the site where the exploration will take place and a map of
25that area showing the locations of the exploration.
AB426-ASA1,36,1
12. A description of the means and method that will be used for the exploration.
AB426-ASA1,36,32 3. A description of the grading and stabilization of the excavation, sides, and
3benches that will be conducted.
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