Wisconsin Legislature: 27,3785

295.20 (1) (a) (intro.) Beginning on June 1, 1994 the effective date of this paragraph .... [revisor inserts date], a landowner may register land owned by that person with each county in which the land is located if the under this section if all of the following apply:

1. The land has an economically viable a marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit, as evidenced by the certification of a professional geologist registered under s. 443.037 or a professional engineer registered under s. 443.04 and by any other information required under sub. (4).

(c) The registration shall delineate the nonmetallic mineral deposit and the necessary buffer areas under the nonmetallic mining reclamation ordinance. The landowner, as a condition of registration, shall submit evidence that a notation of the registration has been is valid only if recorded in the office of the register of deeds in each county in which the nonmetallic mineral deposit or buffer area is located. A

(d) Except as provided under sub. (4) (d), a registration under this subsection may not be rescinded by the county or the landowner or his or her successors or assigns lasts for 10 years and may be renewed as provided in the rules under sub. (4) (e).

27,3778 Section 3778 . 295.20 (1) (a) 2. and 3. of the statutes are created to read:

295.20 (1) (a) 2. The landowner notifies each county, city, village and town that has authority to zone the land of his or her intent to register the marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit. The notification shall include the evidence required under subd. 1.

3. Nonmetallic mining is a permitted or conditional use for the land that is proposed to be registered under any zoning that is in effect on the day on which the landowner makes the notification under subd. 2.

27,3779 Section 3779 . 295.20 (1) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

295.20 (1) (b) A governmental unit that receives notification under par. (a) 2. may contest registration under this subsection, in the circuit court for a county in which the land is located, on the grounds that there is not a marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit on the land or that par. (a) 3. is not satisfied. The governmental unit has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that one of those grounds exists.

27,3780 Section 3780 . 295.20 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:

295.20 (1m) Previously registered deposits. Land registered under sub. (1) before the effective date of this subsection .... [revisor inserts date], shall remain registered for 10 years after the initial date of registration. The registration may be renewed as provided under sub. (4) (f).

27,3781 Section 3781 . 295.20 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 295.20 (2) (a) and amended to read:

295.20 (2) (a) A county, city, village or town may not by zoning, rezoning, granting a variance, or other official action or inaction, permit the erection of permanent structures upon, or otherwise permit the use of, any registered nonmetallic mineral deposit or registered buffer area land, while a registration under this section is in effect for that land, in a manner that would permanently interfere with the present or future extraction of the nonmetallic mineral deposit or maintenance of the buffer area that is located on the land.

27,3782 Section 3782 . 295.20 (2) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

295.20 (2) (b) 1. A county, city, village or town may enact an ordinance changing the zoning of land that is registered under this section if mining has not begun on any portion of the registered land and the ordinance is necessary to implement a master plan, comprehensive plan or land use plan that was adopted at least one year before the rezoning.

2. A zoning change authorized by subd. 1. does not apply to the registered land during the registration period in effect when the zoning ordinance takes effect or during the 10-year renewal period under sub. (4) (e) or (f) if the land is eligible for that renewal.

3. A zoning change authorized by subd. 1. prevents the registration of the land after the period under subd. 2.

27,3783 Section 3783 . 295.20 (3) (a) and (b) of the statutes are amended to read:

295.20 (3) (a) A use of land permissible under a zoning ordinance in effect on the day before a mineral deposit or buffer area is registered under sub. (1).

(b) Acquisition of a registered nonmetallic mineral deposit or registered buffer area by a county, city, village or town or other governmental unit for a public purpose if the use of the land does not permanently interfere with the extraction of nonmetallic minerals or maintenance of the buffer area.

27,3784 Section 3784 . 295.20 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

295.20 (4) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules that contain all of the following:

(a) A definition of “marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit".

(b) Procedures and requirements for registering land containing a marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit under sub. (1).

(d) Procedures for terminating the registration of land under this section when there is no longer a marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit on the land.

(e) Procedures and criteria for renewing the registration of land under sub. (1). The rules shall allow renewal for one 10-year period without review of the marketability of the deposit or the zoning of the land, except that, if mining has begun on any portion of the registered land, the rules shall allow the person to renew the registration for an unlimited number of 10-year periods as long as active mining continues.

(f) Procedures and criteria for renewing the registration of land under sub. (1m).

(g) Criteria under which contiguous parcels of land owned by the same person and containing the same marketable nonmetallic mineral deposit may be included in one registration.

27,3785 Section 3785. 299.05 of the statutes is created to read:

299.05 Permit guarantee program. (1) The department shall promulgate rules under which the department refunds fees paid by an applicant for a license or approval that is of a type specified in sub. (2) if the department fails to make a determination on the application within the time limit specified in the rule for that type of license or approval. The rules under this subsection do not apply to an applicant for a license or other approval related to mining, as defined in s. 293.01 (9), prospecting, as defined in s. 293.01 (18), or nonmetallic mining, as defined in s. 295.11 (3).

(2) The department shall specify time limits for the following types of licenses and approvals in the rules under sub. (1):

(b) Approvals under s. 281.17 (1).

(e) Licenses under subch. III of ch. 289.

(f) Licenses issued under subch. IV of ch. 291.

27,3786f Section 3786f. 299.13 (1) (bm) of the statutes is repealed.

27,3786h Section 3786h. 299.13 (1m) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

299.13 (1m) Promotion of hazardous pollution prevention. (intro.) In carrying out the duties under this section and ss. 36.25 (30) and 560.19 and this section, the department, the department of commerce, the council and the program shall promote all of the following techniques for hazardous pollution prevention:

27,3786j Section 3786j. 299.13 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

299.13 (2) (b) Identify all department requirements for reporting on hazardous pollution prevention and, to the extent possible and practical, standardize, coordinate and consolidate the reporting in order to minimize duplication and provide useful information on hazardous pollution prevention to the council, the legislature and the public.

27,3786L Section 3786L. 299.13 (2) (e) of the statutes is repealed.

27,3787e Section 3787e. 299.15 (3) (cm) 1. of the statutes is repealed.

27,3787g Section 3787g. 299.15 (3) (cm) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

299.15 (3) (cm) 2. In any fiscal year after fiscal year 1992-93, the department may not charge total fees under par. (am) that exceed the total fees that it charges under par. (am) for fiscal year 1992-93 $7,450,000.

27,3789 Section 3789 . 299.80 of the statutes is created to read:

299.80 Environmental cooperation pilot program. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Approval" means a permit, license or other approval issued by the department under chs. 280 to 295.

(b) “Cooperative agreement" means an agreement entered into under sub. (6).

(c) “Environmental management system" means an organized set of procedures implemented by the owner or operator of a facility to evaluate the environmental performance of the facility and to achieve measurable or noticeable improvements in that environmental performance through planning and changes in the facility's operations.

(d) “Environmental performance" means the effects, whether regulated under chs. 280 to 295 or unregulated, of a facility on air, water, land, natural resources and human health.

(e) “Facility" means all buildings, equipment and structures located on a single parcel or on adjacent parcels that are owned or operated by the same person.

(f) “Interested person" means a person who is or may be affected by the activities at a facility that is covered or proposed to be covered by a cooperative agreement or a representative of such a person.

(g) “Performance evaluation" means a systematic, documented and objective review, conducted by or on behalf of the owner or operator of a facility, of the environmental performance of the facility, including an evaluation of compliance with the cooperative agreement covering the facility, approvals that are not replaced by the cooperative agreement and the provisions of chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters for which a variance is not granted under sub. (4).

(h) “Pollutant" means any of the following:

1. Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, refuse, oil, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive substance, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt or industrial, municipal or agricultural waste discharged into water or onto land.

2. Any dust, fumes, mist, liquid, smoke, other particulate matter, vapor, gas, odorous substances or any combination of those things emitted into the air, but not uncombined water vapor.

(i) “Violation" means a violation of a cooperative agreement, of an approval that is not replaced by the cooperative agreement or of a provision of chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters for which a participant has not received a variance under sub. (4).

(2) Pilot program. The department shall administer a pilot program under which it enters into not more than 10 cooperative agreements to evaluate innovative environmental regulatory methods. In administering the program, the department shall do all of the following:

(a) Provide at least the same level of protection of public health and the environment as provided by the environmental regulatory methods under chs. 280 to 295.

(b) Encourage facility owners and operators to systematically assess the pollution that they cause, directly and indirectly, to the air, water and land.

(c) Encourage facility owners and operators to implement efficient and cost- effective pollution reduction strategies for their facilities, while complying with verifiable and enforceable pollution limits.

(d) Encourage facility owners and operators to achieve superior environmental performance, both with respect to the effects of a facility that are regulated under chs. 280 to 295 and those effects that are unregulated, to reduce usage of natural resources, to minimize transfers of waste discharges among air, water and land and to reduce waste generation, while achieving a balance among the economic, social and environmental impacts of these efforts that is acceptable to the community in which the facility is located.

(e) Recognize and reward facility owners and operators who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in environmental stewardship or pollution prevention and who can achieve reductions in emissions and waste generation through implementation of innovative measures.

(f) Encourage the transfer of information about methods for improving environmental performance and the adoption of these methods by others.

(g) Consolidate into a cooperative agreement environmental requirements relating to a facility owned or operated by a participant that are otherwise included in separate approvals to the extent that consolidation is practical and efficient.

(h) Grant the owners and operators of facilities greater flexibility than would otherwise be allowed under chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters.

(i) Seek to reduce the time and money spent by government and owners and operators of facilities on paperwork and other administrative tasks that do not result in benefits to the environment.

(j) Encourage public participation, and consensus among interested persons, in the development of innovative environmental regulatory methods and in monitoring the environmental performance of projects under this section.

(k) Seek to improve the provision of useful information to the public about the environmental and human health impacts of facilities on communities.

(L) Provide public access to information about performance evaluations conducted by participants in the program under this section.

(m) Encourage facility owners and operators and communities to work together to reduce pollution to levels below the levels required under chs. 280 to 295.

(n) Seek to increase trust among government, facility owners and operators and the public through open communication and support of early and credible resolution of conflicts over issues concerning the environment and environmental regulation.

(3) Content of cooperative agreements. A cooperative agreement shall do all of the following:

(a) Identify the facility or facilities, the activities and the pollutants that are covered by the cooperative agreement.

(b) Specify any approvals and provisions of approvals that are replaced by the cooperative agreement.

(c) Commit the participant to implement an environmental management system that is based on the standards for environmental management systems issued by the International Organization for Standardization, or an alternative environmental management system that is acceptable to the department, at the covered facilities and commit the participant to documenting the environmental management system.

(d) Commit the participant to superior environmental performance, to achieving measurable or noticeable improvements in environmental performance, to reducing natural resource usage and to reducing waste generation, while achieving a balance among the economic, social and environmental impacts of these efforts that is acceptable to the community in which the facility is located.

(e) Specify waste reduction goals in measurable and verifiable terms.

(f) Identify changes in raw materials, in the design, methods of production, distribution or uses of products or in the reuse, recycling or disposal of materials that the participant will implement to achieve process efficiencies, to reduce the pollution of the air, water and land and to reduce water use, energy use or indoor chemical exposure.

(g) Contain pollution limits that are verifiable, enforceable and at least as stringent as the pollution limits under chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters.

(h) Describe the operational flexibility granted to the participant and any variances granted under sub. (4).

(i) Contain the requirements that would be included in any approvals that are replaced by the cooperative agreement, as modified under pars. (g) and (h).

(j) Require the participant to submit a baseline performance evaluation within 180 days of the date that the cooperative agreement is entered into and to update the performance evaluation periodically.

(k) Require the participant to report any violations discovered during a performance evaluation as required in sub. (12).

(L) Ensure that members of the interested persons group, established as required under sub. (5) (b), have the opportunity to comment on the participant's environmental management system and are involved in reviewing the participant's performance under the cooperative agreement and require a process that seeks consensus between the participant and interested persons over issues concerning that performance.

(m) Require the participant to assist interested persons to understand the implementation of the cooperative agreement.

(n) Require the participant to provide information to the public about the participant's environmental performance and the results of the project, including environmental, social and economic impacts, and to meet with interested persons at least once every 6 months to discuss the implementation of the participant's environmental management system and to receive comments on the progress of the project.

(o) Describe how the participant will measure the opinions of its employes and the public concerning its participation in the program under this section.

(p) Require the participant to assess the success of the project in reducing the time and money spent by the participant on paperwork and other administrative activities that do not directly benefit the environment.