CHAPTER 295
NONMETALLIC MINING RECLAMATION; OIL AND GAS
SUBCHAPTER I
NONMETALLIC MINING RECLAMATION
295.12 Nonmetallic mining reclamation rules.
295.13 Mandatory enactment and administration of ordinance by counties.
295.14 Authority to enact and administer ordinance.
295.16 Applicability of nonmetallic mining reclamation requirements.
295.18 Department review.
295.19 Enforcement; remedies; penalties.
295.20 Preservation of marketable nonmetallic mineral deposits.
SUBCHAPTER II
OIL AND GAS
295.31 Definitions; oil and gas.
295.33 Oil and gas exploration and production.
295.35 Departmental powers and duties; oil and gas.
295.37 Penalties; oil and gas.
NONMETALLIC MINING RECLAMATION
Subch. I of ch. 295 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also ch.
NR 135, Wis. adm. code.
295.11
295.11
Definitions. In this subchapter:
295.11(1)
(1) "Department" means the department of natural resources.
295.11(2)
(2) "Environmental pollution" means the contaminating or rendering unclean or impure the air, land or waters of the state, or making the same injurious to public health, harmful for commercial or recreational use, or deleterious to fish, bird, animal or plant life.
295.11(3)
(3) "Nonmetallic mining" means all of the following:
295.11(3)(a)
(a) Operations or activities for the extraction from the earth for sale or use by the operator of mineral aggregates or nonmetallic minerals such as stone, sand, gravel, asbestos, beryl, clay, feldspar, peat, talc and topsoil, including such operations or activities as excavation, grading and dredging.
295.11(3)(b)
(b) On-site processes that are related to the extraction of mineral aggregates or nonmetallic minerals, such as stockpiling of materials, blending mineral aggregates or nonmetallic minerals with other mineral aggregates or nonmetallic minerals, crushing, screening, scalping and dewatering.
295.11(4)
(4) "Nonmetallic mining reclamation" means the rehabilitation of a nonmetallic mining site to achieve a land use specified in an approved nonmetallic mining reclamation plan, including removal or reuse of nonmetallic mining refuse, grading of the nonmetallic mining site, removal, storage and replacement of topsoil, stabilization of soil conditions, reestablishment of vegetative cover, control of surface water and groundwater, prevention of environmental pollution and, if practical, restoration of plant, fish and wildlife habitat.
295.11(5)
(5) "Nonmetallic mining refuse" means waste soil, rock, mineral and other natural material resulting from nonmetallic mining. This term does not include marketable by-products resulting directly from or displaced by the nonmetallic mining.
295.11(6)(a)(a) "Nonmetallic mining site" means all of the following, except as provided in
par. (b):
295.11(6)(a)1.
1. The location where nonmetallic mining is proposed or conducted.
295.11(6)(a)2.
2. Storage and processing areas that are in or contiguous to areas excavated for nonmetallic mining.
295.11(6)(a)4.
4. Areas disturbed by activities such as the construction or improvement of private roads or haulageways for nonmetallic mining.
295.11(6)(a)5.
5. Areas where grading or regrading is necessary to conduct nonmetallic mining or to achieve a land use specified in an approved nonmetallic mining reclamation plan.
295.11(6)(b)
(b) "Nonmetallic mining site" does not include any area described in
par. (a) 1. to
5. that is not used for nonmetallic mining or for purposes related to nonmetallic mining on or after October 14, 1997.
295.11(7)
(7) "Operator" means any person who is engaged in, or who has applied for a permit to engage in, nonmetallic mining, whether individually, jointly or through subsidiaries, agents, employees, contractors or subcontractors.
295.11(8)
(8) "Person" means an individual, owner, operator, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, municipality, interstate agency, state agency or federal agency.
295.11(9)
(9) "Replacement of topsoil" means the replacement of the topsoil that was removed or disturbed by nonmetallic mining, or the provision of material to substitute for the topsoil that was removed or disturbed, for the purposes of providing adequate vegetative cover and stabilization of soil conditions to achieve a land use specified in an approved nonmetallic mining reclamation plan.
295.11(10)
(10) "Solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded or salvageable materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under
ch. 283, or source material, as defined in
s. 254.31 (10), special nuclear material, as defined in
s. 254.31 (11), or by-product material, as defined in
s. 254.31 (1).
295.11 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also s.
NR 135.03, Wis. adm. code.
295.12
295.12
Nonmetallic mining reclamation rules. 295.12(1)(1)
Rules. The department shall establish all of the following by rule:
295.12(1)(a)
(a) Uniform statewide standards for nonmetallic mining reclamation.
295.12(1)(b)
(b) Provisions for the administration of this subchapter by the department.
295.12(1)(c)
(c) Uniform statewide requirements and procedures for the administration of a nonmetallic mining reclamation program by any county, city, village or town.
295.12(2)(a)(a) The department shall establish nonmetallic mining reclamation standards under
sub. (1) (a) that are applicable to activities related to nonmetallic mining reclamation both during nonmetallic mining and after the termination of nonmetallic mining.
295.12(2)(d)
(d) Nonmetallic mining reclamation standards under
sub. (1) (a) shall be designed to encourage the development and reclamation of nonmetallic mining sites in existence on October 14, 1997, and shall include requirements necessary to achieve a land use specified in an approved nonmetallic mining reclamation plan, including requirements related to the removal or reuse of nonmetallic mining refuse, removal of roads no longer in use, stabilization of soil conditions, grading the nonmetallic mining site, replacement of topsoil, establishment of vegetative cover, control of surface water flow and groundwater withdrawal, prevention of environmental pollution and, if practical, protection or restoration of plant, fish and wildlife habitat.
295.12(3)
(3) Program requirements. The rules required by
sub. (1) (c) shall include all of the following:
295.12(3)(c)
(c) A requirement for the operator to submit a nonmetallic mining reclamation plan including maps, information about the nonmetallic mining site, a proposed land use for which the nonmetallic mining site will be rehabilitated after the nonmetallic mining is completed, a description of the proposed nonmetallic mining reclamation including methods and procedures to be used and a proposed timetable for completion of various stages of the nonmetallic mining reclamation. The reclamation plan shall be designed to ensure successful nonmetallic mining reclamation consistent with the standards under
sub. (1) (a), to minimize the costs of nonmetallic mining reclamation and, to the extent practicable, to minimize the area disturbed by nonmetallic mining at one time and provide for nonmetallic mining reclamation of portions of the nonmetallic mining site while nonmetallic mining continues on other portions of the nonmetallic mining site.
295.12(3)(d)
(d) A requirement for the operator to obtain a nonmetallic mining reclamation permit in order to engage in nonmetallic mining or in nonmetallic mining reclamation; a requirement for a permit term equal to the period during which nonmetallic mining is conducted; procedures for the issuance, modification, suspension or revocation of the reclamation permit; a requirement for public notice and an opportunity for a public informational hearing before issuance or modification of a reclamation permit for a nonmetallic mine that is not in operation before the date specified under
par. (dm); notwithstanding
ss. 68.001,
68.03 (8) and
(9),
68.06 and
68.10 (1) (b), a right for any person who meets the requirements of
s. 227.42 (1) to a contested case hearing under
s. 68.11 on the issuance, modification or denial of a reclamation permit and for a person holding a reclamation permit to a contested case hearing under
s. 68.11 to contest an order issued under
s. 295.19 (1); a requirement for cooperative issuance of a single reclamation permit if more than one county or municipality has jurisdiction over the nonmetallic mining site; and a requirement that action approving, denying or conditionally approving a reclamation permit be taken within 90 days after receipt of the reclamation plan or, if a public informational hearing is held, within 60 days after the close of the public hearing.
295.12(3)(de)
(de) Except as provided in
par. (dm), a prohibition on issuance of a reclamation permit before approval of the nonmetallic mining reclamation plan under
par. (c) by the county, city, village or town operating the program.
295.12(3)(dm)
(dm) A requirement that, when an operator submits an application for a reclamation permit for a nonmetallic mine that is operating before a date specified by the department in the rule, the county, city, village or town issue the permit on the condition that the operator submit a nonmetallic mining reclamation plan under
par. (c) that complies with the rules under
par. (c) by a deadline established by the county, city, village or town. The deadline shall be from 1 to 3 years after the date of application.
