(1)    Applicability. This section shall govern all hearings on applications for prospecting or mining permits.

   (1m)   Scope.

      (a)    The hearing on the prospecting or mining permit shall cover the application and any statements prepared under s. 1.11 and, to the fullest extent possible, all other applications for approvals, licenses and permits issued by the department. The department shall inform the applicant as to the timely application date for all approvals, licenses and permits issued by the department, so as to facilitate the consideration of all other matters at the hearing on the prospecting or mining permits.

      (b)    Except as provided in this section, for all department issued approvals, licenses, and permits relating to prospecting or mining, including solid waste feasibility report approvals and permits related to air and water, to be issued after April 30, 1980, the notice, hearing, and comment process and the time for issuance of decisions shall be controlled by this section and ss. 293.45 and 293.49. The substantive requirements for the issuance of any approval, permit, or license incidental to prospecting or mining are not affected by the fact that a hearing on the approval, permit, or license is conducted as part of a hearing under this section.

   (2m)   Public information and notice.

      (a)    The department shall make available for review in the city, village, or town in which the proposed prospecting or mining site is located, information concerning the proposed prospecting or mining site, including all of the following:

         1.    The application for the prospecting or mining permit, including the mining plan, reclamation plan, and mining waste site feasibility study and plan of operation.

         2.    All of the following relating to an approval other than the prospecting or mining permit:

            a.    The application.

            b.    A draft approval.

            c.    Information or summaries relating to the draft approval.

         3.    The draft environmental impact statement, the environmental impact report, and any additional supporting information used in the department’s evaluation of the proposed prospecting or mining.

         4.    The draft prospecting or mining permit.

         5.    The department’s analyses and preliminary determinations relating to any approval.

      (b)    Within 30 days after the expiration of the applicable time period under s. 293.40 (3), the department shall distribute a notice that describes the availability of the information under par. (a); the opportunity for written public comment, including an invitation for the submission of written comments by any person within 45 days after the date of the publication of the notice; and the date, time, and location of the public informational hearing and that includes any additional information that a law concerning any approval requires to be provided. The department shall publish the notice as a class 1 notice under ch. 985 and shall publish notice on the department’s Internet site. The date on which the department first publishes the notice on its Internet site shall be considered the date of the publication of the notice required to be published under this paragraph. The department shall also send the notice to all of the following:

         1.    The clerk of any city, village, town, or county with zoning jurisdiction over the proposed prospecting or mining site.

         2.    The clerk of any city, village, town, or county within whose boundaries any portion of the proposed prospecting or mining site is located.

         3.    The clerk of any city, village, or town, contiguous to any city, village, or town within whose boundaries any portion of the proposed prospecting or mining site is located.

         4.    The main public library of each city, village, town, or county with zoning jurisdiction over the proposed mining site or within whose boundaries any portion of the proposed prospecting or mining site is located.

         5.    Any regional planning commission for the area within which the proposed prospecting or mining site lies.

         6.    Any state agency that the department knows is required to grant a permit or other authorization necessary for the construction or operation of the proposed prospecting or mining project.

         7.    The federal environmental protection agency, U.S. army corps of engineers, and states potentially affected by the proposed discharge if a water discharge permit under ch. 283 or a wetland permit that constitutes a water quality certification as required by 33 U.S. Code § 1341 (a) is to be considered at the public informational hearing.

         8.    The federal environmental protection agency and appropriate agencies in other states that may be affected if an air pollution control permit under ch. 285 is to be considered at the public informational hearing.

         9.    If a water withdrawal permit under s. 293.65 for a withdrawal of surface water is to be considered at the public informational hearing, the persons specified in s. 30.18 (4) (a).

         10.    If an individual permit under s. 30.12 for a structure through which water transferred from the Great Lakes basin would be returned to the source watershed through a stream tributary to one of the Great Lakes is to be considered at the public informational hearing, the governing body of each city, village, and town through which the stream flows or that is adjacent to the stream downstream from the point at which the water would enter the stream.

         11.    Any person upon request. The department’s notice under this subdivision may be given through an electronic notification system established by the department.

         12.    The applicant.

         13.    Any other person to whom the department is required to give notice of any proposed determination, application, or hearing concerning an approval under the laws relating to the issuance of any approval or under s. 1.11.

      (c)    The department shall coordinate the public comment period for the prospecting or mining permit with the public comment period for any other approval for the prospecting or mining operation, except that if an application for an approval is filed too late to allow public comment within the public comment period for the prospecting or mining permit, the department shall issue separate notice, as described in par. (b), for the approval after the application is filed.

   (3m)   Informational hearing. The department shall hold a public informational hearing before it approves or denies an application for a prospecting or mining permit and not less than 30 days after the date of the publication of the notice under sub. (2m) (b). The department shall hold the public informational hearing in the county where the majority of the proposed prospecting or mining site is located. The department shall hold a single public informational hearing covering the draft prospecting or mining permit, all other draft approvals, and the draft environmental impact statement, except that if an application for an approval is filed too late to allow the application to be considered at the public informational hearing for the prospecting or mining permit, the department shall hold a separate public informational hearing on the draft approval in the county where the majority of the proposed prospecting or mining site is located not less than 30 days after the date of the publication of a separate notice under sub. (2m) (b) for the approval. The department shall publish the separate notice for the approval on its Internet site not more than 10 days after the application is considered to be complete, which is the 30th day after the department receives the application unless, before that day, the department requests additional information, in which case the application is considered to be complete when the applicant provides the information. A public informational hearing under this subsection is not a contested case hearing under ch. 227.

   (4m)   Summary. After considering the comments received under subs. (2m) and (3m) and before acting on the application for the mining permit, the department shall prepare a summary of the comments and the department’s response to the comments.