(1)    Application required. A person who seeks to obtain or modify an individual permit under this subchapter or to enter into a contract under s. 30.20 shall submit an application to the department. The application may contain a request for a public hearing on the application.

   (2)   Procedure for completing applications.

      (b)    Additional information requested. If the department determines that the application is incomplete, the department shall notify the applicant in writing and may make only one request for additional information during the 30-day period specified in par. (a). Within 10 days after receiving all of the requested information from the applicant, the department shall notify the applicant in writing as to whether the application is complete. The date on which the 2nd notice under this paragraph is sent shall be set as the date of closure for purposes of sub. (3) (a). The department may request additional information from the applicant to supplement the application, but the department may not request items of information that are outside the scope of the original request unless the applicant and the department both agree. A request for any such additional information may not affect the date of closure.

      (c)    Specificity of notice; limits on information. Any notice stating that an application has been determined to be incomplete or any other request for information that is sent under par. (b) shall state the reason for the determination or request and the specific items of information that are still needed.

      (d)    Failure to meet time limits. If the department fails to meet the 30-day time limit under par. (a) or 10-day time limit under par. (b), the application shall be considered to have a date of closure that is the last day of that 30-day or 10-day time period for purposes of sub. (3) (a).

   (3)   Notice of complete application; request for public hearing; decision.

      (b)    If the notice of pending application does not contain a notice of public hearing, any person may request a public hearing in writing or the department may decide to hold a public hearing with or without a request being submitted if the department determines that there is a significant public interest in holding a hearing.

      (c)    A request for a public hearing under par. (b) must be submitted to the department or the department’s decision to hold a public hearing must occur within 20 days after the department provides the notice of pending application. The department shall provide notice of public hearing within 15 days after the request for public hearing is submitted or the department makes its decision to hold a public hearing.

      (d)    The department shall hold a public hearing within 30 days after the notice of hearing has been provided under par. (a) or (c).

      (e)    Within 20 days after the period for public comment under sub. (4) (b) has ended or, if no public hearing is held, within 30 days of the 30-day comment period under sub. (4) (a), the department shall render a decision issuing, denying, or modifying the permit or approving or disapproving the contract that is the subject of the application submitted under sub. (1). If the application is to modify a permit to allow an activity necessary to maintain or repair a utility facility that is owned or operated by a public utility, as defined in s. 196.01 (5), or a cooperative association organized under ch. 185 for the purpose of producing or furnishing heat, light, water, or power to its members only, the department may not modify the permit to require the relocation of the facility.

      (eg)   

         1.    The department and the applicant may agree to extend the 20-day or 30-day time period specified in par. (e) one time for a specific number of additional days. The extension may not exceed 30 days.

         2.    The department may also extend the 20-day or 30-day time period specified in par. (e) if adverse weather conditions prevent the department from conducting an accurate on-site inspection during the 20-day or 30-day time period. The department shall give notice to the applicant of this extension. The department shall complete the inspection as soon as weather conditions permit, but the extension may not exceed 30 days under any circumstances.

      (er)    If the decision rendered by the department under par. (e) is a denial or disapproval, the department shall include in the decision the specific grounds and reasons as to how the applicable provisions of this subchapter were not met. If the denial or disapproval is based on an incomplete application, the department shall inform the applicant of the areas of the application that were incomplete.

      (f)    If the department fails to comply with the time periods under par. (e), a decision issuing the permit, modifying the permit, or approving the contract shall be considered to be rendered. The permit that is issued or is modified, or the contract that is approved, shall authorize the activity as proposed by the applicant, but the department may impose terms and conditions on the permit or contract that are consistent with the applicant’s basic proposal.

   (3m)   Notice to downstream communities. When the department receives an application for 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, the department shall provide notice of the application to 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.

   (4)   Public comment.

      (a)    The department shall provide a period for public comment after the department has provided a notice of pending application under sub. (3) (a), during which time any person may submit written comments with respect to the application for the permit or contract. The department shall retain all of the written comments submitted during this period and shall consider all of the comments in the formulation of the final decision on the application. The period for public comment shall end on the 30th day following the date on which the department completes providing the notice of pending application, except as provided in par. (b).

      (b)    If a public hearing is held, the period for public comment shall end on the 10th day following the date on which the public hearing is completed.

      (d)    The department shall promulgate rules to establish procedures for the conduct of public hearings held under this subsection. Notwithstanding s. 227.42, a public hearing held under this subsection shall be an informational hearing and may not be treated as, nor converted to, a contested case under s. 227.01 (3).

   (5)   Notice requirements.

      (a)    The department shall, by rule, establish procedures for providing notices of pending applications and notices of public hearings to be provided under sub. (3), and notices of administrative hearings to be provided under s. 30.209 (1m). The procedures shall require all of the following:

         1.    That the notice be published as a class 1 notice under ch. 985.

         2.    That the notice be mailed to any person or group upon request.

         3.    That the notice be published on the department’s Internet website.

      (b)    The department shall, by rule, prescribe the form and content of notices of pending applications and notices of public hearings to be provided under sub. (3), and notices of administrative hearings to be provided under s. 30.209 (1m). Each notice shall include all of the following information:

         1.    The name and address of each applicant or permit holder.

         2.    A brief description of each applicant’s activity or project that requires the permit.

         3.    The name of the waterway in or for which the activity or project is planned.

         3m.    For a notice of public hearing under sub. (3), the time, date, and location of the hearing.

         3r.    For a notice of pending application and a notice of public hearing under sub. (3), a brief, precise, easily understandable, plain language description of the subject matter of the pending application and information indicating where the pending application may be viewed on the department’s Internet website.

         4.    For a notice of pending application and a notice of public hearing under sub. (3), a statement of the tentative determination to issue, modify, or deny a permit, or to approve or disapprove a contract, for the activity or project described in the application.

         5.    For a notice of pending application and a notice of public hearing under sub. (3), a brief description of the procedures for the formulation of final determinations, including a description of the comment period required under sub. (4).

      (bm)    For the purpose of determining the date on which notice is provided under this subsection, the date of the notice shall be the date on which the department first publishes the notice on its Internet website.

      (c)   

         1m.    The department may delegate the department’s requirement to provide notice under sub. (3) in the manner specified under par. (a) 1. or 2. or to provide notice under s. 30.209 (1m) by doing any of the following:

            a.    Requiring that the applicant for the permit or contract provide by publication, mailing, or other distribution one or more of the notices.

            b.    Requiring that the applicant for the permit or contract pay for the publication, mailing, or any other distribution costs of providing one or more of the notices.

         2m.    If, under subd. 1m., the department delegates to an applicant the requirement to provide notice under sub. (3) by publishing a class 1 notice under ch. 985, the applicant may in lieu of publishing the class 1 notice request that the department publish the class 1 notice. The department shall charge the applicant a fee for publishing the class 1 notice in an amount that equals the average cost to the department for publishing under this chapter class 1 notices under ch. 985.