Minnesota Administrative Rules

7854.0900 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

Subpart 1.

Public notice.

Upon preparation of a draft site permit, the PUC shall provide public notice of the draft site permit. The public notice must include the following:

A.

the name and address of the applicant for the site permit;

B.

a concise description of the proposed LWECS project;

C.

the location where a copy of the site permit application may be reviewed and how a copy of the application may be obtained;

D.

a statement of the availability of the draft site permit;

E.

the name of the public advisor and how the public advisor may be contacted to obtain more information;

F.

the time and place of a public information meeting;

G.

a statement that during the comment period any person may submit comments to the commission on the draft site permit, a statement of the dates on which the comment period commences and terminates, and a statement that any person may request a contested case hearing on the matter; and

H.

a brief description of the anticipated procedures for reaching a final decision on the permit application.

Subp. 2.

Distribution of public notice.

The PUC shall publish the notice in a newspaper in each county in which the proposed LWECS is to be located. The PUC shall also mail the public notice to those persons known to the PUC to be interested in the proposed LWECS project, including governmental officials in each county in which the LWECS is proposed to be located. The PUC shall also publish notice in the EQB Monitor.

Subp. 3.

Public comments on draft site permit.

The PUC shall afford the public a minimum of 30 days after publication of the draft site permit notice in the EQB Monitor to submit written comments to the PUC. The commission may extend the public comment period if necessary to afford the public adequate time to review the application and other pertinent information in order to formulate complete comments on the draft site permit and the project.

Subp. 4.

Public information meeting.

The PUC shall hold at least one public information meeting in a convenient location in the vicinity of the proposed LWECS project. The PUC shall give the public at least ten days' notice of the public information meeting. The public information meeting must be held more than ten days prior to the end of the public comment period on the draft site permit. The commission shall extend the comment period if necessary to meet this requirement.

Subp. 5.

Contested case hearing.

A.

Any person may request in writing that a contested case hearing be held on an application for a site permit for a proposed LWECS project. The contested case hearing request must be filed within the time period established for submitting comments on the draft site permit. The person requesting the public hearing shall include, as part of the request, the issues to be addressed in the hearing and the reasons a hearing is required to resolve those issues.

B.

The commission shall order a contested case hearing if the commission finds that the person requesting the contested case hearing has raised a material issue of fact and that holding a hearing would aid the PUC in making a final determination on the permit application.

C.

The hearing must be conducted according to the rules of the Office of Administrative Hearings.

D.

For a contested case hearing, the commission shall identify the issues to be resolved and limit the scope and conduct of the hearing according to applicable law, due process, and fundamental fairness. Alternatively, the commission may request the administrative law judge to identify the issues and determine the appropriate scope and conduct of the hearing according to applicable law, due process, and fundamental fairness.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 116C.695; 216F.05

History:

26 SR 1394; L 2005 c 97 art 3 s 19

Published Electronically:

September 18, 2009