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.
