Section 812.09. Department approvals.

 

(1)   Review period. Unless another time period is specified by law, the department shall complete its review and make a determination on all applications for licenses or approvals within 65 business days after receipt of a complete application. Incomplete applications will be returned. The start of the 65 day review period will not begin until a complete application is received by the department. All requests for approval shall be in writing, except that for situations that require immediate response, an approval may be requested verbally and an advanced verbal approval may be granted by the department and followed up with a written confirmation.

(2)   Approval application and submission. The property owner or lessee shall obtain a written approval from the department. When an application is submitted by someone other than the owner of the subject property, the owner or authorized agent shall sign the application. Application information, outlines or forms may be obtained from the department. Applications shall provide information regarding the owner's and operator's name, address and firm name, if applicable, and any other information requested by the department. The department may request, but is not limited to descriptions or sketches of well construction, geology, pump installation, plumbing, possible contamination sources, property boundary, water use and, water sample results, depending on the type of application.

(3)   Plans and specification preparation. Plans and specifications for a school water system shall be submitted by a registered professional engineer or well driller for wells, and by a registered professional engineer or pump installer for pumps, discharge piping, storage tanks and controls. Plans and specifications for a wastewater treatment plant water system shall be submitted by a registered professional engineer, by a well driller for the well or a pump installer for the pump. If construction or installation of a water system described in this subsection has not commenced within 2 years of approval date, the approval is void.

(4)   Approvals required. Prior department approval is required for the activities described in this subsection. When deemed necessary and appropriate for the protection of public safet y , safe drinking water and the groundwater resource, the department may specify more stringent well and heat exchange drillhole locations, well and heat exchange drillhole construction or pump installation specifications for existing and proposed high capacit y , school or wastewater treatment plant water systems requiring approval by this subsection or water systems approved by variance. Approval by the department does not relieve any person of any liability which may result from injury or damage suffered by any other person. In addition, failure to comply with any condition of an approval or the construction, reconstruction or operation of any well or water system in violation of any statute, rule or department order shall void the approval. Approval is required for:

(a) The construction, reconstruction, or operation of a high capacity well or well system, including dewatering wells. An application for a high capacity well or well system approval shall include, for every well, the location, construction or reconstruction features, pump installation features, the proposed rate of operation and the distance to nearby public utility wells, as defined in s. 196.01 , Stats.

1. The department may deny approval, grant a limited approval or modify an approval under which the location, depth, pumping capacity or rate of flow and ultimate use is restricted so that the supply of water for any public utility, as defined by s. 196.01 , Stats., will not be impaired. Reduced availability of groundwater to a public utility well may be indicated when calculations using estimated values for aquifer characteristics result in 10 or more feet of water level drawdown in the public utility well based on 30 days of continuous pumping from the proposed high capacity well or well system. The department may also deny approval or condition an approval if the proposed or actual well location, well construction or pump installation features or the use of the well does not meet, at the time of application, the specifications of this chapter for new well construction and pump installation or water use.

2. When an owner or operator relinquishes control of the operation of a high capacity well or well system, a new approval shall be obtained by the new operator, owner or lessee before operation of the high capacity well or well system is continued.

3. The owner or operator of a high capacity well or well system shall submit pumpage and well water level reports to the department on department forms at the time periods indicated by the department.

4. Emergency approval for a high capacity well or well system may be granted when fire hazard, imminent crop damage or other similar emergency requires if the department determines that the high capacity well or well system proposed will not adversely affect or reduce the availability of water to a public utility, as defined in s. 196.01 , Stats.

5. High capacity test drillholes or up to 2 geothermal heat exchange drillholes may be constructed without approval to test for aquifer yield to determine if a high capacity well, heat exchange drillhole, or well system is feasible. The well casing pipe for such test drillholes shall not exceed 6-inch diameter unless the well driller notifies the department. High capacity test drillholes may be test pumped at a rate of 70 gallons per minute or more if the test does not last more than a total of 72 hours. After testing, the drillhole shall be filled and sealed, according to the requirements of s. NR 812.26 or shall be converted, following approval, to a high capacity well, heat exchange drillhole, or well system which meets the requirements of this chapter or ch. NR 811 and of any approved plans and specifications within 90 days.

(b) The construction, reconstruction or operation of a school or wastewater treatment plant well or water system.

(c) Installation of water treatment devices or chemical addition to a well or water system as specified in s. NR 812.37 .

(d) A variance from any provision of this chapter.

(e) The construction of a granite or other crystalline bedrock well with less than 40 feet of well casing pipe.

(f) The construction or reconstruction of a well located in designated special well casing pipe depth areas.

(g) The construction of a well open to both an unconsolidated formation and a bedrock formation.

(h) The use of the Halliburton grouting methods or the grout displacement grouting method as described in s. NR 812.20 (3) (e) , (f) and (g) for wells when the upper enlarged drillhole is more than 200 feet deep or when drilling mud or bentonite slurry has not been circulated up to the ground surface in the annular space prior to grouting.

(i) The development of a spring for use as a potable water supply as provided in s. NR 812.25 .

(j) The construction or reconstruction of a pit as provided in s. NR 812.36 or in s. NR 812.42 (2) .

(k) The installation of a hung well casing pipe or a hung liner.

(L) The use of well drilling aids and additives, grout, sealing or well filling and sealing materials and additives and well rehabilitation materials.

(m) The construction or reconstruction of a dug well as provided in s. NR 812.24 .

(n) Well casing pipe testing procedures.

(o) The use of pitless adapters, pitless units, above ground discharge units, vermin-proof caps and seals and any treatment equipment to be installed directly in a well. The department may prohibit the use of any water supply equipment if the department finds there is substantial evidence that the equipment poses a significant hazard to safe drinking water or the groundwater. The department shall state its findings and conclusions in writing to the manufacturer, the licensed well drillers or pump installers, or both, and the industry representatives including the Wisconsin Water Well Association and the Wisconsin Pump and Well Suppliers Association. The effective date of the prohibition will have a 6 month delay for any well casing pipe product or a 12 month delay for other water supply equipment.

(p) The installation of a pressure tank with a volume greater than 1,000 gallons.

(q) The installation of a cathodic protection drillhole.

(r) The continued operation of a well or drillhole that meets the criteria in s. NR 812.26 (2) that requires permanent filling and sealing of the well or drillhole.

(s) The development of surface water for use as a potable water supply.

(t) Noncontinuous-slot well screens as specified in s. NR 812.13 (1) (e) .

(v) The use of a nonpressure storage vessel other than a surge tank.

(w) The construction or reconstruction of a well on a property that is listed on the department's geographic information system registry of closed remediation sites.

(x) The construction of 10 or more heat exchange drillholes, or where the sum of the depths of all heat exchange drillholes is greater than 4000 feet, for a single drilling site.

(y) Any heat exchange drillhole greater than 400 feet in depth.

(z) Any heat exchange drillhole within 400 feet of a municipal water supply well.

(5)   Approval verification. A well or heat exchange driller, well constructor, pump installer or contractor shall obtain a copy of the approval for any activity identified in sub. (4) prior to the initiation of any work on a well, heat exchange drillhole, pump installation or water system. When necessary and appropriate the department may grant a verbal approval to a well or heat exchange driller, pump installer or contractor to initiate an activity before obtaining a written copy of the approval provided the conditions of the approval are complied with.

(6)   Permit verification. A well driller, well constructor, pump installer or contractor shall obtain required permits from counties authorized to administer this chapter under ch. NR 845 .

History: Cr. Register, January, 1991, No. 421 , eff. 2-1-91; am. (4) (intro.), (a) 1., (4) (l), (5) and (6); cr. (4) (u) and (v), Register, September, 1994, No. 465 , eff. 10-1-94; corrections made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, September, 1994, No. 465 ; r. (4) (u), Register, September, 1996, No. 489 , eff. 10-1-96; CR 00-111 : cr. (4) (w), Register October 2001 No. 550 , eff. 11-1-01; correction to (6) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., July 2002 No. 559; CR 13-096 : am. (4) (intro.), (a) 5., (q), cr. (4) (x), (y), (z), am. (5), CR 13-099 : am. (4) (a) 5., (L), (r) Register September 2014 No. 705 , eff. 10-1-14; 2015 Wis. Act 197 s. 44 Register April 2016 No. 724 .

Note

State v. Michels Pipeline Construction, Inc. , 63 Wis.2d 278 , 217 N.W.2d 339 (1974) established that the doctrine of reasonable use applies to property rights in groundwater. Persons adversely affected by the operation of a high capacity well or well system may take action against the operator or owner of the high capacity well or well system. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 A list of these special well casing pipe depth areas is available from the department. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Conditions that warrant variation from the original proposed project design, require consultation with the department and the heat exchange driller will be required to obtain a variance, as specified in s. NR 812.09 (4) (d) . Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 The GIS Registry of Closed Remediation Sites has been renamed the GIS Registry. It is now a layer on the map view, RR Sites Map. Information about a specific site can be found in the tracking system, BRRTS on the Web. Both these applications can be found at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Brownfields/clean.html . Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1