Minnesota Administrative Rules
Agency 158 - Natural Resources Department
Chapter 6125 - MINERAL RESOURCES
PERMITS AND LEASES FOR SAND AND GRAVEL
Part 6125.6100 - APPLICATION PROCESS

Subpart 1. Fee and area covered by permits.

The fee for each prospecting permit shall be $25. No permit shall be issued for a period to exceed one year, nor cover an area larger than 40 acres of contiguous underwater area, except where operating conditions shall be found by the director of the Division of Waters, Soils, and Minerals to require an increase in acreage, in which event 25 percent in additional acreage may be granted. Each permit shall authorize prospecting only within the area designated therein.

Subp. 2. Plats.

All applications for prospecting permits shall be accompanied by plats in quadruplicate, showing the definite location of the area applied for, together with a metes and bounds description thereof, and shall be signed and acknowledged by all the parties interested therein.

Subp. 3. Statements.

All applications shall be accompanied by quadruplicate signed statements reciting that the mining and removal of the materials for which it is proposed to prospect will not in their opinion violate the rules of or the statutes relating to the administration of the functions and duties of the following state agencies: Department of Natural Resources, Department of Health, Board of Animal Health. Such statements shall be signed by the head or the acting head of these agencies.

Subp. 4. Method of mineral recovery.

Applications for permits and leases shall describe the means and methods of operation proposed to be used for the removal or recovery of the material covered by such permits and leases, and such proposed means and methods of operation shall be incorporated in and become a part of the terms and conditions of the permits and leases.

Subp. 5. Hearing on the application.

No permit or lease shall be granted hereunder until after a public hearing on the application therefor. Notice of such hearing shall be given and such hearing shall be conducted as provided by Minnesota Statutes 1949, section 105.44. Notice of such hearing shall also be mailed by the applicant at least two weeks before the hearing to all persons listed on the last tax assessment records in the office of the county treasurer as owners of land riparian to the waters affected, or any interest therein, within such area as the commissioner may designate by order, which area shall be described in the notice. Except as otherwise hereinafter provided, prior to the issuance of any permit, the applicant shall obtain and file with the commissioner of natural resources an appropriate instrument, approved by the attorney general, from each owner of land, or any interest therein, within the area designated by the commissioner as hereinbefore provided, other than land owned or controlled by the applicant for the purposes of such operations, by which instrument the owner shall waive any and all claims for damages which may result from such operations, and shall release the applicant and the state of Minnesota and all officers, agents, and employees of the state from any and all such claims.

Subp. 6. Bonds.

In lieu of obtaining and filing such waiver and release of claims for damages, the commissioner may, in the commissioner's discretion, permit the applicant to furnish a bond to the state of Minnesota in such amount as the commissioner may determine, to secure the state, its officers, agents, and employees, and all property owners affected within the area designated by the commissioner as hereinbefore provided, against any damages or loss which may result from such operations, and with such other terms and conditions as the commissioner may prescribe; provided that the furnishing of such bond in lieu of a waiver or release shall not be permitted in any case where the commissioner finds upon the evidence produced at the hearing that there is reason to believe that the property affected will be substantially damaged by the proposed operations, unless the owner of such property shall agree in writing to the furnishing of a bond as hereinbefore provided.

Such bond shall be subject to approval by the commissioner and as to form and execution by the attorney general, and shall be filed with the commissioner. The commissioner may require an additional bond at any time under the foregoing provisions if the commissioner deems it necessary for protection of the interests of the state or any property owner affected, upon 30 days' written notice to the permittee or lessee. Any person entitled to the protection of any bond furnished hereunder may bring action thereon in like manner and under like conditions and with like effect as provided by law in the case of a bond furnished by a contractor with the state; provided, that neither the state nor the commissioner of natural resources nor any other officer, agent, or employee of the state shall incur or be subject to any liability by reason of failure to require a bond in any case as herein provided.