(1) After receipt
of an application, the department staff shall approve a Public Notice to seek
public participation and comment on the application. The approved Public Notice
shall be distributed to interested persons and shall be circulated within
thirty (30) days of receipt of a completed application as follows:
(a) In order to inform interested and
potentially interested persons of the proposed activity, the Public Notice will
include the following information:
1. Name,
address, and telephone number of the applicant;
2. Name and address of TDEC contact
person;
3. A brief description of
the proposed withdrawal and transfer, including the volumes;
4. The names of the specific waters affected
by the proposed activity as well as the basin of origin and the receiving
basin;
5. The purpose of the
proposed transfer;
6. The procedure
to submit comments on the proposed activity and the close of the comment period
which shall not be sooner than thirty (30) days from receipt of the
application;
7. The procedure for
requesting a public hearing; and
8.
A brief description of the procedure for the commissioner to make a final
determination to issue a permit.
(b) TDEC will distribute the approved Public
Notice to interested persons who have requested TDEC notify them of inter-basin
transfer permit applications and by posting it on the TDEC website. TDEC will
also distribute the Notice to the individuals on the mailing list maintained by
the Permit Section, Division of Water Resources and to the individuals on the
mailing list maintained by the Natural Resources Section, Division of Water
Resources.
(c) The Applicant shall
distribute the approved Public Notice as follows:
1. Publish a notice of the permit application
once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in
each potentially affected community in the river basin of origin;
2. Provide notice of the application to a
responsible official with each potentially affected community and water user
within the proposed basin of origin by certified mail, return receipt
requested; and
3. Post a minimum of
three public notices in public buildings, e.g., courthouses, libraries, city
halls, in each potentially affected community in the river basin of
origin.
(2)
During the comment period, any person who may be adversely affected by a water
transfer may submit a statement to the Commissioner briefly outlining why the
person believes he may be adversely affected and making any comments in regard
to permit issuance or denial or permit conditions. Upon receipt of such a
statement, the Commissioner will schedule a public hearing on the permit
application. Notice shall be given of the public hearing at least thirty (30)
days prior to the hearing.
