(a)If an applicant applies for an industrial siting
permit, pursuant to W.S. 35-12-106, or for a waiver of the
application provisions, pursuant to W.S. 35-12-107, for a
facility which requires the use of eight hundred (800) or more
acre feet of the waters of this state annually, the applicant
shall prepare and submit to the state engineer a water supply
and water yield analysis with a request for a preliminary and
final opinion as to the quantity of water available for the
proposed facility.
(b)Within ninety (90) days after the applicant has
submitted an acceptable water supply and yield analysis, the
state engineer, at the applicant's expense, shall complete a
comprehensive review of the water supply and water yield
analysis submitted.
(c)Within five (5) days after completion of the re
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(a) If an applicant applies for an industrial siting
permit, pursuant to W.S. 35-12-106, or for a waiver of the
application provisions, pursuant to W.S. 35-12-107, for a
facility which requires the use of eight hundred (800) or more
acre feet of the waters of this state annually, the applicant
shall prepare and submit to the state engineer a water supply
and water yield analysis with a request for a preliminary and
final opinion as to the quantity of water available for the
proposed facility.
(b) Within ninety (90) days after the applicant has
submitted an acceptable water supply and yield analysis, the
state engineer, at the applicant's expense, shall complete a
comprehensive review of the water supply and water yield
analysis submitted.
(c) Within five (5) days after completion of the review,
the state engineer shall render a preliminary opinion as to the
quantity of water available for the proposed facility. The
preliminary opinion, or a reasonable summary, shall be published
for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county in which the proposed facility is to
be located. The expense of the publication shall be borne by the
applicant.
(d) The state engineer may hold a public hearing before
rendering a final opinion on the water supply and water yield
analysis.
(e) In rendering a final opinion as to the quantity of
water available for the proposed facility, the state engineer
shall consider any comments which are submitted in writing
within twenty (20) days of the last date of publication.
(f) Within thirty (30) days after the last date of
publication, the state engineer shall render a final opinion.
The final opinion shall:
(i) Be submitted to the industrial siting council and
the public service commission;
(ii) Be binding on the industrial siting council for
the purposes of issuing an industrial siting permit; and
(iii) Be reviewed by the public service commission
prior to its issuance of a certificate of public convenience and
necessity.
(g) The state engineer's preliminary and final opinion
shall not create a presumption concerning injury or noninjury to
water rights, nor shall those opinions be used as evidence in
any administrative proceeding or in any judicial proceeding
concerning water right determinations or administration.