DEQ briefs committee on industrial siting thresholds, impact assistance and abandoned‑mine reclamation

The Department of Environmental Quality told the committee the Industrial Siting Division is resourced to administer contested‑case permits for very large projects and to calculate impact assistance to local governments. Jenny Stabin, administrator of industrial siting, summarized jurisdictional thresholds (construction cost roughly $283 million or more, 20+ wind turbines, 30 MW solar or 100 acres disturbed) and described the tiered impact assistance method the council uses to calculate awards for local governments.

"I have a very small division, but we are very mighty," Jenny Stabin said, describing the division's role as the administrative arm of the Industrial Siting Council and its process for hearing local government requests and determining impact assistance.

Stabin and deputy director Alan Edwards said DEQ is moving to online permitting tools and can provide county‑level maps showing which projects are proposed, permitted, and built. Committee members pressed for clarity on timelines for impact assistance payments (payments begin when construction starts) and how unanticipated road‑use impacts can be addressed through county agreements or permit conditions.

On abandoned mine lands, Don Newton reviewed Title IV funding history, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocations to Wyoming (about $9.6 million per year to Wyoming under the national formula), and the AML program's focus on subsidence mitigation, mine‑fire mitigation and large non‑coal projects (uranium district reclamation). Newton highlighted a multi‑phase reclamation project in the Gas Hills district and described a seed‑research and planting partnership that includes the Wyoming Department of Corrections and the Institute for Applied Ecology.

Committee action: members voted to ask staff to draft statutory language to clarify tribal notification practices for industrial siting applications so tribal governments are routinely notified and can participate as parties when appropriate. DEQ committed to provide county‑level project maps and the fillable reporting template that local governments will use to document impact assistance expenditures.