Section 89-02-01-09.1 - Board procedure for processing applications to drain1. The board must use the following procedure to process a drainage permit application of statewide or interdistrict significance:a. Upon receipt of an application to drain, the board must set the date, time, and place for a meeting at which it will receive testimony pertinent to the application. At the applicant's expense, the board must give notice by mail at least twenty days before the date set for the meeting to:(2) All record title owners and holders of a contract for deed whose property the proposed drain would cross.(3) All downstream riparian landowners who the board determines have the potential to be adversely impacted.(4) Any board whose district would be substantially affected.(5) The state game and fish department.(6) The department of environmental quality.(7) The department of transportation, county commissioners, or board of township supervisors if the proposed drain will affect or cross the right of way of any public highway, street, or road within their jurisdictions.(9) The natural resources conservation service.(10) Any person who has made a written request for notification of the project and has advanced the cost of providing that notification.b. Notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the proposed drainage once a week for two consecutive weeks. Final notice must be published between five and fifteen days before the date set for the meeting.c. The notice must give the essential facts of the proposed drain, including:(1) Name and address of applicant;(2) Legal description of the area to be drained;(4) Watercourse into which the water will be drained;(5) Legal description of the drain's confluence with the watercourse into which the water will be drained;(6) The time, date, and place of the board's consideration of the meeting; and(7) The location and date of availability of information regarding the project.d. At least fourteen days before the meeting, the applicant must submit to the board all documentary information the applicant intends to present at the meeting. The board must immediately place the information in the board's office if the office is open for public access at least twenty hours each week. If the board's office is not open to the public at least twenty hours each week, the information must be immediately placed with the county auditor of the county in which the majority of the watershed of the drain will be built. The information must be available for public review. The board must notify the applicant of this requirement upon its receipt of an application to drain. If the information is placed in the auditor's office, the auditor must return the information to the board one working day before the meeting.e. The board must allow submission of all relevant oral or written evidence.f. In evaluating applications, the board must consider the factors in section 89-02-01-09.2.g. The board must stenographically or electronically record the meeting at which it receives information concerning the application. If the board approves the permit application, the record and all documentary information the board received must be transferred to the department. The board must provide a meeting transcript at the request of the department. The cost of providing a transcript must be borne by the applicant.h. At the meeting's conclusion, the board must announce that:(1) The board's permit denial constitutes final denial. Appeals must be taken to the district court within thirty days.(2) A board-approved application will be forwarded to the department.(3) Those who wish to be notified of the board's decision must provide their names and addresses in writing to the board at the end of the meeting.(4) The board must send notice and a copy of the board's determination and rationale to all parties of record, anyone who has requested in writing to be notified, and the department.i. If the board denies the application, it must return the application to the applicant, along with a copy of the board's determination and rationale. A copy of the board's determination and rationale must also be sent to all parties of record, anyone who has requested in writing to be notified, and the department.j. If the board approves the application, the approval must be noted on the application and a copy of the determination and rationale sent to the applicant. The board must send notice and a copy of the board's determination and rationale to all parties of record and anyone who has requested in writing to be notified. The application, a copy of the determination and rationale, and all information reviewed by the board in considering the application must be forwarded to the department for review within twenty days of the determination. The board's decision approving the application must contain a determination of the location and surface acre size of ponds, sloughs, and lakes to be drained by the proposed drain.k. The board's notice to an applicant must state that the application approval is not a permit to drain until the director approves the application.2. The board must use the procedure in this subsection to process a drainage permit application that is not of statewide or interdistrict significance:a. The board must review the permit application and any supporting documentation and determine whether public and private interests would be better served by a specific public meeting to consider the project.b. If a specific public meeting is necessary, the board must process the permit application under procedures established by the board.c. If a specific public meeting is unnecessary, the board must consider the project under the criteria in section 89-02-01-09.2 and must deny or grant the application and any modifications or conditions based upon those criteria. Written notice of the board's decision must be provided to all parties of record, anyone who has requested in writing to be notified, and the department.N.D. Admin Code 89-02-01-09.1
Effective February 1, 1997.Amended by Administrative Rules Supplement 2015-355, January 2015, effective 1/1/2015.Amended by Administrative Rules Supplement 2022-387, January 2023, effective 1/1/2023.General Authority: NDCC 61-03-13
Law Implemented: NDCC 61-32-03