(A) The department must hold a public hearing concerning new surface water withdrawal permit applications for interbasin transfers. The hearing must be held at an appropriate time and in an appropriate location near the withdrawal point of the interbasin transfer. The hearing may not be held until after at least thirty days' notice is given to the public in the manner provided in this section. The notice must:
(1) include a nontechnical description of the applicant's request;
(2) include a conspicuous statement in bold type describing the effects of the interbasin transfer on the river basin from which the water will be withdrawn and the river basin into which the withdrawn water will be transferred; and
(3) describe the procedure that a person must follow to submit a comment concerning the proposed interbasin transfer.
(B) Upon the receipt of a new surface withdrawal permit application for an interbasin transfer and the appropriate filing fee, the department must, within thirty days, provide notice as required in this section, in the following manner:
(1) by publication in the South Carolina State Register;
(2) by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the affected area of the river basin downstream from the point of withdrawal;
(3) by publication on the department's website; and
(4) through standard United States mail to:
(a) any person holding a permit issued by the department authorizing surface water withdrawals, including interbasin transfers, from the river basin from which the water for the proposed transfer would be withdrawn;
(b) any person holding a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater discharge permit authorizing wastewater discharge into the river basin where the proposed withdrawal point of the proposed interbasin transfer is located;
(c) any city or county governing body whose jurisdiction is located entirely or partially within the river basin that is the source of the proposed transfer;
(d) the governing body of a public water supply system that withdraws water from the same river basin where the proposed withdrawal point of the proposed transfer is located; and
(e) any agency from another state where an interstate water basin is the source of the proposed transfer.
HISTORY: 2010 Act No. 247, Section 1, eff January 1, 2011.
Editor's Note
2010 Act No. 247, Section 4.B, provides:
"Chapter 1, Title 49 of the 1976 Code is not affected by and supersedes Chapter 4, Title 49 of the 1976 Code, as amended by SECTION 1 of this act."