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ALJ Error – Amended Permit

By: Derek Hawkins//March 10, 2022//

ALJ Error – Amended Permit

By: Derek Hawkins//March 10, 2022//

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WI Court of Appeals – District IV

Case Name: Meteor Timber, LLC, v. Wisconsin Division of Hearings and Appeals, et al.,

Case No.: 2020AP1869

Officials: Blanchard, P.J., Kloppenburg, and Fitzpatrick, JJ.

Focus: ALJ Error – Amended Permit

The Department of Natural Resources (Department) issued to Meteor Timber, LLC, a permit (the permit or the initial permit) and, some months later, an amended permit (the amended permit) allowing Meteor Timber to fill wetlands for purposes of constructing a facility for drying and storing industrial sand and an associated facility for loading the sand onto rail cars and shipping the sand by rail. After a contested case hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a decision and order reversing the decisions to issue the permit and amended permit based on his conclusions that the permit and amended permit decisions did not comply with the statutes governing wetland-fill permits. The Department adopted the ALJ’s decision without change as its own final decision. The circuit court, in a detailed and comprehensive oral ruling, affirmed. On appeal, Meteor Timber argues first that the ALJ’s decision is unsupported by the record and legally erroneous. Second, Meteor Timber argues that the circuit court erred in denying its motion to present additional evidence pertaining to a different wetland restoration project.

As stated, the ALJ’s decision reversing the Department’s decision to issue the permit based on to the Department’s failure to comply with these statutory requirements is based on findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence in the record and on a correct reading of the law. Accordingly, we conclude that the Department’s decision to issue the permit was properly reversed. Because Meteor Timber fails to identify any law that authorizes the Department to issue an amended permit absent a valid initial permit, we conclude that the Department’s decision to issue the amended permit was also properly reversed.

As to the second issue on appeal, we conclude that the record establishes that the circuit court properly exercised its discretion in denying Meteor Timber’s motion to present additional evidence. Accordingly, we affirm the circuit court’s rulings.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.

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