Mining in Wisconsin - state and local government documents : Sand (silica) mining

Note: Additional statutes, regulations & opinions may apply to your specific situation. This information is for reference only; it does not constitute legal advice!

Mining (Metallic and Nonmetallic)

• Bibliography from the Wisconsin State Law Library.
• Links to state statutes and parts of the Wisconsin Administrative Code related to mining.
• Links to U.S. laws (in the U.S. Code) and federal regulations (in the Code of Federal Regulations, aka CFR).
• Has a link to a site with Wisconsin local ordinances, which you can search for mining-related ordinances
• Last updated February 24, 2016.

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Wisconsin Legislative Documents

• Search this site for current bills regarding mining.
• Can also look up Mine and Mining in the Subject Index to Legislation.
• Can search legislation from older sessions at the Session Archive.

The counties listed below have sandstone formations. County governments have primary responsibility for regulating nonmetallic mines, including sand/silica mines.

A county's board of supervisors has likely considered the topic of mining, and likely has ordinances regarding nonmetallic mining. One way to find minutes of those discussions, or ordinances, is to search a county's web site for the terms mining, silica, frac, or "industrial sand" (using quotation marks will search those words as a phrase) .

In addition, some counties have formed committees, published reports, or passed ordinances about silica mining in particular. Many of these are listed below.  If you want to know for certain if a county has ordinances regarding metallic mining, it's best to search the county's home page.

List of all counties in Wisconsin (click "Wisconsin Counties" on the left of the page for links), from the Wisconsin Counties Association

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Adams County   home page

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Barron County   home page

• NR135 - Non Metallic Mining

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Buffalo County   home page

• Silica "Frac" Sand Reports and Resource List
  • Maintained by the Buffalo County Public Health Department
• Frac Sand Mining Fact Sheets
  • From Buffalo County UW-Extension/Cooperative Extension
  • Links to several publications and reports on the economic of Buffalo County

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Burnett County   home page

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Chippewa County   home page

• Non Metallic Mining
  • Use the links on the left, under "Non Metallic Mines," to get to documents

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Clark County   home page

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Columbia County   home page

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Crawford County   home page

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Dane County   home page

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Dodge County   home page

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Dunn County   home page

• Manure Management & Non-Metallic Mining Reclamation
• Staff Report on Non-Metallic Mining and Processing in Dunn County (published in April 2012)
• Ordinance 61-A, Amending Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance on Nonmetallic Mining and Surveying Requirements (amended November 2012)

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Eau Claire County   home page

• Non-Metallic Mining Information
• Eau Claire City/County Health Dept. Final Report to County Board, dated March 23, 2012
• An Ordinance to Impose a Moratorium on the Expansion and Creation of New Nonmetallic Mining Operations Within the Unincorporated Areas of Eau Claire County Pending Study of Possible Legislative Action, passed in November 2011

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Grant County   home page

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Green County   home page

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Green Lake County   home page

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Iowa County   home page

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Jackson County   home page

• Jackson County Non-Metallic Mineral Mining

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Jefferson County   home page

• Jefferson County Non-Metallic Mining Reclamation Ordinance
  • Part of the Land and Water Conservation Department site

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Juneau County   home page

• Sanitation/Zoning Department, "provides information regarding ... the non-metallic mining ordinance."

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LaCrosse County   home page

• Non-metallic mining
  • From the Land Conservation Department

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Lafayette County   home page

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Marathon County   home page

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Marinette County   home page

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Marquette County   home page

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Monroe County   home page

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Oconto County   home page

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Outagamie County   home page

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Pepin County   home page

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Pierce County   home page

• Land Management and Zoning page has links to selected chapters of the Pierce County code, including " Chapter 241 - Nonmetallic Mining Reclamation"

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Polk County   home page

• Non-Metallic Mining Reclamation Ordinance
  • Contains introduction to the ordinance (passed in 2001), and links to a permit plan reclamation form, and to a document with the regulations

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Portage County   home page

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Richland County   home page

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Rock County   home page

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Rusk County   home page

• Non-metallic Mining Reclamation
  • Part of the Zoning Department site

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Sauk County   home page

• Mineral Extraction
  • A program of the Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Department

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Shawano County   home page

• Zoning page has links to selected Shawano County ordinances, including " Nonmetallic Mining Reclamation Ordinance"

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St Croix County   home page

• Land use/ Non-metallic mining
  • Links to documents related to non-metallic mining are listed alphabetically under "NMM"

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Trempealeau County   home page

• Final Report on the Public Health Impacts of Non-Metallic Industrial Sand Mining in Trempealeau County, published September 8, 2014 (note:  link does not work in Firefox)
• On August 19, 2013, the Trempeauleau County Board passed a resolution declaring a 6-12-month moratorium on industrial sand mining and creating a committee (the Moratorium Committee) to study the issue.
  • Moratorium Committee page (page has links to agendas for meetings in 2013 and 2014)
  • Non-metallic mining advisory Committee (page has links to agendas for meetings in 2012)

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Vernon County   home page

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Washburn County   home page

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Waupaca County   home page

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Waushara County   home page

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Winnebago County   home page

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Wood County   home page

• Non-Metallic Mining Reclamation, including common questions and answers, and links to forms, ordinances, and other files in the lower left portion of page.
• Frac Sand Agreements - Highway Department

Frac sand in Wisconsin

• Has link to 2014 PDF document from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.
• Shows locations of frac sand mines and processing plants active or in development as of October 2013.
• Also shows sandstone formations.

Publications about Frac Sand in Wisconsin

• From the Wisconsin Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.
• This page has links to many water table maps for counties, as well as some county maps of "depth to bedrock" and "potential well yields," and regional maps of geology.

The Center for Land Use Education is a joint venture of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Cooperative Extension in collaboration with UW System institutions. The Center has published a four-part series on frac sand mining and local government:

• Planning and Zoning for "Frac Sand" Mining (April 2012)
• Evaluating Non-Metallic Mining: County Comprehensive Plans (August 2012)
• Evaluating Non-Metallic Mining: County Zoning Ordinances (August 2012)
• Evaluating Non-Metallic Mining: Comprehensive Plans and Zoning Ordinances (August 2012)

Wisconsin Eye
Wisconsin Eye is a statewide, non-partisan, multimedia, public affairs network with a mission to present an independent, statewide view of civic life and public policy discussion. The network covers floor sessions of the state Senate and Assembly, oral arguments in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and events in the Governor's and Attorney General's conference rooms.

The network also covers political and cultural events around the state, as well as public policy discussions.

Finding recordings related to mining

1. Click the magnifying glass in the search box in the upper left of the screen. This should take you to a search page for the Wisconsin Eye archives.
2. Type the word mining in the keyword search box.
   Optional: To narrow your search, you can also type one of the following terms: metallic, iron (or names of other specific metals or minerals), nonmetallic, sand, silica, or "industrial sand".
3. Click the red search button below the search form.
4. Results will be listed from newest to oldest.
    

Minnesota maintains a State of Minnesota Silica Sand Information site, with information from the following Minnesota state agencies:

• Environmental Quality Board
• Pollution Control Agency
• Department of Natural Resources
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Health
• Department of Agriculture