Steigers Corporation: Land Use Permits and Service


	Land Use Permits and Plans
	When a project involves land development, it must be permitted by the entity with jurisdiction over the land and/or over the particular activity. For example, a mining project on federal land will require a mining permit from the land-administering agency, e.g., the U.S. Forest Service or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Such permits are broadly termed land use permits, and their scope may be very wide. Consistent with the issuing agency's jurisdiction, they address all resources that may be affected by the project, including soils, vegetation, wildlife, threatened and endangered species, surface water, groundwater, wetlands, air, cultural resources, human populations, and others.
We make your development plan responsive to the issuing agency's regulatory program, site-specific concerns, and information needs, thereby paving the way for prompt receipt of all required permits and approvals.		We develop complete, comprehensive land use permit applications that address the issuing agency's concerns because we have thoroughly investigated the agency's interests and the likely issues relative to its jurisdiction. The form of the land use permit application may be specified by the issuing agency, or it may simply be a comprehensive plan designed to thoroughly describe the proposed activity and its potential effects. A development plan is required for new developments planned on federally owned land or for specific industries in many states: these can range from a mine plan or a transmission line plan to an operations plan for a project seeking a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower license. In essence, the project proponent uses this document to inform the agency of its intentions regarding the specifics of the proposed development, potential impacts to the environment, and what it plans to do to mitigate these impacts. The development plan must go well beyond simply presenting engineering drawings and operations diagrams by integrating project features and relevant resource considerations in a thorough and comprehensive manner necessary to support permitting. We design a proactive development plan for your project that will be responsive to the issuing agency's regulatory program, site-specific concerns, and information needs. This development plan is a vital step toward positioning your project with the agency. In some cases, jurisdiction over land development may be shared by a number of entities. For example, in Colorado, because the state has jurisdiction over mining activities on all lands, a mining project on federal lands would also need a state mining and reclamation permit. The counties would also have a say in the regulation of impacts to land and other resources within their boundaries. The presentation of impacts and the formulation of mitigation measures must be consistent among the land use plans or land use permit applications to ensure against conflicts in subsequent compliance activities during project construction and operation. We achieve this goal by bringing the various affected agencies together at an early stage in the project and gaining their concurrence in defining critical issues, designing resources studies, and developing resource management or mitigation plans. We use the development plan for the lead agency as the flagship document for tiering the permitting documents necessary to support other federal, state, and local permits.

	We use an integrated approach to projects that require multiple land use permits, providing consistent presentation and analysis, reducing permitting costs by minimizing duplication of permitting efforts, and ensuring against potential conflicts in compliance and mitigation activities. Land use permitting services: pipeline development plans and rights-of-way transmission line development plans and rights-of-way reclamation plans fish and wildlife mitigation plans cultural resource treatment plans Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower licenses federal special use permits county and municipal special use permits state and county road crossing authorizations mining exploration plans mine plans state mining and reclamation permits.
		Steigers Corporation developed a comprehensive Commercial Mine Plan for the Yankee Gulch Project that became the basis for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Environmental Impact Statement for the project. The Mine Plan integrated a detailed description of the proposed mine development and a description of the affected environment, assessed impacts of the proposed project, and offered appropriate mitigation that satisfied the BLM's concerns. Because the Mine Plan had proactively assessed the agency's concerns, the EIS was completed in record time, and the project gained a full year's production. Since the state of Colorado also has jurisdiction over mining activities, the Yankee Gulch Project was also required to obtain a state mining and reclamation permit. Because we integrated development of this permit with development of the Mine Plan, the agencies were able to simplify the reclamation bonding requirement by allowing essentially a single bond for both permits.
	Special Use Permits
	The challenge to us is to negotiate with county governments to minimize impacts to our client.	Special use permits may be issued by federal, state, or local jurisdictions for specialized uses such as access rights-of-way and utility easements. County special use permits, on the other hand, may address a much broader array of impacts to lands and other resources within their boundaries, including impacts to off-site resources such as the human population and county infrastructure. Working with county or municipal governments often presents unique challenges because of the political atmosphere inherent in local government. The overall jurisdiction of these entities is often very broad and loosely defined, and, therefore, they may have a greater influence than their local nature may imply. The challenge to us is to negotiate with the counties to minimize impacts to our client. Local governments are often most concerned with socioeconomic impacts. These impacts include noise, traffic, and impacts to local infrastructure such as schools, law enforcement, and fire and emergency protection. Local agencies want to focus on the overall impact to their jurisdiction: how will this project change our community? How will employment change? What about housing and services? What will be the impact to county revenues? Steigers has extensive experience developing special use permits that address the counties' concerns.

		Steigers Corporation obtained several Special Use Permits for the Yankee Gulch Project from both Garfield County and Rio Blanco County for construction of a mine site, two processing plants, a railroad spur, and a pair of pipelines. In Rio Blanco County, we successfully argued the monetary benefits of the project to avoid onerous socioeconomic mitigation measures. Based on our negotiated agreement with Garfield County for minor obligations mitigating socioeconomic impacts, the county waived further "fiscal mitigation" that would have required major financial commitments by our client.
	Other development plans and special use permits completed by Steigers Corporation staff include: Conservation District Use Permit, Port Allen-Wainiha Line, Hawaii Cultural Resources Programmatic Agreement and Treatment Plan, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado FERC Hydropower Licenses, Au Train, Bond Falls, Cataract, Dead River, and Prickett Projects, Michigan Gunnison County Land Use Change Permit, West Elk Mine, Colorado Long-Term Use of Colorado Division of Wildlife Lands, Right-of-Way Access, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Long-Term Use of Colorado Division of Wildlife Lands, Utility Easement, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Mining Exploration Plan, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado National Energy Plant One Waste Tire-to-Energy Power Plant Project, Colorado Notices of Intent to Conduct Prospecting Activities, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Pipeline Plan of Development, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Short-Term Use of Colorado Division of Wildlife Lands, Right-of-Way Access, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Soil Conservation, Erosion and Sediment Control, Reclamation, and Revegetation Plan, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Test Mine Plan, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado Title V Operating Permit and BER Transmission Line, Swampy Acres Generation Project, Alaska U.S. Bureau of Land Management Off-Lease Right-of-Way Permits, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado U.S. Forest Service Special Use Permit, Seven Lakes Lodge, Colorado U.S. Forest Service Special Use Permits, West Elk Mine, Colorado Wildlife Mitigation Plan, Yankee Gulch Project, Colorado.

Land Use Permits and Plans

Special Use Permits