75-10-735. Public participation. (1) Upon determination by the department that an application for a voluntary cleanup plan is complete pursuant to 75-10-736(1) and (2), the department shall publish a notice and brief analysis of the proposed plan in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected and make the plan available to the public.

(2) The notice must provide 30 days for submission of written comments to the department regarding the plan. Upon written request by 10 or more persons, by a group composed of 10 or more members, or by a local governing body of a city, town, or county within the comment period, the department shall conduct a public meeting at or near the facility regarding the proposed voluntary cleanup plan. The meeting must be held within 45 days of the date that written notice of the department's completeness determination is provided to the applicant under 75-10-736(2).

(3) The department shall consider and respond to relevant written or verbal comments submitted during the comment period or at the public meeting.

(4) The department's decision on the final plan and the reasons for any significant modification of the final plan must be published in accordance with subsection (1).

(5) Compliance with this section is considered to satisfy the public participation requirements of Title 75, chapter 1.