75-20-304. Waiver of provisions of certification proceedings. (1) The department may waive compliance with any of the provisions of 75-20-216 and this part if the applicant makes a clear and convincing showing to the department at a public hearing that an immediate, urgent need for a facility exists and that the applicant did not have knowledge that the need for the facility existed sufficiently in advance to fully comply with the provisions of 75-20-216 and this part.

(2) The department may waive compliance with any of the provisions of this chapter upon receipt of notice by a person subject to this chapter that a facility or associated facility has been damaged or destroyed as a result of fire, flood, or other natural disaster or as the result of insurrection, war, or other civil disorder and there exists an immediate need for construction of a new facility or associated facility or the relocation of a previously existing facility or associated facility in order to promote the public welfare.

(3) The department shall waive compliance with the requirements of 75-20-301(1)(c), (2)(b), and (2)(c) and the requirements of 75-20-211(1)(a)(iii) and (1)(a)(iv) and 75-20-216(3) relating to consideration of alternative sites if the applicant makes a clear and convincing showing to the department at a public hearing that:

(a) a proposed facility will be constructed in a county where a single employer within the county has permanently curtailed or ceased operations, causing a loss of 250 or more permanent jobs within 2 years at the employer's operations within the preceding 10-year period;

(b) the county and municipal governing bodies in whose jurisdiction the facility is proposed to be located support by resolution the waiver;

(c) the proposed facility will be constructed within a 15-mile radius of the operations that have ceased or been curtailed; and

(d) the proposed facility will have a beneficial effect on the economy of the county in which the facility is proposed to be located.

(4) The waiver provided for in subsection (3) applies only to permanent job losses by a single employer. The waiver provided for in subsection (3) does not apply to jobs of a temporary or seasonal nature, including but not limited to construction jobs or job losses during labor disputes.

(5) The waiver provided for in subsection (3) does not apply to consideration of alternatives or minimum adverse environmental impact for a facility defined in 75-20-104(10)(a) or (10)(b) or for an associated facility defined in 75-20-104(3).

(6) The applicant shall pay all expenses required to process and conduct a hearing on a waiver request under subsection (3). However, any payments made under this subsection must be credited toward the fee paid under 75-20-215 to the extent that the data or evidence presented at the hearing or the decision of the department under subsection (3) can be used in making a certification decision under this chapter.

(7) The department may grant only one waiver under subsections (3) and (4) for each permanent loss of jobs as defined in subsection (3)(a).