20000659 Ver 2_Major Variance_20150618

ROY COOPER
ATTORNEY GENERAL
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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 629
RALEIGH, NC 27602
June 18, 2015
REPLY TO. JENNIE WILHEI M HAUSER
ENVIRONMENTAL DIVISION
TEL: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
[e-mail]
James Zieglmeier Certified Mail / Return Receipt Reauested
3M Company
4191 Highway 87
Moncure, NC 27559
Re: Final Decision Granting Variance with conditions
Dear Mr. Zieglmeier:
At its May 13, 2015 meeting, the Water Quality Committee of the Environmental
Management Commission granted your request for a variance. Attached is a copy of the Final
Decision. If for some reason you do not agree with the terms of the variance as issued, you have
the right to appeal the Commission's decision by filing a petition for judicial review in the
superior court of the county in which you reside within thirty days after receiving the order
pursuant to the procedure set forth in the North Carolina General Statutes § 15013-45. A copy of
the judicial review petition must be served on the Commission's agent for service of process at
the following address:
Sam M. Hayes, General Counsel
Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
1601 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699 -1601
If you choose to file a petition for judicial review, I request that you also serve a copy of
the petition for judicial review on me at the address listed in the letterhead. If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincere ,
4..c
Jennie Wilhelm Hauser
Special Deputy Attorney General and
Counsel for the Environmental Management Commission

3M Company
Page 2
cc: w/ encl.: Dan LaMontagne, Director Public Works,Chatham County
Gerard P. Carroll, Chair of the Commission, electronically
Steve Tedder, Chair of the WQC, electronically
Tom Reeder, Director, DWR electronically
Jennifer Burdette, Senior Environmental Specialist electronically
Lois Thomas, recording secretary for Commission, electronically

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA BEFORE THE
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
COUNTY OF CHATHAM COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF: )
PETITION FOR VARIANCE FROM )
15A NCAC 213.0267 ) DECISION GRANTING
JORDAN LAKE RIPARIAN AREA ) MAJOR VARIANCE
PROTECTION RULES BY )
3M COMPANY }
On May 11, 2000, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission
(Commission) delegated to the Commission's Water Quality Committee all decisions relating to
requests for variances from the riparian buffer, This matter came before the Water Quality
Committee at its meeting on May 13, 2015, in Raleigh, North Carolina upon 3M Company's (the
Applicant's or "3M's ") request, pursuant to 15A NCAC 02B .0267, for approval of a major
variance from the Jordan Lake Riparian Area Protection Rules to allow within the riparian buffer
an extension of the quarry located on Highway 87 South new Moncure, North Carolina. The
proposed development will impact 171,151 square feet of Zone 1 and 121,282 square feet of
Zone 2 of the buffer.
Chatham County has authority to administer the Jordan Lake Riparian Area Protection
Rules. Pursuant to 15A NCAC 2B .0267(12) and Section 507 (13)(2) of the Chatham County
Watershed Protection Ordinance, Chatham County prepared preliminary findings on this major
variance request and submitted these to the Commission for approval.
Based on the information provided by the Applicant and Chatham County, the Division
of Water Resources (DWR) supported the request for a major variance. Jennifer Burdette,
401 /Buffer Coordinator, 401 and Buffer Permitting Unit of the Division of Water Resources,

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presented the request for a major variance to the Water Quality Committee. 3M Company did
not appear before the Committee.
Upon consideration of the record documents, the request and the staff recommendation,
and based upon the Water Quality Committee's decision to grant the variance request, the
Commission hereby makes the following:
FINDING OF FACTS
1. 3M owns 2,039 acres of land that has been permitted as a mine and the relative
quantity and location of the preferred andesite ore reserves is known.
2. 3M intends to only extend its quarry and stockpile operations to the point where it
will use approximately 43 % of the land.
3. The purpose for 3M's purchase of its property in Pittsboro is to extract andesite
ore. The ore reserves lie beneath three intermittent stream segments and cannot be accessed
without disturbance. if 3M complies with the provision of the Rule and the Ordinance,
extractive use of up to 90 acres would not be allowed, which would preclude recovery of up to
69 % of the andesite.
4. Three streams dissect the property with riparian buffers on all sides of the
streams, which greatly limits the ability to mine the property.
5. 3M conducted an exhaustive regional and local search decades ago to identify the
best property upon which to develop the mine. The location and relative quantity of the
preferred green - colored andesite is known to exist in the proposed quarry extension area.
Andesite availability is unknown for other offsite locations.
6, 3M originally purchased land beginning in the mid- 1980's and continued to
purchase property into the 2000's. The properties subject to the proposed quarry extension were

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acquired prior to the adoption of the Jordan Lake buffer rules by Chatham County. 3M has not
violated the Chatham County Watershed Protection Ordinance.
7. 3M is proposing to purchase 695,376 buffer mitigation credits from a private
mitigation bank and the NC Division of Mitigation Services.
S. On April 21, 2015, the Chatham County Watershed Review Board approved the
request for a major variance.
Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact, the Environmental Management Commission
makes the following,
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Site owned by 3M Company is subject to the Jordan Lake Riparian Area
Protection Rule, 15A NCAC 2B .0267.
2. The purpose of Rule 15A NCAC 2B .0267 is to protect and preserve existing
riparian buffers and to maintain their nutrient removal functions in the entire Jordan Lake
watershed.
3. The Environmental Management Commission is authorized to issue a final
decision granting the variance including riparian buffer mitigation conditions pursuant to a
request under 15A NCAC 2B .0267 upon a finding that:
(1) There are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships;
(2) The variance is in harmony with the general purpose and intent of
the buffer protection and preserves its spirit; and
(3) In granting the variance, the public safety and welfare have been
assured, water quality has been protected and substantial justice
has been done.
15A NCAC 2B .0267(12).
4. The Commission determines the following:

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)First Factor: There are practical diff%ulties or unnecessary hardships that prevent
compliance with the riparian buffer protection requirements.
In its assessment of whether the Applicant made a showing of "practical difficulties or
unnecessary hardships," the Commission considered the following factors.
(i) If the applicant complies with the provisions of this Rule, he/she can secure
no reasonable return from, nor make reasonable use of, his /her property.
Merely proving that the variance would permit a greater profit from the
property shall not be considered adequate justification for a variance,
Moreover, the local government shall consider whether the variance is the
minimum possible deviation from the terms of this Rule that shall make
reasonable use of the property possible;
(ii) The hardship results from application of this Rule to the property rather
than from other factors such as deed restrictions or other hardship;
(iii) The hardship is due to the physical nature of the applicant's property, such
as its size, shape, or topography, such that compliance with provisions of
this rule would not allow reasonable use of the property;
(iv) The applicant did not cause the hardship by knowingly or unknowingly
violating this Rule;
(v) The applicant did not purchase the property after August 11, 2009, the
effective date of this Rule, and then request a variance; and
(vi) The hardship is rare or unique to the applicant's property.
15A NCAC 2B.0267 (12) (a)
The Commission determines that the Applicant has made the required showing that there
are "practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships" preventing compliance with the riparian
buffer protection requirements. Specifically,
A. 3M purchased this property prior to the 2009 effective date of the Rule for the
purpose of extracting andesite ore; due to the location of the ore beneath three
intermittent stream segments, 3M would be precluded from recovering up to 69 %
of the andesite.

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B. The hardship results from the application of this Rule rather than from other
factors because three streams dissect the property with riparian buffers on all sides
of the streams, greatly limiting the ability to mine the property.
C. The hardship is due to the physical nature of the property, including the location
and relative quantity of the preferred green - colored andesite, which is known to
exist in the proposed quarry extension area but which is unknown for other offsite
locations.
D. The hardship is not the result of the actions of the Applicant because 3M
originally purchased land beginning in the mid- 1980's and continued to purchase
property into the 2000's, and the properties subject to this Variance Request were
acquired prior to the adoption of the Jordan Lake buffer rules by Chatham
County; therefore 3M did not violate the Rule or the Chatham County Ordinance.
E. The hardship is peculiar to 3M's property and is unique in that 3M's business is
driven by the availability of the andesite resource.
Second Factor; The variance is in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the
State's riparian buffer protection requirements and preserves its spirit.
The Commission determines that the Applicant has demonstrated it meets the second
factor required under 15A NCAC 02B .0267(12)(b). Specifically, the purpose of the riparian
buffer rules is to protect existing riparian buffer areas. The purpose of the Rule and the Chatham
County Ordinance is to protect existing riparian buffer areas; however, 3M cannot make
reasonable use of the property without impacting the protected riparian buffers. 3M is proposing
to purchase 695,376 buffer mitigation credits from a private mitigation bank and the NC
Division of Mitigation Services, which would protect other riparian buffers in exchange for

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disturbing the buffers for these three intermittent streams. Allowing the proposed development
by granting the request for a major variance while requiring pigr hase of 695,376 buffer
mitigation credits and given the other unique hardship peculiar to this property, would afford
protection to other riparian buffer areas and, thus, be in harmony with the general purpose and
intent of the riparian buffer protection rules and preserve their spirit
Third Factor: The variance would assure the public welfare;, protect water quality, and
ensure substantial justice has been done.
The Commission determines that the Applicant has demonstrated it meets the third factor
required under 15A NCAC 02B .0267. Specifically, when 3M purchased this property to mine
andesite ore, the current Rule and Ordinance were not in effect. 3M's proposed extension of its
quarry would allow for continued extraction of in- demand andesite. Allowing 3M's proposed
extension still provides substantial separation to protect neighboring properties and the general
public from its operations. Finally, the Applicant is proposing to purchase 695,376 riparian
buffer mitigation credits. For each of these reasons, the variance to allow 3M's proposed
extension assures public welfare, protects water quality, and ensures substantial justice.
ORDER
Based on the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law set forth above, IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED that the request for the variance is GRANTED.
This is the /1 44fty of June 2015.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
Gerar P. Carroll, Chairman

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that 1 have this day served the foregoing Decision Granting Major
Variance upon the Applicant and the Division of Water Resources in the manner described
below as follows:
James Zieglmeier Certified MaillReturn Receipt Requested
3M Company and E -mail. iaziezlmeieKi),mmm.com
4191 Highway 87
Moncure, NC 27559
Dan LaMontagne, Director Regular U.S Mail and
Public Works Department E -mail: dan.lamontaknea-,chatlzamnc.org
Chatham County
P.O. Box 910
Pittsboro, NC 27312
Jennifer A. Burdette E -mail: Jennifer .Burdette(a),ncdenr.v.ov
401 /Buffer Coordinator
401 & Buffer Permitting Unit
Division of Water Resources
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh NC 27699 -1617
Karen Higgins, Supervisor E -mail: Karen. Hia vin sO)ncdenr.vov
Division of Water Resources
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh NC 27699 -1650
This is they of June 2015.
ROY COOPER
Attorney General
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Z----,,Jennie Wilhelm Hauser
Special Deputy Attorney General