Sec. 15. 38 MRSA §490-Z, sub-§14, ¶F, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 700, §35, is amended to read:

F. A preblast survey is required for all production blasting and must extend a minimum radius of 2000 feet 1/2 mile from the blast site. The preblast survey must document any preexisting damage to structures and buildings and any other physical features within the survey radius that could reasonably be affected by blasting. Assessment of features such as pipes, cables, transmission lines and wells and other water supply systems must be limited to surface conditions and other readily available data, such as well yield and water quality. The preblast survey must be conducted prior to the initiation of blasting at the operation. The owner or operator shall retain a copy of all preblast surveys for at least one year from the date of the last blast on the development site.

(1) The owner or operator is not required to conduct a preblast survey if the department determines that no protected natural resource within the limits of the otherwise required survey is likely to be affected by blasting and production blasting will not occur within 2000 feet of any building not owned or under the control of the developer.

(2) The owner or operator is not required to conduct a preblast survey on properties for which the owner or operator documents the rejection of an offer by registered letter, return receipt requested, to conduct a preblast survey. Any person owning a building within a preblast survey radius may voluntarily waive the right to a survey.

(3) The owner or operator is not required to conduct a preblast survey if the owner or operator agrees to design all blasts so that the weight of explosives per 8 millisecond or greater delay does not exceed that determined by the equation W=(D/Ds)2, where W is the maximum allowable weight of explosives per delay of 8 milliseconds or greater, D is the shortest distance between any area to be blasted and any inhabitable structure not owned or controlled by the developer and Ds equals 70 ft./(lb.)1/2.