The department may grant a variance from the provisions of paragraph C upon consultation with the person or entity that controls the public drinking water supply affected by the excavation. The department may not grant a waiver from the provisions of paragraph A, B or D.

Excavation below the seasonal high water table of an area previously designated for potential use as a public drinking water source by a municipality or private water company is prohibited. The department may grant a variance allowing excavation below the seasonal high water table if the applicant demonstrates that the yield of groundwater flow to protected waters or wetlands or public drinking water sources or private drinking water supplies will not be adversely affected by the excavation.

In the event of excavation below the seasonal high water table, the operator of a mining activity that affects by excavation activities a public drinking water source or private drinking water supply by contamination, interruption or diminution must restore or replace the affected water supply with an alternate source of water, adequate in quantity and quality for the purpose served by the supply. This provision is not intended to replace any independent action that a person may have whose water supply is affected by a mining activity.

Sec. 12. 38 MRSA §490-Z, sub-§§6, 7 and 8, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 700, §35, is amended to read:

6. Roads. A natural buffer strip must be maintained between the working edge of an excavation and a road or right-of-way as follows.

A. A natural buffer strip at least 150 feet wide must be maintained between the working edge of an excavation and a road designated as a scenic highway by the Department of Transportation.

B. A natural buffer strip at least 100 feet wide must be maintained between the working edge of the excavation and