Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if any person applies for approval of a geothermal field development project, then only one permit from the lead agency and one permit from each responsible agency shall be required for all drilling, construction, operation, and maintenance activities required during the course of the productive life of the project, including, but not limited to, the drilling of makeup wells, redrills, well cleanouts, pipeline hookups, or any other activity necessary to the continued supply of geothermal steam to a powerplant. The lead agency and each responsible agency may approve such permits for less than full field development if the applicant submits such an application. Such permits shall include (1) any conditions or stipulations deemed necessary by the lead or responsible agency, including appropriate mitigation measures within the statutory jurisdiction of such agency, and (2) a monitoring program capable of assuring the permittee’s conformance with all such conditions or stipulations. This section shall not apply to any permit whose issuance is a ministerial act by the permitting agency.

(Added by Stats. 1978, Ch. 1271.)