As I understand it, this is a privately-initiated application to add this site to the Goal 5 inventory.  The county doesn't seek out potential quarry sites to add to the inventory; it's always the owners of these properties that initiate this process.  And the county can't just say no thanks.  Once an application is filed, the county is required to apply the relevant law and make a decision.  They can always choose to ignore the controlling law and deny these applications, but without a basis for doing that they will just see it again on remand from the inevitable appeal.  That, of course, would increase the cost to the owner, but it also adds to the county's (i.e. your and my) costs and the result ends up the same.  What's the benefit there?  

The Goal 5 inventory process is expensive and I get why the county balks at taking that on on a county-wide basis. But, nothing I know of prevents nonprofits from funding the necessary studies or initiating their own inventory process.