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Title: Section 97.7 - Designation of lead agency and determination of significance for type I actions

97.7 Designation of lead agency and determination of significance for type I actions.

(a) The provisions of this section shall govern the designation of lead agency and determination of significance for all type I actions.

(b) An EAF shall be completed for every type I action which is directly undertaken, funded or approved by the department unless an acceptable draft EIS has already been or will be prepared on the action. No EAF shall be considered complete unless it contains a list prepared by the applicant of all other involved agencies which the applicant has been able to ascertain, exercising all due diligence.

(c) Actions involving only the department. When the department proposes to directly undertake an action which does not require funding or approval from any other agency, or receives an application to fund or approve an action over which no other agencies have approval authority, it shall be the lead agency, and shall determine the significance of the action in accordance with sections 97.13 and 97.14 of this Part within the following time periods:

(1) If the department is directly undertaking the action, it shall determine the significance of the action as early as possible in the design or formulation of the action.

(2) If the department has received an application for funding or approval of the action, it shall determine the significance of the action within 15 calendar days of its receipt of the complete application, an EAF, and any additional information it deems necessary to make that determination.

(d) Actions involving the department and other agencies. (1) When the department proposes to directly undertake an action which requires funding or approval from one or more other agencies, or receives an application for funding or approval which other agencies have approval authority over, it shall, as soon as possible, mail the completed EAF and a copy of any application it has received to all involved agencies, notifying them that within 30 calendar days of the date the EAF was mailed to them, a lead agency must be designated by agreement among them. The following criteria, in order of importance, shall be used to designate lead agency:

(i) whether the anticipated impacts of the action being considered are primarily of statewide, regional or local significance, i. e., if such impacts are of primarily local significance, all other considerations being equal, the local agency involved shall be lead agency;

(ii) which agency has the broadest governmental powers for investigation into the proposed action; and

(iii) which agency has the greatest capability for providing the most thorough environmental assessment of the proposed action.

(2) The department, if it is a lead agency, shall determine the significance of the action in accordance with sections 97.13 and 97.14 of this Part within 15 days of its designation as lead agency, or within 15 days of its receipt of any information it may need to make the determination of significance, whichever occurs later, and shall immediately notify all other involved agencies of its determination.

(e) Actions for which lead agency cannot be designated by agreement. If, within the 30-day period allotted for designation of a lead agency, the department and other agencies are unable to agree upon which agency shall be the lead agency, then the lead agency shall be determined as provided in 6 NYCRR 617.6.
 

Volume

VOLUME A-2 (Title 10)

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