Agenda - Council - 11/27/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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criteria listed below. If the project does not meet these criteria, it is considered exempt and cannot be petitioned for environmental review. Step 5 — Conduct the required procedures for exempt projects [if necessary) . If the project is exempt from enviromnental review according to the criteria listed earlier in this guide, RGU staff must, in writing, document the reason for the exemption and notify the petitioners' representative and EQB of their conclusions. Most of the time, a final decision on whether the project is exempt from environmental review will need to go before the local government's board/ council for consideration. Whether or not to bring The fact that no application has been filed on a project or that no action has been requested on the project does not mean the petition can be ignored or that an organization designated by the EQB is not the appropriate RGU. If a local government would ordinarily be the RGU for the project, and/or it expects an application/ approval decision would be required at some future time, it should keep the petition on file. A citizen pe- tition for environmental review remains in effect for one year from the date that the petition was received. Local government staff must then notify the peti- tioners' representative and the EQB that, while it cannot act on a petition because no permit appli- cation has been filed, the petition will remain in effect for one year and apply to any proposed project for which the nature and location is substantially similar to the project identified in the petition. the issue before the local government board /council is based on local decision - making procedures and ordinances, not by any requirements listed in the environmental review rules. decision - making authority RGU staff should then identify the authority in their organization that can make environmental review decisions (e.g., granting or denying the petition). This varies from one local government to another, but in most cases it will be the board /council. The authority for making environmental review decisions is determined by the local government's procedures /ordinances, not by state environmental review rules, and anyone making environmental review decisions other than the governing body must have a delegated authority to do so. This information will be helpful when notifying the project proposer of environmental review requirements as well as the RGU's policies and procedures regarding petitions for environmental review. Step 7 -- Prepare a draft timetable of events Next, RGU staff should estimate a date by which then organization can be expected to make a final decision regarding the petition. The decision date is usually determined according to the local government board/council meeting schedule. RGU staff should allow enough time to determine the merits of the issues presented in the petition and prepare required documentation. It may be useful for RGU staff to outline an anticipated schedule in written form, just in case the project proposer or other local government staff have questions on the petition's status. The timeline should not be considered a guarantee but is just meant to be a planning and information tool for the project proposer, RGU staff, the board /council, etc. According to MN Rules, RGUs must make a decision on whether an EAW is needed (as a result of a petition) within 15 business days. In the event the decision - making authority of an RGU is a board/council, the board /council has the option of granting itself an additional 15 days to make —121— Step 6 - identify the local government's