N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6 § 617.2

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 50, December 11, 2024

Section 617.2 - Definitions

As used in this Part, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a)Act means article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law (SEQR).

(b)Actions include:

(1) projects or physical activities, such as construction or other activities that may affect the environment by changing the use, appearance or condition of any natural resource or structure, that:

(i) are directly undertaken by an agency; or

(ii) involve funding by an agency; or

(iii) require one or more new or modified approvals from an agency or agencies;

(2) agency planning and policy making activities that may affect the environment and commit the agency to a definite course of future decisions;

(3) adoption of agency rules, regulations and procedures, including local laws, codes, ordinances, executive orders and resolutions that may affect the environment; and

(4) any combinations of the above.

(c)Agency means a State or local agency.

(d)Applicant means any person making an application or other request to an agency to provide funding or to grant an approval in connection with a proposed action.

(e)Approval means a discretionary decision by an agency to issue a permit, certificate, license, lease or other entitlement or to otherwise authorize a proposed project or activity.

(f)Coastal area means the State's coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands, as defined in article 42 of the Executive Law, the specific boundaries of which are shown on the coastal area map on file in the Office of the Secretary of State, as required by section 914 (2) of the Executive Law.

(g)Commissioner means the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

(h)Conditioned negative declaration (CND) means a negative declaration issued by a lead agency for an Unlisted action, involving an applicant, in which the action as initially proposed may result in one or more significant adverse environmental impacts; however, mitigation measures identified and required by the lead agency, pursuant to the procedures in section 617.7(d) of this Part, will modify the proposed action so that no significant adverse environmental impacts will result.

(i)Critical environmental area (CEA) means a specific geographic area having exceptional or unique environmental characteristics that has been designated by a State or local agency pursuant to section 617.14 of this Part.

(j)Department means the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

(k)Direct action or directly undertaken action means an action planned and proposed for implementation by an agency. Direct actions include but are not limited to capital projects, promulgation of agency rules, regulations, laws, codes, ordinances or executive orders and policy making that commit an agency to a course of action that may affect the environment.

(l)Environment means the physical conditions that will be affected by a proposed action, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, noise, resources of agricultural, archeological, historic or aesthetic significance, existing patterns of population concentration, distribution or growth, existing community or neighborhood character, and human health.

(m)Environmental assessment form (EAF) means a form used by an agency to assist it in determining the environmental significance of actions. A properly completed EAF must contain enough information to describe the proposed action, its location, its purpose and its potential impacts on the environment. The model full and short EAFs, contained in Appendices A and B of section 617.20 of this Part may be modified by an agency to better serve it in implementing SEQR, provided the scope of the modified form is as comprehensive as the model.

(n)Environmental impact statement (EIS) means a written "draft" or "final" document prepared in accordance with sections 617.9 and 617.10 of this Part. An EIS provides a means for agencies, project sponsors and the public to systematically consider significant adverse environmental impacts, alternatives and mitigation. An EIS facilitates the weighing of social, economic and environmental factors early in the planning and decision-making process. A draft EIS is the initial statement prepared by either the project sponsor or the lead agency and circulated for review and comment. An EIS may also be a "generic" in accordance with section 617.10 of this Part, a "supplemental" in accordance with section 617.9(a)(7) of this Part or a "Federal" document in accordance with section 617.15 of this Part.

(o)Environmental Notice Bulletin (ENB) means the weekly publication of the department published pursuant to section 3-0306 of the Environmental Conservation Law.

(p)Findings statement means a written statement prepared by each involved agency, in accordance with section 617.11 of this Part, after a final EIS has been filed, that considers the relevant environmental impacts presented in an EIS, weighs and balances them with social, economic and other essential considerations, provides a rationale for the agency's decision and certifies that the SEQR requirements have been met.

(q)Funding means any financial support given by an agency, including contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of direct or indirect financial assistance, in connection with a proposed action.

(r)Green infrastructure means practices that manage storm water through infiltration, evapo-transpiration and reuse including only the following: the use of permeable pavement; bio-retention; green roofs and green walls; tree pits and urban forestry; storm water planters; rain gardens; vegetated swales; downspout disconnection; or storm water harvesting and reuse.

(s)Impact means to change or to have an effect on any aspect(s) of the environment.

(t)Involved agency means an agency that has jurisdiction by law to fund, approve or directly undertake an action. If an agency will ultimately make a discretionary decision to fund, approve or undertake an action, then it is an "involved agency" notwithstanding that it has not received an application for funding or approval at the time the SEQR process is commenced. The lead agency is also an "involved agency".

(u)Interested agency means an agency that lacks the jurisdiction to fund, approve or directly undertake an action but wishes to participate in the review process because of its specific expertise or concern about the proposed action. An "interested agency" has the same ability to participate in the review process as a member of the public.

(v)Lead agency means an involved agency principally responsible for undertaking, funding or approving an action, and therefore responsible for determining whether an environmental impact statement is required in connection with the action, and for the preparation and filing of the statement if one is required.

(w)Local agency means any local agency, board, authority, district, commission or governing body, including any city, county and other political subdivision of the State.

(x)Ministerial act means an action performed upon a given state of facts in a prescribed manner imposed by law without the exercise of any judgment or discretion as to the propriety of the act, such as the granting of a hunting or fishing license.

(y)Mitigation means a way to avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts.

(z)Negative declaration means a written determination by a lead agency that the implementation of the action as proposed will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts. A negative declaration may also be a conditioned negative declaration as defined in subdivision (h) of this section. Negative declarations must be prepared, filed and published in accordance with sections 617.7 and 617.12 of this Part.

(aa)Person means any agency, individual, corporation, governmental entity, partnership, association, trustee or other legal entity.

(ab)Permit means a permit, lease, license, certificate or other entitlement for use or permission to act that may be granted or issued by an agency.

(ac)Physical alteration includes, but is not limited to, the following activities: vegetation removal, demolition, stockpiling materials, grading and other forms of earthwork, dumping, filling or depositing, discharges to air or water, excavation or trenching, application of pesticides, herbicides, or other chemicals, application of sewage sludge, dredging, flooding, draining or dewatering, paving, construction of buildings, structures or facilities, and extraction, injection or recharge of resources below ground.

(ad)Positive declaration means a written determination by the lead agency indicating that implementation of the action as proposed may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and that an environmental impact statement will be required. Positive declarations must be prepared, filed and published in accordance with sections 617.7 and 617.12 of this Part.

(ae)Project sponsor means any applicant or agency primarily responsible for undertaking an action.

(af)Residential means any facility used for permanent or seasonal habitation, including but not limited to: realty subdivisions, apartments, mobile home parks, and campsites offering any utility hookups for recreational vehicles. It does not include such facilities as hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, dormitories or prisons.

(ag)Scoping means the process by which the lead agency identifies the potentially significant adverse impacts related to the proposed action that are to be addressed in the draft EIS including the content and level of detail of the analysis, the range of alternatives, the mitigation measures needed and the identification of irrelevant issues. Scoping, which is not limited to the analysis of potentially significant issues identified in the EAF, provides a project sponsor with a written outline of topics that must be considered and provides an opportunity for early participation by involved agencies and the public in the review of the proposal.

(ah)Segmentation means the division of the environmental review of an action such that various activities or stages are addressed under this Part as though they were independent, unrelated activities, needing individual determinations of significance.

(ai)State agency means any State department, agency, board, public benefit corporation, public authority or commission.

(aj)Type I action means an action or class of actions identified in section 617.4 of this Part, or in any involved agency's procedures adopted pursuant to section 617.14 of this Part.

(ak)Type II action means an action or class of actions identified in section 617.5 of this Part. When the term is applied in reference to an individual agency's authority to review or approve a particular proposed project or action, it shall also mean an action or class of actions identified as Type II actions in that agency's own procedures to implement SEQR adopted pursuant to section 617.14 of this Part.

(al)Unlisted action means all actions not identified as a Type I or Type II action in this Part, or, in the case of a particular agency action, not indentified as a Type I or Type II action in the agency's own SEQR procedures.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 6 § 617.2

Amended New York State Register July 18, 2018/Volume XL, Issue 29, eff. 1/1/2019