N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9 § 2550.3

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

Section 2550.3 - Definitions

(a) Actions other than exempt actions as defined in this section, are either direct actions or funding actions.

(b) Direct action means any activity directly undertaken by the division except an exempt action as defined in this section:

(1) physical projects such as construction or other activities directly undertaken by the division which change the use or appearance of any natural resource or a structure;

(2) planning activities such as site selection for other activities and the proposing, approval or disapproval of master or long range plans, zoning or other land use maps, ordinances or regulations, development plans or other plans designed to provide a program for future activities;

(3) policy making activities, such as the making, modification or establishment of rules, regulations, procedures, policies and guidelines.

(c) Funding action means any action supported in whole or in part through contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of funding assistance from one or more State agencies.

(d) Applicant means any person making an application or other request for division action.

(e) Agency shall mean any State department, agency, board, public benefit corporation, public authority or commission.

(f) Commissioner means the Commissioner of Housing and Community Renewal.

(g) Complete application means an application which, in the judgment of the division, contains sufficient information on which to make a decision whether or not to approve an application.

(h) Division means the Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

(i) Environment means the physical conditions which will be affected by a proposed action, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, noise, objects of historic or aesthetic significance, existing patterns of population concentration, distribution, or growth, and existing community or neighborhood character.

(j) Environmental analysis means a department evaluation of the environmental effects of an action, with particular attention to the same areas of environmental impacts as would be contained in an EIS. It is the means by which the division determines whether an action under consideration may or will not have a significant effect on the environment.

(k) Environment impact statement (EIS) means a written document prepared in accordance with 6 NYCRR 617.6 and this Part. An environmental impact statement may either be a "draft" or be "final".

(l) Environmental report shall mean a written report submitted to the division by an applicant who has declined to prepare an EIS requested by the division. It contains an analysis of the environmental factors specified in 6 NYCRR 617.6 as they relate to the applicant's proposed action and such other information as may be necessary for compliance with 6 NYCRR Part 617 and this Part.

(m) Exempt action means any one of the following:

(1) Enforcement or criminal proceedings or the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in determining whether or not to institute such proceedings;

(2) Ministerial actions;

(3) Maintenance or repair involving no substantial changes in existing structure or facility;

(4) With respect to the requirements of subdivision 2 of section 8-0109 of article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law, actions requiring a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need under articles VII and VIII of the Public Service Law and the consideration of, grant or denial of any such certificate;

(5) With respect to the requirements of subdivision 2 of section 8-0109 of article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law, actions subject to the jurisdiction of the Adirondack Park Agency pursuant to section 809 of the Executive Law including actions of the Adirondack Park Agency thereunder, and actions subject to the jurisdiction of local governments pursuant to section 808 of the Executive Law including actions of such local governments thereunder.

(6) Except as set forth in section 2550.10 of this Part, actions undertaken or approved prior to the date(s) specified in article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law, as amended. An action shall be deemed to be undertaken or approved prior to such date(s) as certified by the division to the Director of the Budget, or if, in the case of an action involving Federal participation, either a draft environmental impact statement or a negative declaration has been duly prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

(7) Actions which are immediately necessary on a limited emergency basis for the protection or preservation of life, health, property or natural resources; and

(8) Actions of the Legislature of the State of New York or of any court.

(n) Ministerial action 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 action, although such law may require, in some degree, a construction of its language or intent.

(o) Negative declaration means a written statement prepared by the division after conducting an environmental review of an action which announces that the division has determined that the action will not have a significant effect on the environment.

(p) Notice of determination means a written statement prepared by the division after conducting an environmental analysis of an action which announces that the division has determined that the action may have a significant effect on the environment.

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

(r) SEQR data sheet means a written analysis submitted to the division by an applicant in a form prescribed by the division, or prepared by the division where there is no applicant, providing an identification and analysis of the environmental impact of proposed actions subject to the approval of the division.

(s) Type I action means action contained in either (1) 6 NYCRR 617.12 or (2) section 2550.15 of this Part that is listed as likely to require the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

(t) Type II action means an action listed in either 6 NYCRR 617.12 that the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation has found will not have a significant effect on the environment or (2) section 2550.15 of this Part that the division has determined will not have a significant effect on the environment.

(u) Typical associated effect means changes in one or more natural resources which usually occur because of impacts on other such resources as a result of natural interrelationships or cycles.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 2550.3