Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1)
General. With the consent of the Proponent, and after
consulting with any Participating Agency, the Secretary may establish a Special
Review Procedure for a Project, notwithstanding the other provisions of
301 CMR
11.00. Among other things, a Special Review Procedure
may provide for: review documents other than ENFs and EIRs and other periodic
reports to be filed and reviewed; shortened or extended review periods; review
of a Project in phases; lapses of time between review documents not requiring a
Notice of Project Change; coordination or consolidation of MEPA review with
other environmental or development review and permitting processes; and
establishment of a CAC. The final review document called for in a Special
Review Procedure shall be considered a final EIR. A Special Review Procedure
may be appropriate, for example, for reviewing a proposed program, regulations,
policy, or other Project in which there is more than one Proponent or more than
one Participating Agency with a significant role, or a Project that is
undefined or is expected to evolve during MEPA review, or a Project that may
benefit the environment if there is early Commencement of a portion of the
Project. The Secretary may establish a Special Review Procedure for a Project
regardless of its size or complexity.
(2)
Establishment.
The Proponent shall ordinarily request a Special Review Procedure prior to or
when filing the ENF. In the certificate establishing the Special Review
Procedure, the Secretary shall find that a Special Review Procedure shall serve
the purposes of MEPA, including providing meaningful opportunities for public
review, analysis of alternatives, and consideration of cumulative environmental
impacts. The Proponent may file a Notice of Project Change after the
Secretary's decision on the ENF to request a Special Review Procedure or to
modify a previously established Special Review Procedure. The Secretary shall
publish notice in the Environmental Monitor of: the
establishment of a Special Review Procedure; any modification of a Special
Review Procedure; the establishment of a CAC; significant events in a Special
Review Procedure including meetings of the CAC; and the availability of review
documents called for in a Special Review Procedure.
(3)
Citizens Advisory
Committee. When establishing or modifying a Special Review
Procedure, the Secretary shall ordinarily (in the case of a Project undertaken
by an Agency) or may (in the case of a Project undertaken by a Person)
establish a CAC to assist in reviewing the Project.
(a)
Membership of
CAC. The CAC shall ordinarily consist of at least ten Persons
appointed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall solicit nominations for the CAC
when announcing its establishment or modification in the Environmental
Monitor from those individuals and entities whose interests are
affected by the Project, including any neighbor, neighborhood association,
ad-hoc committee, business or non-profit organization, Agency, Federal,
municipal, or regional governmental entity, or other organization. The
Proponent shall be entitled to one representative on the CAC. The membership of
the CAC shall be diverse in affiliation and experience and fairly represent a
range of viewpoints.
(b)
Role of CAC During Special Review Procedure. The CAC
shall ordinarily participate in the Special Review Procedure by advising in the
Secretary's establishment of the Special Review Procedure and review of review
documents called for in the Special Review Procedure, and in the Proponent's
review of detailed scopes of service for the consultant and preliminary review
of the consultant work product.
(c)
Meetings of CAC. The CAC shall establish its own
schedule of meetings. The CAC may establish working groups on particular
aspects of the Project or issues within the Scope. The CAC shall be entitled to
meet monthly with the Proponent and its consultants and shall be kept informed
of progress on any review document called for in the Special Review Procedure.
The CAC may direct questions concerning the Special Review Procedure to the
Proponent or the Secretary.
(d)
Staff for CAC. The Secretary may require the Proponent
to provide staff support to the CAC such as secretarial services, keeping of
minutes, mailings, and arrangement of meetings. In the case of a Project
undertaken by an Agency, the Secretary may require the Proponent to transfer
funds to assist the Secretary in maintaining the CAC.
(e)
Document Review by
CAC. The Proponent shall ordinarily submit a draft of any review
document called for in the Special Review Procedure to the CAC at least one
month prior to filing the review document with the Secretary. The CAC may
suggest changes or additions to the review document prior to the Proponent
filing the review document with the Secretary. The CAC may file its comments
with the Secretary prior to or when the Proponent files the review document
with the Secretary. The CAC shall present a consensus in its comments to the
extent to which its members have reached a consensus, although it may present
the diverse views of its members when consensus has not or cannot be attained.
The Proponent shall distribute any comments of the CAC or its members with the
filed review document, provided that the CAC or its members file the comments
with the Secretary prior to the Secretary publishing notice of the availability
of the filed review document in the Environmental
Monitor.
(f)
Role of CAC after Special Review Procedure. After the
Proponent files the final review document called for in the Special Review
Procedure, the CAC may consult with the Secretary and the Proponent to
determine whether it shall have any role in any future actions on the
Project.
(4)
Eligible Projects.
(a)
Programmatic
Review. The Secretary may establish a Special Review Procedure on
the implementation of a program, the promulgation of new or revised
regulations, or the development of a policy. Programmatic Review may be
appropriate, for example, if the cumulative environmental impacts of Projects
requiring individual Agency Actions taken in accordance with the program,
regulations or policy may not otherwise be subject to adequate MEPA review or
may have similar environmental impacts such that a common assessment may be
necessary or appropriate. Programmatic Review shall be designed to assist an
Agency in fulfilling its obligations in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30, § 61
and 301 CMR 11.12(1)
to review periodically, to evaluate, and to
determine the potential significant environmental impacts of its implementation
of its programs, regulations, and policies.
(b)
Area-Wide
Review. The Secretary may establish a Special Review Procedure if
a Project may affect a large area or several sites. Area-Wide Review may be
appropriate, for example, for master plan areas, watersheds and other
ecosystems, roadway and utility corridors, redevelopment areas, major public
facilities, or large developments to be constructed in phases. Area-Wide Review
shall be designed to assist a Proponent in establishing a future baseline in
relation to which a Project and its alternatives can be described and analyzed
and its potential environmental impacts and mitigation measures can be
assessed.
(c)
Coordinated Review. The Secretary may establish a
Special Review Procedure for a Project to coordinate or consolidate MEPA review
with other environmental or development review and permitting processes
conducted by any Agency or Federal, municipal, or regional governmental entity.
Coordinated Review may be appropriate, for example, if there is a comprehensive
review or permitting process by a Federal, municipal, or regional governmental
entity that provides meaningful opportunities for public review, analyzes
alternatives, and considers cumulative impacts. Coordinated Review shall be
designed to assist the Secretary in adopting scoping decisions by the Agency or
entity, deferring to its scoping decisions, issuing joint scoping decisions or
accepting a review document prepared in accordance with the statutes and
regulations of the Agency or entity as the full or partial equivalent of an
ENF, EIR, or other review document.
(d)
Prototype
Projects. The Secretary may establish a Special Review Procedure
for a Project or portions of a Project that will be replicated in substantially
similar form at one or more future times or locations. Prototype project review
shall be designed to streamline review, in whole or in part, of future Projects
that will be sufficiently like the original Project such that the predicted
environmental impacts for the proposed mitigation measures shall be deemed to
be substantially similar. In considering issuance of a Special Review Procedure
for prototype projects, the Secretary shall adopt specific guidelines for
eligible projects to ensure that the environmental impacts of future projects
are substantially similar to a previously reviewed project. The Secretary shall
state in the certificate establishing the Special Review Procedure the time
period that is appropriate for the special review procedure and the conditions
under which the Proponent shall file a Notice of Project Change.
(e)
Other Special
Review. The Secretary may establish a Special Review Procedure for
any other Project.
(5)
Presumptive Filings. Unless the Secretary has
indicated otherwise in the certificate establishing the Special Review
Procedure, the Proponent shall file a final Special Review Procedure review
document within 18 months following that certificate, and shall file a new
Special Review Procedure review document within two years following the
certificate on the final Special Review Procedure review document. The
Secretary may deem the Special Review Procedure closed if the Proponent fails
to file a timely review document. The Secretary shall state in the certificate
establishing the Special Review Procedure when the Proponent shall file any
interim review documents and shall establish the conditions under which the
Proponent shall file a Notice of Project Change.
(6)
Individual Agency
Actions. The Secretary shall state in the certificate on the final
Special Review Procedure review document whether and to what extent an
individual Agency Action taken in accordance with or as part of the Project
subject to the Special Review Procedure shall require further MEPA review. The
Secretary may find that an individual Agency Action does not require an ENF if
it is subject to specified conditions or restrictions, that an ENF is required
but may deal with some issues by reference to the Special Review Procedure, or
that an ENF is required but that an EIR is presumed not to be required except
under circumstances identified during review of the ENF.
