Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) Any municipality may apply for funds
under this Part. If a municipality and a not-for-profit corporation are
cooperating in the submission of an application, the municipality must execute
the application and project agreement and shall have final responsibility for
the implementation of the project.
(b) Preliminary applications. The office has
instituted a preliminary application process by which a conditional
determination will be made regarding which projects will be funded during a
particular grants cycle.
(1) Preliminary
applications shall be submitted on forms to be furnished by the office. Forms
may be obtained from the respective regional offices of the office which are
listed in section
461.6 of this
Title or by contacting the commissioner. For municipalities within the Catskill
or Adirondack forest preserve, applications may be obtained from the
appropriate regional office of the Department of Environmental Conservation or
from the Division of Operations, Department of Environmental Conservation, 50
Wolf Road, Room 611, Albany, NY 12233.
(2) Prior to submitting a preliminary
application, a municipality shall schedule a preapplication conference with the
regional grants-in-aid representative. At the preapplication conference the
application process, including the annual numerical ranking values and
distribution of program funds, will be discussed and the regional grants
representative will provide such information to the municipality as is
necessary for the municipality to complete the preliminary
application.
(3) The preliminary
application shall contain the following:
(i)
general applicant information;
(ii)
documentation to demonstrate the source of the municipality's funding match and
its commitment to operating and maintaining the facility;
(iii) a program narrative, containing
information to be specified by the office, including but not limited to data on
environmental resources;
(iv) a
project cost breakdown;
(v) a
project map; and
(vi) a copy of a
resolution of the governing body of the municipality recommending the project
to the commissioner.
(4)
Three copies of the complete preliminary application shall be submitted to the
appropriate Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation or Department
of Environmental Conservation regional office, to the attention of the regional
grants representative, no later than September 15th. Preliminary applications
hand-delivered or postmarked after September 15th will not be
accepted.
(c) Review of
preliminary applications.
(1) All preliminary
applications will receive at least two separate reviews, one of which shall be
conducted by the regional office. The final decision on all preliminary
applications shall be made by the commissioner.
(2) All applications will be reviewed in
accordance with section
437.3 of
this Part.
(3) Reviews of
preliminary applications will be completed and the commissioner's decision made
not later than December 31st. All applicants will be immediately notified of
the commissioner's decision. Such decision will be in writing and, where
projects will not be funded, will contain the reasons for this
determination.
(4) Conditional
approval of a preliminary application will mean that the project will be funded
in that grant cycle, provided that the documentation required to convert the
preliminary application into a complete final application is submitted by the
municipality as required by this section.
(d) Final application. A municipality that
has received conditional approval of a preliminary application shall submit the
following documents to the office as soon as possible, but no later than 60
days from the notification of conditional approval.
(1) proof of ownership, such as copies of
deeds, leases and easements (required for development projects only);
(2) appraisal of property to be acquired in
an acquisition project or to be used towards the municipal share of the cost of
a project;
(3) general site
map;
(4) detailed park location
map, showing park boundaries and adjacent land uses;
(5) detailed boundary map, clearly
establishing the subject area's boundaries and showing features such as road
names and numbers, bodies of water, etc.;
(6) environmental management forms:
(i) supporting documentation to indicate
compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act; and
(ii) coastal assessment form, if
applicable;
(7) historic
preservation forms:
(i) project review data
sheet;
(ii) building-structure
inventory forms; and
(8)
additional material specified by the office in the notice of conditional
approval of a preliminary application.
(e) Changes to project. It is understood that
in the preparation of the additional documentation for the final application,
the need for changes to the project may be identified because of engineering,
environmental and historic preservation concerns. If a final application will
contain such changes, these changes shall be fully explained and justified and,
where appropriate, supported by documentation. Final applications which contain
changes from the preliminary application which are not explained to the
satisfaction of the commissioner, or in which changes alter the nature of the
project, will not be approved.
(f)
Review of final application.
(1) The office
will complete its review of the final application documentation and notify the
municipality of the commissioner's approval as soon as possible, but no later
than 60 days from receipt of the documentation.
(2) If the materials supplied by the
municipality for the final application are incomplete or insufficient, the
office will notify the municipality as soon as these deficiencies are known and
will work with the municipality to assure the completion of an approvable
application. In this case, notification by the office will be complete no later
than 30 days after submission of complete final application
documentation.
(g)
Accelerated approvals. If an approved preliminary application also contains the
documentation required to convert it to a final application, early approval of
the final application may be effected.
(h) LWCF applications not funded.
(1) The office shall consider applications
for assistance from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which
were not funded.
(2) In order for
such a project to be considered, the municipality shall complete and submit the
preliminary application according to the procedures established by this
section.
(3) The municipality may
alter, revise or update any part of the application.
(4) The preliminary application will be
reviewed and ranked along with all other preliminary applications received by
the office for that grants cycle.
(5) If an approved preliminary application
contains the documentation required to convert it to a final application, early
approval of the final application will be effected.
(6) Municipalities may obtain copies of
unfunded LWCF applications on file by contacting the regional grants-in-aid
representative.
(i)
Joint applications. Joint applications between municipalities will be
considered provided that the preliminary application clearly establishes to the
satisfaction of the commissioner the various responsibilities of each
participating municipality, including which municipality shall have primary
responsibility for being the contact with the office.
