Upon receipt of a complete application for an action which the Planning Board determines may have a significant effect upon the environment pursuant to Article
IV of this chapter, the Planning Board shall immediately notify all other agencies which may be involved in the proposed action. All involved agencies shall, to the fullest extent possible, coordinate their environmental reviews through a lead agency to the end that the requirements are met by a single draft environmental impact statement, a single final environmental impact statement and, if conducted and practicable, a single hearing process. In order to expedite this coordination, the Planning Board shall require applicants to specify in their applications which other agencies, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, will have jurisdiction by law over proposed actions. The designation of the lead agency shall be made within 30 calendar days following the filing of a complete application.
Once the lead agency has been identified, the
lead agency shall immediately notify the applicant in writing that
it is the lead agency and request the applicant to prepare a draft
environmental impact statement.
The other agencies involved in the action shall
have no further obligations under this section with respect to the
action being considered except to:
A. Provide their reviews where appropriate and, to the
extent practical, provide appropriate technical analysis and support.
B. Make the findings required by Article
IX of this chapter.
C. Not approve, commence or engage in such action until the procedures set forth in Article
IX of this chapter have been completed.
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the Town,
an agency or an applicant from:
A. Conducting contemporaneous environmental, economic
feasibility and other studies and preliminary planning and budgetary
processes necessary to the formulation of a proposal for action which
do not otherwise commit the Town or the agency to commence or engage
in such action.
B. Granting approval of any part of an application which
relates only to technical specifications and requirements, provided
that no such partial approval shall entitle or permit the applicant
to commence the action unless and until all requirements of this chapter
have been fulfilled.