This chapter shall be known as the "Environmental Quality Review
Law of the Town of Oyster Bay."
It is declared to be the public policy of the Town of Oyster
Bay to encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between people and
their environment, to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate
damage to the environment and enhance human and community resources
and to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems, natural,
human and community resources important to the people of the Town
of Oyster Bay and to join with private and other governmental authorities
in those endeavors.
No decision to carry out, fund or approve any action by the
Town Board or by any other involved Town agency shall be made until
there has been full compliance with all requirements of this chapter
and Part 617 of Title 6 of NYCRR; provided, however, that nothing
herein shall be construed as prohibiting:
A. The conducting of contemporaneous environmental, engineering, economic
feasibility or other study and preliminary planning and budgetary
processes necessary to the formulation of a proposal for actions which
do not commit the Town to approve, fund or engage in such action;
or
B. The granting 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
until all requirements of this chapter and Part 617 of Title 6 of
NYCRR have been fulfilled.
For the purpose of assisting in the review of whether an action
may or may not have a significant effect on the environment, applicants
for permits or other approvals shall, at the request of the Commissioner
or Director of TEQR, or other member of the TEQR staff acting on behalf
of the Commissioner or Director of TEQR, complete and file an environmental
assessment form in accordance with prevailing law and rules and regulations.
In addition, applicants may include a detailed statement of the reasons
why, in their view, a proposed action may not or will not have a significant
effect on the environment. The statement provided herein shall be
upon a form prescribed by the Commissioner and shall contain such
additional relevant information as shall be accompanied by drawings,
sketches and maps, if any, together with any other relevant explanatory
material as may be requested by the TEQR staff.
The TEQR staff shall maintain files open for public inspection
of all notices of completion, draft and final environmental impact
statements and written determinations prepared or caused to be prepared
thereon.
Where more than one agency is involved in an action, the procedures
of § 617.6(b)(2) of Part 617 of Title 6 of NYCRR shall be
followed.
Actions undertaken or approved prior to the date specified in Article
8 of the Environmental Conservation Law for local agencies shall be exempt from this chapter and the provisions of Article
8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and Part 617 of Title 6 of NYCRR; provided, however, that if after such dates the agency having jurisdiction modifies an action undertaken or approved prior to that date and the Town Board or other involved Town agency, in consultation with the TEQR staff determines that the modification may have a significant adverse effect on the environment, such modification shall be an action subject to this chapter and Part 617 of Title 6 of NYCRR.