No decision to carry out or approve an action, other than an action listed in §
112-3B hereof or Section 617.12 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, as a Type II action, shall be made by the Common Council or any department, board, commission, officer or employee of the City of Amsterdam until there has been full compliance with all requirements of this chapter and Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting:
A. The conducting of contemporaneous environmental, engineering,
economic feasibility or other studies and preliminary planning and budgetary
process necessary to the formulation of a proposal for action which do not
commit the city to approve, commence 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 the New York Codes,
Rules and Regulations have been fulfilled.
For the purpose of assisting in the determination of whether an action
may or will not have a significant effect on the environment, applicants for
permits or other approvals shall file a written statement with the Common
Council setting forth the name of the real property affected, if any; a description
of the nature of the proposed action; and the effect it may have on the environment.
In addition, applicants may include a detailed statement of the reasons why,
in their view, a proposed action may or will not have a significant effect
on the environment. Where the action involves an application, the statement
shall be filed simultaneously with the application for the action. The statement
provided herein shall be upon a form prescribed by resolution by the Common
Council and shall contain such additional relevant information as shall be
required in the prescribed form. Such statement shall be accompanied by drawings,
sketches and maps, if any, together with an other relevant explanatory material
required by the Common Council.
Every application for determination under this chapter shall be accompanied
by a reasonable fee set forth in this section to defray the expenses incurred
in rendering such determination. The fees shall be as follows: The fee basis
shall reflect the costs involved, such fees to be charged by the agency to
the applicant as established with rules and regulations to be issued by the
agency. Such fees shall be in conformity with the provisions of § 8-0109
of the Environmental Conservation Law.
If the Common Council determines that the proposed action is not an exempt action, not an action listed in §
112-3B hereof or Section 617.12 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations as a Type II action and that it will not have a significant effect on the environment, the Common Council shall prepare, file and circulate such determination as provided in Section 617.7(b) of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations and thereafter the proposed action may be processed without further regard to this chapter. If the Common Council determines that the proposed action may have significant effect on the environment, the Common Council shall prepare, file and circulate such determination as provided in Section 617.7(b) of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, and thereafter the proposed action shall be reviewed and processed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.
Where more than one agency is involved in an action, the procedures
of Sections 617.4 and 617.8 of Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes,
Rules and Regulations shall be followed.
Actions undertaken or approved prior to the dates 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 the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations;
provided, however, that if, after such dates a Common Council modifies an
action undertaken or approved prior to that date and the Common Council 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 the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.
The Mayor is authorized and empowered to designate a department, officer,
board, commission or employee of the City of Amsterdam to act on behalf of
the city and the Common Council in the implementation hereof. In the event
of such designation, all references herein to the Common Council shall be
intended to refer to such designee.