Okla. Admin. Code § 785:50-9-60

Current through Vol. 42, No. 7, December 16, 2024

Section 785:50-9-60 - Requirement of environmental review

As required by the provisions of Section 602(b) (6) of the Clean Water Act, the Board shall conduct an interdisciplinary environmental review consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of the project proposed for funding through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Account. This review will insure that the project will comply with the applicable local, state and federal laws and Board regulations relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment. Based upon the staff's review, the Board will make formal determinations regarding the potential social and environmental impacts of the proposed project. As necessary, the determination will include mitigative provisions as a condition of financial assistance for building and no financial assistance will be provided until a final environmental determination has been made. Nothing in this Part shall prohibit any public, private or governmental party from seeking administrative or legal relief from the determinations of the Board. Potential applicants to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Account should obtain guidance from the staff regarding the scope of the environmental review to be conducted by the Board and the environmental information which the applicant will be required to submit in support of the proposed project.

(1)Basic environmental determination. There are three (3) basic environmental determinations that will apply to projects proposed to be implemented with assistance from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Account. These are: a determination to categorically exclude a project from a formal environmental review; a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) based upon a formal environmental review supported by an environmental information assessment (EA); and a determination to provide or not to provide financial assistance based upon a Record of Decision (ROD) following the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The appropriate determination will be based on the following criteria.

(A) The categorical exclusion determination applies to categories of projects that have shown over time not to entail significant impacts on the quality of the human environment. Documentation required in this subsection will be submitted to the Board.

(i) Applicants seeking a categorical exclusion will provide the Board with sufficient documentation to demonstrate compliance with the criteria of this Chapter and shall satisfy the provisions of 40 C.F.R. Section 6.204. At a minimum, this will consist of:

(I) a brief, complete description of the proposed project and its costs;

(II) statement identifying the categorical exclusion that applies to the action;

(III) a statement explaining why no extraordinary circumstances apply to the proposed action; and

(IV) a plan map or maps of the proposed project showing the location of all construction areas, the planning area boundaries, and any known environmentally sensitive areas.

(ii) A proposed project can be categorically excluded from a full environmental review if the proposed project:

(I) fits within the category of action that is eligible for exclusion,

(II) will not result in significant impacts on the quality of the human environment; and

(III) does not involve extraordinary circumstances, as listed in 40 CRF Section 6.204.

(iii) The project is in a community of less than 10,000 population and is for minor expansions or upgrading of existing treatment works or on-site disposal systems are proposed.

(iv) The Board may exclude, by amendment to these regulations, other categories of projects for which there is sufficient documentation demonstrating that they are not likely to have significant effects on the quality of the human environment.

(B) The FONSI will be based upon an environmental review by the staff supported by an Environmental Information Document (EID) in conformance with 785:50-9-61 and 40 CFR 6.206. Upon review of the EID the staff will issue either a FONSI or a public notice that the preparation of an EIS will be required. All applicants whose projects do not meet the criteria for a categorical exclusion will be required to prepare an EID. The Board's issuance of a FONSI will be based upon an EA documenting that the potential environmental impacts will not be significant or that they may be mitigated without extraordinary measures.

(C) The ROD may only be based upon an EIS in conformance with the format and guidelines described in 785:50-9-61 and 40 CFR 6.208. A ROD results from an extensive environmental review of a proposed project's potential environmental impacts as detailed in an EIS.

(2)Other determinations of the Board.

(A) Recognizing that a project may be altered at some time after an environmental determination on the project has been issued prior to approval, the plans and specifications, assistance application, and related documents will be examined for consistency with the environmental determination. If inconsistencies are found, the Board may revoke a categorical exclusion and require the preparation of an EID or an EIS, consistent with the criteria of this subsection, or require the preparation of amendments to an EID or supplements to an EIS, as appropriate. Based upon the staff's review of the amended project, the Board will:

(i) reaffirm the original determination through the issuance of a public notice or statement of finding;

(ii) issue a FONSI for a project for which a categorical exclusion has been revoked, or issue a public notice that the preparation of an EIS will be required;

(iii) issue an amendment to a FONSI, or revoke a FONSI and issue a public notice that the preparation of an EIS will be required, or

(iv) issue a supplement to a record of decision, or revoke a record of decision and issue a public notice that financial assistance will not be provided.

(B) When the environmental determination is five years old or older, and for which the subject action has not yet been implemented, the Board staff must re-evaluate the proposed action, environmental conditions, and public views to determine whether to conduct a supplemental environmental review of the action and complete an appropriate decision document in accordance with 785:50-9-60 or reaffirm original determination.

(C) An applicant may request advance authority to construct part of the proposed wastewater treatment project prior to completion of the necessary environmental review when the part of the project will:

(i) immediately remedy a severe public health, water quality or environmental problem;

(ii) not preclude any reasonable alternatives identified for the complete system;

(iii) not cause significant or indirect environmental impacts including those which cannot be acceptably mitigated without completing the entire project; and

(iv) not be highly controversial.

(D) Based upon the review of the information required by Section 785:50-9-61, the Board will issue a FONSI so conditioned as to prohibit construction of the remainder of the project until a complete environmental review has been performed and a subsequent environmental determination has been issued.

(E) The Board may choose to accept determinations made by a federal agency in a previously issued environmental decision in lieu of conducting a formal environmental review when the proposed project will not cause adverse impacts to the environment and is not highly controversial.

(3)Projects exempt from environmental review. The Board is not required to perform an environmental review of the following projects:

(A) Non-treatment works projects that are not defined in the Clean Water Act Section 212; and projects that are not defined as Section 212 projects.

(B) Projects that consist of design and planning fees only.

Okla. Admin. Code § 785:50-9-60

Added at 10 Ok Reg 3333, eff 7-1-93 ; Amended at 19 Ok Reg 2531, eff 6-27-02 ; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2622, eff 7-11-03 ; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 3086, eff 7-27-06 ; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1715, eff 6-11-09 ; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1321, eff 5-27-10 ; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 991, eff 6-13-13

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 32, Issue 24, September 1, 2015, eff. 9/11/2015

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 33, Issue 24, September 1, 2016, eff. 9/11/2016

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 35, Issue 24, September 4, 2018, eff. 9/14/2018

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 36, Issue 22, August 1, 2019, eff. 8/11/2019