Agenda - 10-10-1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 079 materials are accepted. The Environmental Assessment would then be sent to the State Clearinghouse for distribution and review, within two working days of submittal. The State's review of the EA will parallel the County's review of the project. The EA must be advertised in the N. C. Environmental Bulletin, and have a review period of 15 days. Depending on when the application is submitted relative to County and State timelines, the period required for advertisement, review, and transmittal of comments would range between 25 and 40 days. The ordinance is currently drafted to allow a maximum of 40 days to determine if review of the EA will result in a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) or if an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be required. This time limit is well within the current time requirements for Planned Developments, Major Subdivision, and Special Use Permits. The time limits for approval of minor subdivisions would be increased by 10 days. Cost The Environmental Assessment should have a minimal effect on cost. An EA form will be provided by the Planning Department as a supplement of the application. The form will contain questions related to each of the criteria listed in Section 2, and will be developed in the format required by the Environmental Policy Act (Section 4) . The EA will be worded to be very clear and understandable. Most of the information needed in the assessment is already known by the developer or owner, and is already brought out at some point in the development process. By preparing a standard EA document, the developer will know exactly what information is to be provided, and will need only to fill in the blanks for most projects. In simple projects which meet very few of the criteria for which an EA is required, the owner may wish to complete the EA himself with the assistance, if needed, from the Planning Department, at no additional dollar costs. As projects become more complex, and involve more of the criteria identified in Section 2, the costs will naturally rise. This is true for the processing of any project, with or without an Environmental Impact Ordinance. If there are aspects of a proposal which are of concern, the developer may put more time and research into preparation of the EA as a means to convince those reviewing the document that additional information in the form of an EIS is not necessary. Any additional costs associated with the EA should remain minimal. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT If review of the EA indicates that there may be significant environmental impact, then an EIS may be required. The EIS