51.856—Public participation.
(a)
Upon request by any person regarding a specific Federal action, a Federal agency must make available for review its draft conformity determination under § 51.858 with supporting materials which describe the analytical methods and conclusions relied upon in making the applicability analysis and draft conformity determination.
(b)
A Federal agency must make public its draft conformity determination under § 51.858 by placing a notice by prominent advertisement in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the action and by providing 30 days for written public comment prior to taking any formal action on the draft determination. This comment period may be concurrent with any other public involvement, such as occurs in the NEPA process.
(c)
A Federal agency must document its response to all the comments received on its draft conformity determination under § 51.858 and make the comments and responses available, upon request by any person regarding a specific Federal action, within 30 days of the final conformity determination.
(d)
A Federal agency must make public its final conformity determination under § 51.858 for a Federal action by placing a notice by prominent advertisement in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the action within 30 days of the final conformity determination.