§ 2-1-22 - Procedure for approval by director – Notice of change of ownership – Recordation of permit.
SECTION 2-1-22
§ 2-1-22 Procedure for approval bydirector – Notice of change of ownership – Recordation of permit.– (a) Application for approval of a project to the director of environmentalmanagement shall be made in a form to be prescribed by the director andprovided by the director upon request. Prior to the application, a request maybe made for preliminary determination as to whether this chapter applies. Apreliminary determination shall be made by the director only after an on-sitereview of the project and the determination shall be made within thirty (30)days of the request. This chapter shall be determined to apply if a significantalteration appears to be contemplated and an application to alter a wetlandwill be required. Within fourteen (14) days after receipt of the completedapplication accompanied by plans and drawings of the proposed project, theplans and drawings to be prepared by the registered professional engineer to ascale of not less than one inch (1") to one hundred feet (100'), the directorshall notify all landowners whose properties are within two hundred feet (200')of the proposed project and the director will also notify the city or towncouncil, the conservation commission, the planning board, the zoning board, andany other individuals and agencies in any city or town within whose borders theproject lies who may have reason in the opinion of the director to be concernedwith the proposal. The director may also establish a mailing list of allinterested persons and agencies who may wish to be notified of all applications.
(b) If the director receives any objection to the projectwithin forty-five (45) days of the mailing of the notice of application fromhis or her office, the objection to be in writing and of a substantive nature,the director shall then schedule a public hearing in an appropriate place asconvenient as reasonably possible to the site of the proposed project. Thedirector shall inform by registered mail all objectors of the date, time,place, and subject of the hearing to be held. The director shall furtherpublish notice of the time, place, date, and subject of the hearing in onelocal newspaper circulated in the area of the project and one statewidenewspaper, the notices to appear once per week for at least two (2) consecutiveweeks prior to the week during which the hearing is scheduled. The directorshall establish a reasonable fee to cover the costs of theinvestigations,notifications, and publications, and hearing and the applicant shall be liablefor the fee.
(c) If no public hearing is required, or following a publichearing, the director shall make his or her decision on the application andnotify the applicant by registered mail and the applicant's attorney and anyother agent or representative of the applicant by mail of this decision withina period of six (6) weeks. If a public hearing was held, any persons whoobjected, in writing, during the forty-five (45) day period provided forobjections shall be notified of the director's decision by first class mail.
(d) In the event of a decision in favor of granting anapplication, the director shall issue a permit for the applicant to proceedwith the project, and shall require the applicant to pay a permit fee of onehundred dollars ($100). The permit may be issued upon any terms and conditions,including time for completion, that the director may require. Permits shall bevalid for a period of one year from the date of issue and shall expire at theend of that time unless renewed. A permit may be renewed for up to three (3)additional one year periods upon application by the original permit holder or asubsequent transferee of the property subject to permit, unless the originalpermit holder or transferee has failed to abide by the terms and conditions ofthe original permit or any prior renewal. The director may require new hearingsif, in his or her judgment, the original intent of the permit is altered orextended by the renewal application or if the applicant has failed to abide bythe terms of the original permit in any way. In addition, in the event aproject authorized by a permit was not implemented by the permit holder ortransferee because approval of the project by a federal agency, for whichapplication had been timely made, had not been received or a federal agency hadstopped the project from proceeding, prior to the expiration of the permit, thepermit holder or transferee may apply for a renewal of the permit at any timeprior to the tenth (10th) anniversary of the original issuance, and theapplication shall be deemed to be an insignificant alteration subject toexpedited treatment. The request for renewal of a permit shall be madeaccording to any procedures and form that the director may require.
(e) The original permittee or subsequent transferee shallnotify the director, in writing, of any change of ownership that occurs whilean original or renewal permit is in effect by forwarding a certified copy ofthe deed of transfer of the property subject to the permit to the director.
(f) A notice of permit and a notice of completion of worksubject to permit shall be eligible for recordation under chapter 13 of title34 and shall be recorded at the expense of the applicant in the land evidencerecords of the city or town where the property subject to permit is located,and any subsequent transferee of the property shall be responsible forcomplying with the terms and conditions of the permit.
(g) The director shall notify the person requesting apreliminary determination and the person's attorney, agent, and otherrepresentative of his or her decision by letter, copies of which shall be sentby mail to the city or town clerk, the zoning board, the planning board, thebuilding official, and the conservation commission in the city or town withinwhich the project lies.
(h) The director shall report to the general assembly on orbefore February 1 of each calendar year on his or her compliance with the timeprovisions contained in this chapter.
(i) Normal farming activities shall be consideredinsignificant alterations and, as normal farming activities, shall be exemptedfrom the provisions of this chapter in accordance with the following procedures:
(1) Normal farming and ranching activities are those carriedout by farmers as defined in this title, including plowing, seeding,cultivating, land clearing for routine agriculture purposes, harvesting ofagricultural products, pumping of existing farm ponds for agriculturalpurposes, upland soil and water conservation practices, and maintenance ofexisting farm drainage structures, existing farm ponds and existing farm roadsare permissible at the discretion of farmers in accordance with best farmmanagement practices which assure that the adverse effects to the flow andcirculation patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of fresh waterwetlands are minimized and that any adverse effects on the aquatic environmentare minimized.
(2) In the case of construction of new farm ponds,construction of new drainage structures and construction of new farm roads, thedivision of agriculture shall be notified by the filing of a writtenapplication for the proposed construction by the property owner. Theapplication shall include a description of the proposed construction and thedate upon which construction is scheduled to begin, which date shall be noearlier than thirty (30) calendar days after the date of the filing of theapplication. The division of agriculture shall review such applications todetermine that they are submitted for agricultural purposes and to assure thatadverse effects to the flow and circulation patterns and chemical andbiological characteristics of fresh water wetlands are minimized and that anyadverse effects on the aquatic environment are minimized and will not result ina significant alteration to the wetlands. Pursuant to this review, the divisionshall notify the applicant, in writing, whether the proposal is aninsignificant alteration. This notice shall be issued not later than thirty(30) days after the date that the application was filed with the division. Inthe event notice is given by the division as required, the application shall beconclusively presumed to be an insignificant alteration. If no notice is givenas required, or if an application is approved as an insignificant alteration,the applicant may cause construction to be done in accordance with theapplication, and neither the applicant nor the applicant's agents or employeeswho cause or perform the construction in accordance with the application shallbe liable for any criminal, civil, administrative or other fine, fee, orpenalty, including restoration costs for violations alleged to arise from theconstruction.
(3) The division of agriculture shall, in coordination withthe agricultural council's advisory committee, adopt regulations forsubdivision (i)(2), and shall determine whether a proposed activity, other thanan activity listed in subdivision (i)(1), constitutes a normal farmingactivity, or involves the best farm management practices.
(4) Except as otherwise provided for farm road construction,filling of wetlands conforms to the provisions of this chapter.
(j) For the purposes of this section, a "farmer" is anindividual, partnership or corporation who operates a farm and has filed a1040F U.S. Internal Revenue Form with the Internal Revenue Service, has a statefarm tax number and has earned ten thousand dollars ($10,000) gross income onfarm products in each of the preceding four (4) years.