Public Meeting: Draft Submission Guidelines and Environmental Policies and Procedures

Federal and non-federal agency applicants whose development proposals are subject to statutory mandated Commission plan and project review must submit their proposals to the Commission following a process laid out in the Submission Guidelines. NCPC’s Submission Guidelines describe the content of submissions, the submission stages, and the coordination and review process governing submissions.
 
While the Submission Guidelines are critical to the Commission’s ability to carry out its planning and review authorities, their last update was on October 3, 1991. As such, NCPC staff prepared recommendations to update the Submission Guidelines to ensure they are clear, consistent with agency policy, and easily accessible to applicants. The proposed Guidelines accomplish three primary objectives:
(1) Create clear, accessible, and efficient guidelines that are responsive to applicant needs.
(2) Align NCPC’s review stages and National Environmental Policy Act requirements with those of applicant agencies to save time and resources in the planning process.
(3) Allow staff to exempt from Commission review certain minor projects based on specific criteria where there is no federal interest.
 
The Commission’s work is also guided by environmental and historic preservation laws and regulations. NCPC has a responsibility to comply with both National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Federal agencies must prepare their own NEPA procedures; in contrast, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation establishes Section 106 procedures. NCPC staff drafted revised NEPA procedures working in close cooperation with the Council on Environmental Quality, and the revised NEPA procedures were coordinated with the updated Submission Guidelines. NCPC adopted its current Environmental Policies and Procedures in 2004. While the current Policies and Procedures were effective, they are now twelve years old and merit revision. The revisions clarify, simplify, streamline, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of NCPC’s compliance with NEPA.
 
At its May 4, 2017, meeting the Commission released updated draft Submission Guidelines and Environmental Policies and Procedures for a 45-day public comment period that is scheduled to run through Thursday, July 10 for the Submission Guidelines and through July 14 for the Environmental Policies and Procedures.
 
Staff will host two events to gather public feedback on both the Submission Guidelines or Environmental Policies and Procedures. Another meeting is on Tuesday, June 13, 2017 from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm at NCPC. 

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