(a) Within 15 working days of the date that the consolidated permit agency is designated, the consolidated permit agency shall convene a meeting with the permit applicant for the project and the participating permit agencies. The meeting agenda shall include at least all of the following matters:
(1) A determination of the environmental permits that are required for the project.
(2) A review of the environmental permit application forms and other application requirements of the agencies that are participating in the consolidated permit.
(3) A discussion of the option available to the permit applicant to use the consolidated permit application form that is authorized by subdivision (e) or (f) of Section 15399.56 of the Government Code in lieu of the separate application forms for each component environmental permit that would be provided by the consolidated permit agency and the participating permit agencies.
(4) A determination of the time lines that will be used by the consolidated permit agency and each participating permit agency to make environmental permit decisions, including the time periods required to determine if the environmental permit applications are complete or the consolidated permit application is complete, to review the application or applications, and to process the component environmental permits, and the timelines that will be used by the consolidated permit agency to aggregate the component environmental permits into, and to issue, the consolidated permit. Notwithstanding Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 15374) of Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 65920) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, the timelines established pursuant to this paragraph may, with the assent of the consolidated permit agency and each participating permit agency, commit the consolidated permit agency and each participating permit agency to act on the component environmental permit within time periods that are different than those required by Sections 65950 and 65952 of the Government Code, subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 15376 of the Government Code, or other applicable provisions of law. However, no accelerated time period for the consideration of an environmental permit application may be set if that accelerated time period would be inconsistent with, or in conflict with, any time period or series of time periods set by statute for that consideration, or with any statute, rule, or regulation, or adopted state policy, standard, or guideline, which require any of the following:
(A) Other agencies, interested persons, or the public to be given adequate notice of the application.
(B) Other agencies to be given a role in, or be allowed to participate in, the decision to approve or disapprove the application.
(C) Interested persons or the public to be provided the opportunity to challenge, comment on, or otherwise voice their concerns regarding the application.
(5) The scheduling of any public hearings that are required to issue environmental permits for the project and a determination of the feasibility of coordinating or consolidating any of those required public hearings.
(6) A discussion of fee arrangements for the consolidated permit process, including an estimate of the fee required under Section 71026 and the billing schedule.
(b) The consolidated permit agency may request any information from the applicant that is necessary to comply with its obligations under this section, consistent with the timelines set pursuant to this section.
(c) A summary of the decisions made pursuant to this section shall be made available for public review upon the filing of the consolidated environmental permit application or environmental permit applications.
(Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 419, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1994.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018