§ 62A — Notice of intent to apply; forms; certification of need for environmental impact report; application of section

Section 62A. A person applying or intending to apply to an agency for a permit or for financial assistance for a project may, at any time prior to, but, in any event, shall no later than ten days after filing the first application for such permit or assistance notify the secretary of environmental affairs of the nature of the project and of such application, if any, on such forms as said secretary shall prescribe and shall transmit copies of said notification forms to such agency from which a permit or financial assistance is or may be sought. Any agency proposing a project may file said notification forms prior to the development of the project and shall file said forms no later than the secretary of environmental affairs shall by regulation prescribe. Within thirty days after issuance of notice of the receipt of such notification, the secretary shall consult with the person or agency proposing the project and the agency, if any, from which a permit or financial assistance is or may be sought and shall issue a certificate stating whether an environmental impact report is required. If a report is required, the secretary with the cooperation of said person and agency shall, within the above mentioned thirty day period, limit the scope of the report to those issues which by the nature and location of the project are likely to cause damage to the environment. The secretary shall determine the form, content, level of detail and alternatives required for the report. In the case of a permit application to an agency from a private person for a project for which financial assistance is not sought the scope of said report and alternatives considered therein shall be limited to that part of the project which is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the permit. Any finding required by section sixty-one shall be limited to those matters which are within the scope of the environmental impact report, if any, required by this section.[ Second paragraph effective until February 18, 2025. For text effective February 18, 2025, see below.]In the case of a major and complicated project, the secretary of environmental affairs, with the agreement of the agencies and persons who are proposing, providing public financial assistance for or issuing permits for a project subject to sections sixty-two to sixty-two H, inclusive, may establish a specific procedure for evaluation and review of the environmental impacts of said project. This section shall not apply to the placing, maintaining, repairing or relocating of poles, wires, conduits, cables, pipes and associated fixtures by public utility companies under section seventy-one of chapter one hundred and sixty-four and sections twenty-one to twenty-two, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and sixty-six.[ Second paragraph as amended by 2024, 239, Sec. 33 effective February 18, 2025. For text effective until February 18, 2025, see above.]In the case of a major and complicated project, the secretary of environmental affairs, with the agreement of the agencies and persons who are proposing, providing public financial assistance for or issuing permits for a project subject to sections sixty-two to sixty-two H, inclusive, may establish a specific procedure for evaluation and review of the environmental impacts of said project. This section and sections 62B to 62L, inclusive, shall not apply to the energy facilities siting board established under section 69H of chapter 164 or to any proponent or owner of a large clean energy infrastructure facility, as defined in section 69G of said chapter 164, or small clean energy infrastructure facility, as defined in section 21 of chapter 25A, in relation to an application for a consolidated permit or petition for a de novo adjudication filed under sections 69T to 69W, inclusive, of said chapter 164.