S.C. Code Regs. § 19-450.6 - Review of Permit Application and Comment by State Agencies

A. Review by Agencies

1. State agencies commenting on permit applications are collectively responsible for providing to the Department a total assessment of the impact of any proposed work affecting navigable waters, stream beds, submerged lands or other lands or waters within the state's jurisdiction. Each agency is individually responsible for a specific area or field of review based on that agency's statutory responsibilities or primary interests as they relate to the protection or development of the State's natural resources. Within its area of statutory responsibility or primary interest, each agency is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the project on the lands and waters of the state and to provide an assessment of the relative merits of the proposed activity whether environmentally harmless or not.

2. An agency which comments on a proposed activity that requires a permit under these regulations is responsible for presenting and supporting the comments and objections, if any, made by that agency during any administrative or judicial proceedings growing out of the permitting process.

B. Time for Response. All State agencies receiving public notice of permit applications from the Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard or the Department must submit their comments directly to the Department within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the public notice. Requests by State agencies for extensions of time shall be submitted to the Department in writing before the expiration of the original comment period. A failure to comment, or to request an extension of time during that period shall be treated as no objection to the application. The Department may consider untimely comments for good cause shown.

C. Form and Scope of Comments. Comments and their supporting materials are used to review the proposed activity, as the basis for discussing the terms and conditions of the proposed activity, for conciliating objections, if any, by the Department in making its decision. Therefore, comments by an agency should be objective, and state specifically its conclusions concerning the permit application and include in summary form the information that supports the conclusion of the agency. Objections shall be specifically stated and contain supporting material. Comments which are without support, or are limited solely to use of adjacent private highlands, or are without a comparative assessment of the beneficial and detrimental impacts of the projected activity on lands and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the Department, may, in the discretion of the Department, be disregarded as non-responsive, or returned to the agency for reconsideration or reformulation. All comments of agencies shall be public records available to the public and applicant at the Department.

Notes

S.C. Code Regs. § 19-450.6

Added by State Register Volume 10, Issue No. 6, eff June 27, 1986. Amended by State Register Volume 19, Issue No. 6, eff June 23, 1995.