Sec. 34.02.01.05. Distribution and Referral

A. General. The Clearinghouse, as the State single point of contact, will provide opportunities for consultation among affected State, regional, and local officials in connection with those federal and State financial assistance applications, those direct federal development activities, and those other applications and activities that are covered by the intergovernmental review requirements of this chapter.

B. Discretionary Informational Referrals. In addition to referrals under §A of this regulation, the Clearinghouse may distribute notice of other applications for information purposes only.

C. Specific Requirements.

(1) The Clearinghouse shall forward notification information, together with a review request letter, to each State agency or local jurisdiction that the Clearinghouse determines will or may be affected by an application. The review request letter shall indicate the date by which the Clearinghouse must receive comments.

(2) The Clearinghouse shall supply the Baltimore Metropolitan Council with notification information on applications that the Clearinghouse determines will or may affect the Baltimore Region or any local jurisdiction within that region. For those applications, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council shall notify and consult with affected local jurisdictions in the Baltimore Region.

(3) Except as provided in §C(2) of this regulation, the Clearinghouse will not routinely provide regional planning or special-purpose coordinating agencies with notification information. However, the Clearinghouse will provide summary notice of applications to these entities, and it will distribute notification information to them on request.

(4) If notification information indicates that an application has already been approved or acknowledged by a general-purpose local government or by a State agency, the Clearinghouse will not normally refer the notification information again to that entity for review. Rather, the Clearinghouse will assume that the notifying party has coordinated with that entity and received its comments and concurrence during the formulation of the application. However, the Clearinghouse will provide summary notice of the application to the general-purpose local government or State agency.

(5) The Clearinghouse will not normally distribute detailed information concerning an application with widely dispersed effects to each affected local jurisdiction, if the notifying party gives assurances that it has adequately consulted with affected local jurisdictions during the development of the application. However, the Clearinghouse will provide summary notice of the application to affected local jurisdictions.

(6) The Clearinghouse shall make notification information submitted to the Clearinghouse available for public review by maintaining the information in a searchable format on the Department’s website.

D. Review Period.

(1) The Clearinghouse shall complete intergovernmental review within 60 days after it receives notification of an application. If the application is for the continuation of federal financial assistance and there is no competing applicant, the Clearinghouse will normally complete the review within 30 days.

(2) Notwithstanding §D(1) of this regulation, the Clearinghouse will provide in its review request letter for an initial 30-day review period. If the review relates to an application with regional or interstate effects, the initial review period will be 40 days. Except when the review relates to an application for the continuation of federal financial assistance and there is no competing application, on the request of any affected party and for a valid reason, the Clearinghouse may extend the review period to 60 days.

E. Review Coordinators.

(1) The Clearinghouse will request appropriate officials (whenever possible, elected officials) of each State agency and each general-purpose local government to designate a review coordinator.

(2) For purposes of intergovernmental coordination, the review coordinator is the single point of contact for the State agency or local jurisdiction.

(3) The responsibilities of the review coordinator are to:

(a) Receive and disseminate notifications and information to appropriate subagencies or to appropriate agencies within the local jurisdiction;

(b) Serve as a liaison among these entities and the Clearinghouse;

(c) Ensure that appropriate elected officials are provided with an opportunity to review applications;

(d) Coordinate reviews;

(e) Formulate comments and recommendations that reflect the views of elected officials and the adopted plans and policies of the State agency or local jurisdiction;

(f) Provide an early alert to the Clearinghouse if there is disagreement with or concern regarding an application;

(g) Resolve or assist the Clearinghouse in resolving disagreements or concerns; and

(h) Provide notification information to citizens when it is appropriate, and involve them in the review process.

F. Questions Arising During Review. If a review coordinator needs additional information about an application, the coordinator should make direct contact with the notifying party. The review coordinator should provide the Clearinghouse with copies of correspondence between the review coordinator and a notifying party. The Clearinghouse may extend the review period to accommodate the exchange of additional information.