SB597 HFA McGeehan 2-29

Delegate McGeehan moves to amend the amendment on page 5, following line 9, by striking out all of subsection (e) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

                (e) Procedure for review of cooperative agreements.

(1) Upon receipt of an application, the authority shall determine whether the application is

complete.  If the authority determines the application is incomplete, it shall notify the applicant in writing of additional items required to complete the application.  A copy of the complete application shall be provided by the parties to the Office of the Attorney General simultaneous with submission to the authority.

(2) Within five days of determining the application is complete, the authority shall provide

notification of the application to the public through a newspaper of general circulation in the area(s) where the agreement is being proposed and by placing a copy of the application on its website. The newspaper notice shall contain a statement that, further information regarding the application is on the authority’s website.  The public may submit written comments regarding the application within ten days following publication.

(3) An affected party has thirty days starting from the date of publication of notice of the

application to request the authority hold an administrative hearing.  If no affected party requests a hearing, the authority may still order a public hearing if it deems it necessary to make an informed decision on the application.

                (i)   A hearing order shall be approved by the authority within fifteen days from the last the day an affected person may request an administrating hearing on an application.

                (ii)  A hearing shall take place no later than 120 days from that date the hearing order was approved by the authority.

                (iii)  The authority shall conduct the administrative hearing in accordance with administrative hearing requirements in article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.

                (iv)  In the administrative hearing an affected person has the right to be represented by counsel and to present oral or written arguments and evidence relevant to the matter which is the subject of the public hearing.  An affected person may conduct reasonable questioning of persons who make factual allegations relevant to its application.

                (v) The authority shall maintain a verbatim record of the administrative hearing.

                (vi)  The authority may not impose fees to hold the administrative hearing.

                (vii)  After the commencement of the administrative hearing on the application and before a decision is made with respect to it, there may be no ex parte contacts between the applicant, and person acting on behalf of the applicant, or any person opposed to approval of the application on the one hand, and any person in the authority who exercises any responsibility respecting the application on the other hand.

                (4)  The authority shall issue a written decision within seventy-five days from receipt of the completed application or within 45 days of the conclusion of the public hearing, whichever is later.  The authority may request additional information in which case they shall have an additional fifteen days following receipt of the supplemental information to approve or deny the proposed cooperative agreement.

Adopted

Rejected