N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 3-0306: Registry of public agencies and private organizations; notice of department hearings

§ 3-0306. Registry of public agencies and private organizations; notice

of department hearings.

1. The commissioner shall develop and maintain a registry of

government agencies and officials and of private organizations of

statewide, regional, county and local scope, with interests in the

regulatory and other programs of the department for the purpose of

providing written notice to such agencies and organizations of the time,

date, place, subject and nature of hearings on rules and regulations

under consideration by the department, or on applications to the

department for permits relating to the use, improvement, construction,

change or any modification whatsoever of the air, land, or water

resources within the state, or in relation to any other business before

the department for which issuance of a public notice is required or is

appropriate and desirable in accord with the interests of public

participation in environmental planning and decision-making.

2. To aid in the compilation of the registry, the commissioner shall

advertise its purposes no less than annually to governmental agencies

and the public through news releases and other media available to the

department, stating that interested agencies and organizations may apply

to be listed in the registry by completing forms requiring such

information as may be prescribed by the commissioner. Said registry

shall be prepared by the department to be as comprehensive as possible

and the entries contained therein shall not be limited to those obtained

in response to advertisement by the department of the purposes of the

registry.

3. The commissioner shall publish and distribute or cause to be

published and distributed said registry, not less frequently than

annually and in whole or in part as deemed appropriate and desirable by

the commissioner, for the purpose of providing a directory to assist

with communications between public agencies and private organizations in

all manner of environmental affairs.

4. Notices, as described herein, shall, at the discretion of the

commissioner, be published not less frequently than once every two weeks

in a departmental publication which shall be mailed to registered

agencies and organizations in the area to be affected by the subject of

said notices and to other persons subscribing to such publication;

provided that the commissioner may require the payment of a subscription

fee not to exceed the reasonable costs of such publication; and provided

further that the commissioner may in lieu of publishing any such notice

mail a copy thereof to registered agencies or organizations. In setting

such fee the commissioner shall take into account the purposes of this

section to provide broad public notice of department actions. Unless

otherwise provided by statute or regulation, failure to provide notice

as herein described shall in no way affect the ordinary proceedings of

the department.