HAR §11-200-21. Distribution

The office shall be responsible for the publication of the notice of availability of the EIS in its bulletin. The office shall develop a distribution list of reviewers (i.e., persons and agencies with jurisdiction or expertise in certain areas relevant to various actions) and a list of public depositories, which shall include public libraries, where copies of the statements shall be available, and to the extent possible, the proposing agency or applicant shall make copies of the EIS available to individuals requesting the EIS. The office’s distribution list may be developed cooperatively among the applicant or proposing agency, the accepting authority, and the office; provided the office shall be responsible for determining the final list. The applicant or proposing agency shall directly distribute the required copies to those on the distribution list after the office has verified to the applicant or proposing agency the accuracy of the distribution list. For final statements, the agency or applicant shall give the commentor an option of requesting a copy of the final EIS or portions thereof. [Eff 12/6/85; am and comp AUG 31 1996] (Auth: HRS §343-5, 343-6) (Imp: HRS §343-3, 343-5, 343-6) §11-200-22 Public review of environmental impact statements and addenda to draft environmental impact statements. (a) Public review shall not substitute for early and open discussion with interested persons and agencies, concerning the environmental impacts of a proposed action. Review of the EIS shall serve to provide the public and other agencies an opportunity to discover the extent to which a proposing agency or applicant has examined environmental concerns and available alternatives. (b) The period for public review and for submitting written comments shall commence as of the date notice of availability of the draft EIS is initially issued in the periodic bulletin and shall continue for a period of forty-five days. Written comments to the approving agency or accepting authority, whichever is applicable, with a copy of the comments to the applicant or proposing agency, shall be received or postmarked to the approving agency or accepting authority, within said forty-five-day period. Any comments outside of the forty-five day comment period need not be considered or responded to. - 24 - Hawai`i Administrative Rules Title 11, Chapter 200 - Unofficial (c) The proposing agency or applicant shall respond in writing to the comments received or postmarked during the forty-five-day review period and incorporate the comments and responses in the final EIS. The response to comments shall include: (1) Point-by-point discussion of the validity, significance, and relevance of comments; and (2) Discussion as to how each comment was evaluated and considered in planning the proposed action. The response shall endeavor to resolve conflicts, inconsistencies, or concerns. Response letters reproduced in the text of the final EIS shall indicate verbatim changes that have been made to the text of the draft EIS. The response shall describe the disposition of significant environmental issues raised (e.g., revisions to the proposed project to mitigate anticipated impacts or objections, etc.). In particular, the issues raised when the applicant’s or proposing agency’s position is at variance with recommendations and objections raised in the comments shall be addressed in detail, giving reasons why specific comments and suggestions were not accepted, and factors of overriding importance warranting an override of the suggestions. (d) An addendum document to a draft environmental impact statement shall reference the original draft environmental impact statement it attaches to and comply with all applicable filing, public review, and comment requirements set forth in subchapter 7. [Eff 12/6/85; am and comp AUG 31 1996] (Auth: HRS §343-5, 343-6) (Imp: HRS §343-5, 343-6)