Permit Application Eligibility

(1) A project proponent who submits a permit application to an issuing authority shall satisfy all of the following requirements for the application to be eligible for the Program: (a) The project shall be located entirely within a site designated as a "Priority Development Site" under M.G.L. c. 43D; (b) The project shall be located entirely within a site designated as a "Growth District" by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development; (c) Neither the project nor any portion of the project shall be in a wetland as defined by M.G.L. c. 131, § 40, tideland as defined by M.G.L. c. 91, § 1, priority habitat as delineated by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife under M.G.L. c. 131A, or an area of critical environmental concern as designated by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs; and (d) The MEPA review process under M.G.L. c. 30, §§ 61 through 62I and 301 CMR 11.00: MEPA Regulations shall be complete for the project and the project proponent shall have received a certificate from the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs acknowledging that the MEPA review process is complete for the project. (Note: a project proponent may submit a permit application to an issuing authority before the MEPA review process is complete and the proponent is encouraged to notify the issuing authority that the application is being submitted under the Program, but the application will not be eligible for the Program until the proponent has received a certificate from the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs) (2) Determination of Eligibility. (a) A project proponent shall demonstrate that it has satisfied the requirements listed under 400 CMR 3.04(1) each time the project proponent submits a permit application to an issuing authority. (b) In determining whether a project is eligible under 400 CMR 3.04(1)(c), an issuing authority may rely on findings made by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs in a certificate issued under MEPA. (c) An issuing authority's determination that a permit application it has received is eligible for the Program shall apply to that issuing authority only and shall not prevent other issuing authorities from making independent determinations about a project's eligibility when they receive a permit application.