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August 31, 2006
As we went to press… Public comment period extended!
The Brooklyn Papers
Web Exclusive
By Gersh Kuntzman
Thursday afternoon, the Empire State Development Corporation announced that it had extended the public comment period on the Atlantic Yards draft environmental impact statement by one week.
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The one-week extension — from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29 — was announced in a one-sentence press release. No explanation for the extension was given.
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“We thought it was appropriate, and wanted to give the public more time to review and comment on the project,” ESDC spokeswoman Jessica Copen later told The Brooklyn Papers.
For a more plausible explanation, check out Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's web site:
We think that this August 28 letter [pdf] from our attorney Jeffrey Baker to the ESDC may have forced their hand, and convinced them that abiding by State statutes is the right thing to do.
Baker's letter explained to the ESDC that they might be in legal hot water if they didn't extend the comment period to at least September 28.
As you know, the SEQRA [State Environmental Quality Review Act] regulations require that the lead agency receive public comments on an DEIS for “no less than 10 calendar days following a public hearing at which the environmental impacts of the proposed action are considered”. 6 NYCRR § 617.9(a)(4)(iii). Clearly that regulation applies to ESDC’s “Community Forums”. We are not aware of any factual or legal distinction between the “public hearing” held on August 23rd and the “community forums” to be held on September 12th and 18th. At both the “hearing” and the “forum” comments are being taken on the DEIS, a transcript is being made and all of the comments are being considered... Clearly, the “forums” are nothing more than a continuation of the public hearing. Changing the name of the event does not alter its essential nature. Since the forums are functionally identical to the hearing, the forums must be deemed a continuation of the public hearing and thus comments must be accepted for 10 calendar days following the last public hearing/forum.
Two days later, the ESDC extended the comment period by seven days.
Posted by lumi at August 31, 2006 10:12 PM