2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title L - Water Management and Protection › Chapter 485-A - Water Pollution and Waste Disposal › Section 485-A:31 - Action on Applications.

485-A:31 Action on Applications. –
I. Subject to paragraphs II and III, the department shall give notice in writing to the person submitting the plans and specifications for subdivision of land of its approval or of the need for additional information to complete the review of such plans and specifications within 30 days of the date such plans and specifications and the required fees are received and deemed administratively complete by the department and shall give notice in writing to the person submitting plans and specifications for sewage or waste disposal systems of its approval or of the need for additional information to complete the review of such plans and specifications within 15 working days of the date such plans and specifications and the required fees are received and deemed administratively complete by the department. Unless such written notice of the need for additional information to complete the review shall be provided to the person submitting plans and specifications within 30 days in the case of plans and specifications for subdivision of land and 15 working days in the case of plans and specifications for sewage or waste disposal systems from the date of receipt with the required fees by the department, the plans and specifications shall be deemed to have been approved. If the department gives notice of the need for additional information, the department shall, within 30 days of the receipt of all such information in the case of plans and specification for subdivision of land and within 15 working days of the receipt of all such information in the case of plans and specifications for sewage or waste disposal systems, approve or deny the application. The department shall send a copy of the approval or denial of such plans and specifications to the planning board or board of selectmen of the affected municipality.
II. The department may extend the time for rendering a decision under paragraph I, without the applicant's agreement, on an application from an applicant who previously has been determined, after the exhaustion of available appellate remedies, to have failed to comply with RSA 485-A:29-44, or any rule adopted or permit or approval issued pursuant to RSA 485-A:29-44, or to have misrepresented any material fact made in connection with any activity regulated or prohibited by RSA 485-A:29-44, pursuant to an action initiated under RSA 485-A:42 or RSA 485-A:43. The length of such an extension shall be no longer than reasonably necessary to complete the review of the application and shall not exceed 30 days unless the applicant agrees to a longer extension. The department shall notify the applicant of the length of the extension.
III. The department may suspend a review of an application for a proposed project on a property with respect to which the department has commenced an enforcement action against the applicant for any violation of RSA 485-A:29-44; RSA 482-A; RSA 483-B; or RSA 485-A:17, or of any rule adopted or permit or approval issued pursuant to RSA 485-A:29-44; RSA 482-A; RSA 483-B; or RSA 485-A:17. Any such suspension shall expire upon conclusion of the enforcement action and completion of any remedial actions the department may require to address the violation; provided, however, that the department may resume its review of the application sooner if doing so will facilitate resolution of the violation. The department shall resume its review of the application at the point the review was suspended, except that the department may extend any of the time limits under this paragraph and its rules up to a total of 30 days for all such extensions. For purposes of this subparagraph, "enforcement action" means an action initiated under RSA 482-A:13; RSA 482-A:14; RSA 482-A:14-b; RSA 483-B:18; RSA 485-A:22; RSA 485-A:42; or RSA 485-A:43.
IV. The commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A relative to the procedures for review and standards for rendering a final decision for approval or denial of plans and specifications for subdivision of land and sewage or waste disposal systems.
Source.
1989, 339:1. 1996, 228:106. 2010, 295:11, eff. Sept. 11, 2010. 2022, 302:2, 3, eff. Aug. 30, 2022.