2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART VIII - Public Planning II (§§ 9011 — 9047) › Chapter 230 - Puerto Rico Permit Process Reform Act (§§ 9011 — 9028i) › Subchapter VI - The Permit Management Office Adjudicatory Board (§§ 9016 — 9016d) › § 9016a - Appointment

The Planning Board shall appoint the members of each Adjudicatory Board, who shall hold office at the discretion of the Planning Board. Each Adjudicatory Board shall be composed of one (1) Chair, who shall devote all of his/her time to serving the Board, two (2) associate members, and one (1) alternate member who may partake in the works of the Board, as the Chair may determine. At least one (1) member of each Adjudicatory Board shall be an attorney-at-law; all other members shall be selected from among the professions included into the legal construct of the authorized professional, which members shall be authorized to practice their profession in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Planning Board, in turn, shall determine who shall chair each panel in an Adjudicatory Board. One of the members of the Adjudicatory Board shall be vastly experienced in environmental compliance issues, as may be determined in the Environmental Compliance Regulation of the Environmental Quality Board. However, to be eligible for appointment as member of the Adjudicatory Board, candidates must be persons of renowned capability, knowledgeable and have at least five (5) years of experience in procedures concerning land development and use and such other areas relative to the purposes of this subchapter. Adjudicatory Board members shall be subject to compliance with the provisions of §§ 1801 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Ethics in Government Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”. No member of an Adjudicatory Board may adjudicate matters in which he/she has a direct or an indirect personal or financial interest or when he/she is a relative of the applicant within fourth-degree of consanguinity or second-degree affinity. The Planning Board shall fix the compensation for the Chair of the Adjudicatory Board, taking into account the compensation for associate members of the Adjudicatory Board. The two (2) associate members and the alternate members shall receive compensation in the nature of per diems, to be equal to the minimum per diem established for members of the Legislature, for each day of session. However, such members shall never earn more than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) a year, which amount shall be taxable. Furthermore, if the persons appointed to serve as the two (2) associate members and the alternate member should be employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, such employees shall not earn any per diems whatsoever, except that they shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the discharge of their functions, as provided by Law and authorized by the Chair of the Adjudicatory Board.
Autonomous municipalities that have a competency delegation agreement and hierarchy and powers conferred under §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, or other executed in the future as of the date of effectiveness of this act, may appoint two (2) associate members and one (1) alternate member to the corresponding Adjudicatory Board to tend to such applications originating in their municipalities within the hierarchy granted. One of the associate members of the Adjudicatory Board appointed by the autonomous municipality shall be the Planning Director, and all other members shall comply with the requirements set forth in this section.
Autonomous municipalities that have a competency delegation agreement and hierarchy and powers conferred under §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, and which have so established in such agreement or in others executed in the future as of the date of effectiveness of this act, shall be charged fifteen percent (15%) of the applicable fees on applications originating from their municipalities that do not fall within the purview of the hierarchy thus conferred and are adjudicated by the Adjudicatory Board.
History —Dec. 1, 2009, No. 161, § 6.2.