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 VIII - Evaluation, Granting or Denial of Final Determinations or Permits (§§ 9018 — 9018o) › § 9018c - Evaluation of permit applications, recommendations, and site consultations by the Management Office

At submittal, applications shall be accompanied by a plan with a building lot in digital format so as to illustrate the geographical location by using the methodology selected by the Management Office, in compliance with the applicable laws and the Joint Permit Regulation. When the Management Office determines that the submitted application is complete and validated, such application shall be referred for the corresponding evaluation by permit managers and the Environmental Compliance Evaluation Division Director, as may apply. After the corresponding recommendations of the permit managers, Environmental Compliance Division Director, Executive Director, the Assistant Executive Director or the Regional Director, as may apply, shall sign and issue the final determination of the Management Office in ministerial-matter cases. He/She shall, in turn, be empowered to adjudicate, after evaluation by the permit manager, building variance applications, when the use is consistent with those allowed in the district, pursuant to such procedure as the Joint Permit Regulation may establish. In ministerial cases, the Executive Director shall issue, by means of subrogation, in those cases in which a permit manager and the Environmental Compliance Division Director arbitrarily and capriciously refuses to evaluate or when the applicable term for them to make an evaluation so as to issue a recommendation has elapsed or when they delay their evaluation and their corresponding recommendation or determination without just cause. Furthermore, they shall forward discretionary matters to the Adjudicatory Board for its evaluation and determination, together with the recommendations issued by permit managers and the Environmental Compliance Division Director.
Permit managers and the Environmental Compliance Division Director shall give priority to and expedite the evaluation of Green and PyMES Permits applications. Permit managers and the Environmental Compliance Division Director shall evaluate the project per the criteria for the proper evaluation applicable to Green Permits and PyMES, to be established in the Joint Permit Regulation. Health and Safety as well as Constructability Managers may all issue environmental health and fire prevention certifications and final determinations for permits for small and medium-sized businesses (PyMES).
This transaction shall be conducted within such timeframe and procedure as established in the Joint Permit Regulation. Any parties adversely affected by final determinations issued by the Management Office may request the review of such determination before the Reviewing Board, pursuant to the procedure set forth in this chapter. Any person who so wishes may use the services of an authorized professional to obtain such permits as authorized professionals are able to evaluate and issue under Subchapter VII of this chapter.
In cases in which a direct or indirect requalification is being requested, the Management Office shall request recommendations from municipalities and the Planning Board or the Environmental Quality Board, as may apply, as part of the evaluation process for the permit for which an application was submitted. Whenever the Management Office may require recommendations from municipalities, the Planning Board or the Environmental Quality Board as part of the evaluation process for the permit for which an application was submitted, the Planning Board, the Environmental Quality Board or the municipality shall issue its recommendations within thirty (30) days, to be counted as of the date of notice of such request for recommendations. If such recommendations should not be submitted within such thirty-day term, the Management Office shall serve an Order to Do on the municipality, the Planning Board or the Environmental Quality Board to request that recommendations be issued within a term of fifteen (15) days, as per the procedure established in the Joint Permit Regulation. If the municipality, the Planning Board or the Environmental Quality Board should fail to issue any recommendations within such term, it shall be understood that it has no recommendations.
History —Dec. 1, 2009, No. 161, § 8.4.