New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION › Chapter V - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SERVICES › Subchapter D - REAL PROPERTY AND LAND ACQUISITION › Part 591 - Procedures For The Selection, Review, Approval And Funding Of State Projects Under The 1986 Environmental Quality Bond Act › Section 591.4 - Project ranking procedure

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Funds
				  available for State projects under the 1986 Environmental Quality Bond Act are
				  finite. It is in the best interest of the public for the State, from the pool
				  of eligible projects, to choose those which will best achieve the bond act
				  objectives of long-term preservation, enhancement, restoration and improvement
				  of the State's environment. In order to assure that these objectives are
				  carried out within the limits of available funding, priority ranking systems
				  for eligible projects are established. Priority ranking of various State
				  projects is achieved by identifying the characteristics possessed by a given
				  project which provide natural resource value and help achieve bond act
				  objectives. Then, using the ranking system forest preserve projects contained
				  in subdivision (c) of this section or the ranking system for a given category
				  or subcategory of environmentally sensitive lands project contained in
				  subdivisions (d) through (m) of this section, a rating is assigned to each
				  characteristic indicating that characteristic's relative importance in
				  contributing to program objectives. Unless otherwise indicated, the sum of the
				  ratings is the proposed project's ranking score. It is recognized that a
				  project under any given category of environmentally sensitive lands may meet
				  the minimum eligibility requirements of one or more other categories of
				  environmentally sensitive lands. The acquisition of such a project would
				  protect additional natural resource values, thus providing multiple benefits to
				  the public. Whenever such multiple benefits are identified, an amount equal to
				  10 per centum of the total achievable rating under the primary category will be
				  added for the first additional category of environmentally sensitive land
				  identified as a multiple benefit, eight per centum for the second additional
				  category, six per centum for the third additional category, four per centum for
				  the fourth additional category and two per centum for the fifth additional
				  category. Each rating system is different and results in a number that has
				  meaning only in relation to the range of possible ratings within that system.
				  The maximum natural resource value rating for each rating system is stated so
				  that the relevance of any particular rating will be clearer.
(b) While there may be natural resource
				  values that are common to several of the rating systems, vulnerability is the
				  only characteristic that is common to and used by all the rating systems.
				  Accordingly, in order to ensure consistency in the use of the term, this
				  subdivision defines vulnerability and establishes the method for determining a
				  vulnerability rating.
(1) Vulnerability is the
				  measure of the degree of urgency for acquisition by the State in order to
				  preserve the resource. Vulnerability is expressed as a "A," "B," "C" or "D"
				  rating for each project that has been determined to meet minimum eligibility
				  requirements, based on the reasonable expectation of substantial adverse impact
				  to the resource and the immediacy of such impact if the project is not acquired
				  by the State. In determining the expectation of impact the following factors,
				  together with such additional factors as may be appropriate, may be considered:
(i) the present condition of the
				  site;
(ii) any announced plans for
				  the site, including their nature, timing, scope and environmental
				  compatibility;
(iii) any pending
				  applications for any form of governmental approval for the use or development
				  of the site;
(iv) the transfer or
				  proposed transfer of ownership of the site including the public offering of the
				  site for sale; and
(v) the
				  relationship of the proposed plans or applications with the overall land use
				  plan or pattern of the affected municipality.