Section 3779 - Notice of Filing of Draft SED; Public Comments(a) Upon completion of the Draft SED, the board shall post on its website a Notice of Filing in a format similar to the one contained in Appendix C and shall provide a copy to any person who requests it in writing. The Notice of Filing shall indicate the applicable written comment period and date of the public hearing on the adequacy of the Draft SED. The written comment period and the public hearing on the adequacy of the Draft SED may, but need not, be held contemporaneously with the comment period and the public hearing for the project.(b) Written Comments: The board shall prescribe a written comment period on the adequacy of the Draft SED. The written comment period shall be for a period of not less than 45 days, which may be shortened to 30 days in exceptional circumstances as determined by the board, or if the board makes the determinations specified in subdivisions (e) and (f) of section 3777. The board may allow a longer written comment period. The board may refuse to accept written comments received after the noticed deadline. The board is not required to consider any written comment that is received after the deadline.(c) Oral Comments: The board shall conduct a public hearing for the receipt of oral comments either during or after the written comment period. If the public hearing is conducted during the written comment period, it shall be at least 30 days after posting of the notice described in subdivision (a). The board is not required to consider any oral comment that is received after the public hearing.(d) The board shall prepare written responses to the significant environmental issues raised in the comments received during the written comment period, including written comments, and oral comments received at the public hearing if the public hearing is held prior to the close of the written comment period. The board shall respond in writing or orally to significant environmental issues raised at the public hearing. The board is not required to respond to late comments. Copies of written responses shall be available for any person to review prior to the board's approval of the SED. Copies of written responses to public agency comments received during the written comment period shall be provided to those agencies at least 10 days prior to the board's approval of the SED. The comments received, and the responses thereto, shall be included in the record of the board action.(e) At the close of the public hearing, the board may either take action or defer action to a subsequent meeting of the board. If the board defers action, the board must allow additional public comment on the Draft SED only if recirculation would be required for an environmental impact report pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 14, section 15088.5, in which case the board may limit any additional public comment to the significant new information contained in the recirculated Draft SED. If the board defers action and recirculation would not be required, the board may consider the responses to comments, approve the SED, and adopt the project at a subsequent board meeting without accepting any additional public comment.(f) The state board, when considering approval of a regional board's adoption of an amendment to its water quality control plan or guideline, shall prescribe a comment period of not less than 30 days. The state board may refuse to accept any comments received after the noticed deadline. All comments submitted to the state board must be specifically related to the final amendment adopted by the regional board. If the regional board previously responded to the comment, the commenter must explain why it believes that the regional board's response was inadequate. The commenter must include either a statement that each of the comments was timely raised before the regional board, or an explanation of why the commenter was unable to raise the specific comment before the regional board. The state board may refuse to accept any comments that do not include such a statement. The state board is not required to consider any comment that is not in compliance with this section.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 3779
1. Amendment of section heading, repealer and new section and amendment of NOTE filed 1-19-2011; operative 2-18-2011 (Register 2011, No. 3). Note: Authority cited: Section 21082, Public Resources Code. Reference: Section 21080.5, Public Resources Code.
1. Amendment of section heading, repealer and new section and amendment of Note filed 1-19-2011; operative 2-18-2011 (Register 2011, No. 3).