§ 71.11 Administrative record, public participation, and administrative review.

The provisions of this section shall apply to all permit proceedings. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, paragraphs (a) through (h) and paragraph (j) of this section shall not apply to permit revisions qualifying as minor permit modifications or administrative amendments, except that public notice of the granting of appeals of such actions under paragraph (l)(3) of this section shall be provided pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(i)(E) of this section, and except that affected States shall be provided notice of minor permit modifications under § 71.8 as pursuant to paragraph (d)(3)(i)(B) of this section.

(a) Draft permits. (1) The permitting authority shall promptly provide notice to the applicant of whether the application is complete pursuant to § 71.7(a)(3).

(2) Once an application for an initial permit, permit revision, or permit renewal is complete, the permitting authority shall decide whether to prepare a draft permit or to deny the application.

(3) If the permitting authority initially decides to deny the permit application, it shall issue a notice of intent to deny. A notice of intent to deny the permit application is a type of draft permit and follows the same procedures as any draft permit prepared under this section. If the permitting authority's final decision is that the initial decision to deny the permit application was incorrect, it shall withdraw the notice of intent to deny and proceed to prepare a draft permit under paragraph (a)(4) of this section.

(4) If the permitting authority decides to prepare a draft permit, it shall prepare a draft permit that contains the permit conditions required under § 71.6.

(5) All draft permits prepared under this section shall be publicly noticed and made available for public comment.

(b) Statement of basis. The permitting authority shall prepare a statement of basis for every draft permit subject to this section. The statement of basis shall briefly describe the derivation of the conditions of the draft permit and the reasons for them or, in the case of notices of intent to deny or terminate, reasons supporting the initial decision. The statement of basis shall be sent to the applicant and, on request, to any other person.

(c) Administrative record for draft permits. (1) The provisions of a draft permit shall be based on the administrative record defined in this section.

(2) For preparing a draft permit, the administrative record shall consist of:

(i) The application and any supporting data furnished by the applicant;

(ii) The draft permit or notice of intent to deny the application or to terminate the permit;

(iii) The statement of basis;

(iv) All documents cited in the statement of basis; and

(v) Other documents contained in the supporting file for the draft permit.

(3) Material readily available at the permitting authority or published material that is generally available, and that is included in the administrative record under paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section need not be physically included with the rest of the record as long as it is specifically referred to in the statement of basis.

(d) Public notice of permit actions and public comment period—(1) Scope. (i) The permitting authority shall give public notice that the following actions have occurred:

(A) A permit application has been initially denied under paragraph (a) of this section;

(B) A draft permit has been prepared under paragraph (a) of this section;

(C) A hearing has been scheduled under paragraph (f) of this section; and

(D) A public comment period has been reopened under paragraph (h) of this section;

(E) An appeal has been granted under paragraph (l)(3) of this section.

(ii) No public notice is required when a request for permit revision, revocation and reissuance, or termination has been denied under paragraph (a)(2) of this section. Written notice of that denial shall be given to the requester and to the permittee.

(iii) Public notices may describe more than one permit or permit action.

(2) Timing. (i) Public notice of the preparation of a draft permit, (including a notice of intent to deny a permit application), shall allow at least 30 days for public comment.

(ii) Public notice of a public hearing shall be given at least 30 days before the hearing. Public notice of the hearing may be given at the same time as public notice of the draft permit and the two notices may be combined.