SEQR
Part 617, Article 8, SEQR - State Environmental Quality Review Act of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law, requires that comprehensive plans follow a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process before they are adopted.
On April 20, 2010, the Rockland County Legislature declared itself the Lead Agency for the Comprehensive Plan SEQR and determined that a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would be produced. The Legislature determined that the adoption of a Comprehensive Plan is a Type 1 Action and issued a Determination Of Significance – a Positive Declaration – for the Rockland County Comprehensive Plan. Prior to determination, an Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) for the project was prepared, filed, and provided to the Involved Agencies.
Involved and Interested Agencies – including all towns and villages in Rockland County – received the Determination of Significance and were provided access to other SEQR documents as the project moved forward.
BFJ Planning – the project consultants – assisted the Rockland County Legislature and the Rockland County Comprehensive Plan Technical Advisory Committee with producing the EIS documents.
The Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) was produced in late spring and early summer of 2010 and a Public Scoping Session was held at the Rockland County Legislature.
The Legislature held a Public Hearing on the DGEIS and the Draft Comprehensive Plan document in December of 2010. A Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS) was then produced to respond to comments.
State Environmental Quality Review Documents
SEQR Scoping Session
Pursuant to the SEQR process, the Rockland County Legislature held a public Scoping Session for the Rockland County Comprehensive Plan on Monday, May 24, 2010 from 3 pm to 5 pm and 7 pm to 9 pm in the Legislative Chambers at the Allison-Parris County Office Building located at:
11 New Hempstead Road
New City, NY 10956
The focus of the "Scoping Session" was for the County to present the outline of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and invite the public to comment on that outline. Scoping is not a requirement of SEQR. However, this process identifies the topics that should be covered by the DEIS and creates a formal outline for the DEIS. As a result, the DEIS is concise and focused on the significant issues.
All involved and interested agencies and the Rockland County public were encouraged to attend the Scoping Session. Interested members of the public also participated by registering to speak during the Scoping Sessions or by submitting written comments on the Draft Scoping Document.
Scoping was not a forum for the offering of specific content or suggestions that one would like to see in the Comprehensive Plan. Suggestions and comments on each of the individual draft subject chapters of the Plan were made through the Rockland County Planning Department e-mail, rcplan@co.rockland.ny.us.
Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) and Notice of Completion
The DGEIS and Notice of Completion for the DGEIS for the Draft Comprehensive Plan have been prepared in accordance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). A full copy of the DGEIS can be found below.
The DGEIS is intended to provide the Rockland County Legislature, the public, and other agencies with an understanding of the type of potential environmental impacts that may be associated with adoption of the Rockland County Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is not site specific but predominantly area-wide, and therefore, generic in nature. Given the broad range of policies within the Comprehensive Plan, no significant adverse impacts were anticipated from the adoption of the proposed Plan.
A public hearing on the DGEIS was held on December 20th at 7:00 p.m. at the Rockland County Legislative Chambers.
Comments on the Draft Comprehensive Plan and DGEIS were made at the Public Hearing and/or submitted in writing to the Rockland County Legislature. All comments were accepted until December 31, 2010.
Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS), Notice of Completion, and Findings
The FGEIS, Notice of Completion of the FGEIS, and environmental findings for the Rockland County Comprehensive Plan have been prepared in accordance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Copies of each of these documents can be found below.
- Rockland County Comprehensive Plan FGEIS (January 2011)
- SEQR Notice of Completion (February 15, 2011)
- SEQR Findings (Adopted March 1, 2011)
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