HB 795 Summary

• Raises the threshold for "major development projects" requiring environmental review from 2 contiguous acres to 10 contiguous acres.

• Defines "significant expenditure of public moneys" as greater than $10,000,000 for a single project, excluding contributions from local governments and non-state entities.

• Expands "use of public land" to require land-disturbing activity of greater than 10 acres with substantial permanent changes, and specifies that failure of an agency to comment within the established period is treated as a conclusion of no significant environmental impact.

• Adds eight new categorical exemptions from environmental document requirements, including projects under general permits, emergency actions, contamination cleanup, water infrastructure projects, and mitigation projects.

• Revises water infrastructure project environmental assessment procedures to require the Division of Water Infrastructure to establish an environmental assessment process meeting federal requirements rather than requiring individual project assessments.