(a) Commissioner means the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.

(b) Department means the New York State Department of Health.

(c) Region means that geographical area under the jurisdiction of the department's Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or New Rochelle regional or area health offices or its office for New York City health services.

(d) Applicant means any person making an application for approval or funding of a proposed action.

(e) Person means any agency, individual, corporation, governmental entity, partnership, association, trustee or other legal entity.

(f) State agency means any State department, agency, board, public benefit corporation, public authority or commission.

(g) Local agency means any local agency, board, district, commission or governing body, including any city, county and other political subdivision of the State.

(h) Agency means any State or local agency.

(i) Action means any project or activity directly undertaken by the department; or supported in whole or part through contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of funding assistance; or involving the issuance to a person or facility of a lease, permit, license, certificate approval or conditional approval or other entitlement for use or permission to act by the department; or any policy, regulation and procedure-making by the department. Actions are identified as type I, type II, exempt and unlisted actions.

(j) Exempt action means any one of the following:

(k) Ministerial action means an action performed upon a given state of facts in a prescribed manner imposed by law, code, rule or regulation without the exercise of any judgment or discretion as to the propriety of the action, although such law, code, rule or regulation may require, to a limited degree, a construction of its language or intent.

(l) Environment means physical conditions, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, noise, objects of historic or aesthetic significance, existing patterns of population concentration, distribution or growth and existing community or neighborhood character.

(m) Environmental assessment form (EAF) means a form, describing a proposed action, its location, its purposes and its potential impacts on the environment, used to assist the department in determining the environmental significance or nonsignificance of an action. The term short form EAF means a simplified EAF used to determine whether sufficient information hs been presented on which to determine the environmental significance or nonsignificance of an unlisted action.

(n) Complete application means an application, including and environmental assessment which, in the judgment of the department, contains sufficient information on which to make a decision whether or not to proceed, approve or tentatively approve a proposed action. In the case of an action involving an applicant, it shall include the filing of all applications and documents associated with the proposed action that are required pursuant to any statute, rule or regulation unless in the judgment of the department and relevant regulatory agencies such filing is not feasible or appropriate given the nature of the proposed action or that the failure to file all such applications or documents at the same time will not preclude adequate review by the department.

(o) Application date means that date on which the department acknowledges the receipt of a complete application.

(p) Notice of determination means a formal notification issued by the department, informing the public and other interested parties of a decision affecting a proposed action. An initial notice of determination will consist of a negative declaration or a requirement to prepare an EIS. A final notice of determination will indicate the final department decision concerning a proposed action.

(q) Negative declaration means a written statement prepared by the department which announces that the department has determined that an action will not have a significant effect on the environment.

(r) Conditional approval means a general and preliminary expression of department assent that a project proposed by an applicant is feasible in light of environmental and statutory constraints. A conditional approval does not automatically assure the issuance of necessary permits and approvals for a project which is subject to final department determination based on more complete engineering and other planning details provided by the applicant at a later time.

(s) Environmental impact statement (EIS) means a written report prepared by the department or submitted to the department by an applicant which identifies and analyzes in detail the environmental impacts of the proposed action and feasible alternatives. The form and content follows section 97.12 of this Part and 6 NYCRR 617.14. An environmental impact statement may be either a “draft” or “final”.

(t) Notice of completion means a formal notification, issued by the department, informing the public and other interested parties that either the draft environmental impact statement or a final environmental impact statement has been prepared and is now available for public and department review.

(u) Notice of hearing means a formal notification, issued by the department, that establishes the date, time and location of a public hearing called to review a proposed action of the department or an applicant. This notice shall be published in a newspaper selected by the department and/or the Environmental Notice Bulletin at least 14 calendar days before the hearing date.

(v) Type I action means an action such as listed in either 6 NYCRR 617.12 or in section 97.14 of this Part likely to require the preparation of an environmental impact statement in order to adequately review the possible environmental consequences of the action.

(w) Type II action means an action such as listed in either 6 NYCRR 617.13 or in section 97.14 of this Part determined not to have a significant adverse impact on the environment.

(x) Unlisted action means an action not excluded or exempt, which is not listed as a type I or type II action in this Part.

(y) Residential means a realty subdivision or any facility used for permanent or seasonable habitation, including but not limited to apartments, mobile home parks, and campsites offering any utility hookups for recreational vehicles. It shall not include such facilities as hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, dormitories or prisons.

(z) Coastal area means the State's coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands, as defined in article 42 of the Executive Law, the specific bondaries of which are shown on the coastal area map on file in the Office of the Secretary of State, as required by section 914(2) of the Executive Law.

(aa) Funding means any financial support given by an agency, including contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of direct or indirect financial assistance, in connection with a proposed action.

(bb) Involved agency means an agency that has jurisdiction by law to fund, approve or directly undertake a given action.

(cc) Lead agency means an agency principally responsible for carrying out, funding or approving an action, and therefore responsible for determining whether an environmental impact statement is required in connection with an action, and for the preparation and filing of the statement if one is required.