FY 2006- SCOPE OF
SERVICES
The Center must provide all services identified in elements
A through L of this work program.
The Georgia Planning Act and Solid Waste Management Act
require that each Center review the local government plans prepared in its
region. The Center shall, upon receipt
of a local government plan or plan component, immediately initiate the local
plan review process, coordinate the review, and take action on local government
plans pursuant to Department established procedures, guidelines and checklists
for such review and action.
1. Comprehensive
Plan Review
a. Completeness
Review. Upon receipt of a draft comprehensive plan,
plan component (including community assessment, community participation
program, community agenda, CIE update, or STWP update), or plan amendment for
review, the Center shall review the submittal for completeness following the
checklist provided by the Department for this purpose. A submittal that does
not meet the standard for completeness shall be deemed incomplete and shall not
be accepted for further review by the Center or be forwarded to the Department
for compliance review.
b. Completeness
Certification. The Center must make
a determination of whether the submittal is complete within seven days of
receipt of the draft plan, plan component, or plan amendment. The Center shall
notify the local government immediately of its findings regarding the
completeness of the submittal and identify items that must be submitted, if
any, prior to further processing.
c. Electronic Copy of Submittal. If the submittal is not delivered to the Center in appropriate electronic format (i.e., MS Word file), the Center shall convert the submittal to an appropriate electronic format before forwarding to the Department for compliance review. This conversion process must conform to the instructions provided by the Department (see work element B below). In no case shall the electronic version of the submittal be forwarded to the Department more than seven days after completeness certification.
d.
Notification
of Interested Parties. After the Center has determined that the
submittal is complete and has an electronic copy of the submittal, it shall
immediately notify any interested parties for review and comment, providing the
electronic copy of the submittal, and a deadline by which comments must be
received. At a minimum, interested
parties shall include:
1)
Local governments
inside or outside the Center’s region that are contiguous to the submitting
local government, and other local governments that are likely to be affected.
2)
Any authorities,
special districts, or other entities identified in evaluating intergovernmental
coordination mechanisms and processes (if applicable based on planning level).
3)
Regional
development centers that are contiguous to the local government or that are
likely to be affected.
4)
Affected state
agencies, including all contacts identified in the listing provided by the
Department.
e.
Review of a
Community Assessment. The
Center shall review a submitted Community Assessment for compliance with the Local Planning Requirements following
the guidelines and/or checklist provided by the Department for this
purpose. The focus of this review shall
be:
1)
Adequacy in
addressing all components called for in the Local
Planning Requirements.
2)
Presentation in a
clear, readable, executive summary format that will be useful for community
stakeholders.
3)
Thoroughness in
identifying potential issues and opportunities to be addressed in the
subsequent portions of the plan.
4)
Reasonableness of
analysis of land use patterns and recommended
character areas.
f.
Internal Consistency, Intergovernmental and
Regional Consistency Review. The
Center shall review a submitted Community Assessment or Community Agenda for
consistency following the standards and procedures established in the Local Planning Requirements and the
checklists provided by the Department for this purpose. The focus of this review shall be:
1) The internal
consistency of the various planning elements;
2) Potential
conflicts the Comprehensive Plan under review may have with the Comprehensive Plans
of neighboring jurisdictions and opportunities for
inter-jurisdictional/regional solutions to common issues identified in two or
more local plans; and
3) The consistency
of the Comprehensive Plan under review with the adopted Regional Agenda for the
region.
The fully completed checklists containing
the Center’s consistency findings shall be submitted to the Department along
with the subsequent quarterly progress report.
g.
Regional
Hearing. Within 25 days after completeness certification of a submitted
Community Agenda, the Center may (at its sole discretion) conduct a hearing at
which any local government, regional development center or other local,
regional, or state agency may present its views on the submittal. The rules for conducting such hearings must
be adopted by the board of directors of the Center and approved by the
Department.
h. Report of
Findings and Recommendations. Upon
receipt of a report from the Department summarizing its review findings, the Center
shall prepare a report of findings and recommendations to the local government,
combining:
1) The Center’s
findings from review of the submittal and its recommendation for addressing
these findings;
2) Comments submitted by interested parties;
3) Summary of the
regional review hearing (if applicable), detailing any significant issues
raised at the hearing.
4) The
Department’s compliance review findings and recommendations.
The Center’s report must follow the format
established by the Department and be delivered to the local government no later
than the deadlines specified in the Local
Planning Requirements.
i. Notification of Adoption. Within seven days of receipt of notice of local adoption of a comprehensive plan, plan component, or plan amendment that has been approved as complying with Local Planning Requirements, the Center shall notify the Department of said adoption by the local government.
j. Electronic Copy of Adopted Plan or Plan Component. The Center shall request a final copy of the comprehensive plan, plan component, or plan amendment adopted by the local government. If the adopted document is not provided to the Center in appropriate electronic format (i.e., MS Word file), the Center shall convert it to an appropriate electronic format before forwarding to the Department. This conversion process must conform to the instructions provided by the Department (see work elements B and C below).
k. Special Conditions on Funding. The Center shall conform strictly to the submittal requirements and notification deadlines described above, in order to insure that the statutory time periods for review of local comprehensive plans prescribed by the Georgia Planning Act and the Local Planning Requirements may be met. The Center must maintain a 90% accuracy rate (i.e., no missing completeness items discovered after the plan or plan component is accepted into the plan review process) on all completeness certifications. Failure to maintain this rate may jeopardize funding under this contract and the Center’s eligibility to continue to provide these services.
2. Solid
Waste Management Plan Review
The Georgia Solid Waste Management Act, as amended,
requires each city and county, either independently or jointly with other
jurisdictions, to prepare a comprehensive solid waste management plan. The Center shall review local comprehensive
solid waste management plans, plan updates, plan amendments, and Short Term
Work Program updates, following the procedures and guidelines established, and
updated from time to time, in the Department’s Minimum Planning Standards and Procedures for Solid Waste Management and Solid Waste Management Plan Review Guide. The Center shall focus its review of a Comprehensive
Solid Waste Management Plan upon:
a.
The internal consistency of the various
planning elements;
b.
The potential
conflicts the solid waste plan may have with the solid waste management plans
of neighboring jurisdictions; and
c.
The potential
cooperative program or facility operation opportunities that could be explored
within the region.
All solid waste management plans shall be
reviewed in accordance with these standards and procedures. The Center shall, upon receipt of a local
solid waste management plan, immediately initiate the solid waste management
plan review process. The Center shall
coordinate the review, and upon receipt of a determination letter from the
Department summarizing its findings from a review of the planning document for
compliance with the Minimum Standards, shall notify the local government of
their findings and the Department’s determination. The Center shall take the necessary action to
help ensure the solid waste management plans, plan amendments, plan updates, or
STWP updates, once approved by the Department, are adopted by the local
governments in accordance with the Planning Standards in a timely manner.
The Center shall request a final copy of the solid waste management plan once adopted by the local government. If the adopted document is not provided to the Center in appropriate electronic format (i.e., MS Word file), the Center shall convert it to an appropriate electronic format before forwarding both the electronic copy and a printed hard copy to the Department. This conversion process must conform to the instructions provided by the Department (see work element B below).
3. Maintenance
of Files
The Center shall maintain a plan review
file for each local government within its region. This file shall contain the comprehensive and
solid waste management plans, plan components, and plan amendments reviewed by
the Center, related correspondence, etc.
This file shall document:
a. The name of the local government or, in the
case of joint plans, the names of each local government that the plan
represents;
b. All correspondence relating to review of the
plan;
c. Minutes of the regional review hearing, including
any written or verbal comments received on the plan, and a listing of
attendees;
d. Notes or preliminary findings from staff
review of the plan;
e. Report of findings from both the Center’s and
the Department’s review of the plan; and
f. Subsequent actions taken by the Center to
address findings, in accordance with guidelines established by the Department.
4. Reporting
Local comprehensive or solid waste
management plan reviews shall be reported as part of the Center’s quarterly
progress report and shall contain:
a. A list of local
government comprehensive or solid waste management plans, components, or
amendments submitted to and reviewed by the Center; and
b. Copies of the
plan review determination letters provided to local governments.
The Center shall also make available to
the Department, upon request, the individual comprehensive and solid waste
management plan review files for all local governments within its region.
B. Electronic
Submittal of Local Comprehensive Plans
When draft or adopted comprehensive
plans, plan components, or plan amendments are delivered to the Center in a
format other than appropriate electronic format, the Center shall convert to
appropriate electronic format before forwarding the submittal to the Department,
by using some or all of the following steps, as applicable. (Appropriate electronic formats that will be
accepted by the Department are Microsoft Word files organized consistent with
the Table of Contents Template provided by the Department for this purpose.) The Microsoft Word Document may be
transmitted to the Department on CD, as an e-mail attachment if less than
10-Mb, or via the Department’s FTP server if larger.