State Environmental Quality Review Documents for Public Health Law § 2802 Construction Approvals

As stated in the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA - Environmental Conservation Law §§ 8-0101 to 8-0117) and implementing regulations (6 NYCRR Part 617 and 10 NYCRR Part 97), the basic purpose of SEQRA is to incorporate the consideration of environmental factors into the existing planning, review and decision-making processes of State, regional, and local governments agencies. To accomplish this goal, SEQRA requires that all agencies determine whether actions they directly undertake, fund or approve may have a significant impact on the environment. Pursuant to Public Health Law § 2802, no person may construct a hospital, as defined at Public Health Law § 2801, until the Commissioner of Health approves of such construction. Accordingly, the SEQRA process is applied by the Department to construction applications.

For purposes of SEQRA, construction applications are classified as either Type II, Unlisted or Type I actions. If the Department of Health determines that a particular action will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment, a Negative Declaration shall be issued and may be posted on this site. If the Department of Health determines that a particular action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, a Positive Declaration Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement Determination of Significance shall be issued. When the Department of Health serves as Lead Agency and issues a Positive Declaration, an Environmental Impact Statement and additional corresponding SEQR documents when indicated will be posted on this site.