Section 62H Action or proceeding alleging improper determination of need for environmental impact report or noncompliance with law; notice; commencement; matters raised - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 62H. An agency or person intending to commence an action or proceeding alleging an improper determination of whether a project requires the preparation of an environmental impact report under section sixty-two A, shall first provide notice of intention to commence such action or proceeding within sixty days of issuance of notice of such determination. An agency or person intending to commence an action or proceeding alleging that a final environmental impact report fails to comply with the requirements of sections sixty-two to sixty-two G, inclusive, shall first provide notice of intention to commence such action or proceeding within sixty days of issuance of notice of availability of said final environmental impact report pursuant to section sixty-two C. Said notices of intention shall be in such form as the secretary of environmental affairs shall prescribe, shall identify with particularity the issues to be considered in any such action or proceeding, shall be in lieu of the notice and waiting period required by section seven A of chapter two hundred and fourteen, and shall be provided to the attorney general, the agency or person proposing the project and the secretary of environmental affairs.

Any action or proceeding alleging an improper determination that a project requires the preparation of an environmental impact report under section sixty-two A shall commence no later than thirty days following the first issuance of a permit or grant of financial assistance by an agency or no later than sixty days after issuance of notice of such determination, whichever occurs later, for a private project, or no later than one hundred and twenty days after issuance of notice of such determination for a public project. Any action or proceeding alleging that a final environmental impact report fails to comply with the provisions of sections sixty-two to sixty-two G, inclusive, shall commence no later than thirty days following the first issuance of a permit or grant of financial assistance by an agency for a private project or no later than one hundred and twenty days after issuance of notice of availability of said final environmental impact report under section sixty-two C, for a public project.

No allegation shall be made in any action or proceeding under this section unless the matter complained of was raised at the appropriate point in the administrative review procedures; provided that a matter may be raised upon a showing that it is material and that it was not reasonably possible with due diligence to have raised it during such procedures or that the matter sought to be raised is of critical importance to the environmental impact of the project.

If a court determines that an agency or person proposing a project has knowingly concealed a material fact or knowingly submitted false information in any form or report required under sections sixty-two to sixty-two H, inclusive, limits on the manner and time in which actions or proceedings may be commenced shall not apply and the secretary of environmental affairs may require the preparation and review of such forms or reports as may be necessary to correct any deficient form or report.

The secretary of environmental affairs shall, after consultation with other secretaries of executive offices and with agencies not within executive offices, promulgate reasonable rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of sections sixty-two to sixty-two H, inclusive.