§ 15-1107. Plans; approval; changes, modifications and rescission.

1. Plans submitted pursuant to section 15-1105:

a. Shall in all cases be so drawn and of such scope as is best
calculated to assure prompt or orderly development of the water
resources for the beneficial use of the people of the region involved
and of the state as a whole;

b. Shall show the available and feasible sites for the installation
and operation of protective, conservation and regulatory works, and the
benefits estimated to be derived from such installation and operation.
The plan or plans shall be accompanied by such maps, profiles and other
data and descriptions as will set forth and show the location and
character of the works and of the property required to be taken for or
to be damaged by such installation or operation or for the protection
and maintenance of the works to be installed, together with an estimate
of the cost thereof;

c. Shall estimate the minimum annual amount of water which would be
available for all purposes if the plan or plans were to be put in
operation;

d. Shall not, in the computations of water estimated to become
available as a result of the execution of the plan or plans, include any
amount of water, the use of which has theretofore been duly acquired or
authorized pursuant to approval, license, permit or other official
sanction;

e. Shall, whenever feasible and economically justified, provide for
the storage of sufficient water for distribution and use for all the
purposes and uses contemplated by this article;

f. Shall not include in any plan or plans, any proposal or project
providing for any action or steps which would impair or diminish any
right protected by section 15-1113;

g. Shall list possible sources of income, including the sale of water,
from the operation of such works, and estimate the amount thereof; and

h. Shall recommend whether the plan or plans should be carried out as
a single or multiple stage project, and shall also recommend an agency,
existing or proposed, to undertake the project.

2. Upon receipt of a plan from the board, the department shall cause
public notice to be given that on a day therein named it will hold a
public hearing at such a place as is specified in the notice and within
the region covered by the plan, for the purpose of hearing all persons,
public corporations and agencies of the state which may be affected by
the plan. Such notice shall be published pursuant to subdivision 1 of
section 15-0903. In addition to such publication, the department shall
give written notice of the public hearing, as required by subdivision 3
of section 15-1103, and may give written notice thereof to additional
persons, public corporations or agencies of the state, as authorized by
such subdivision. At any time prior to the day specified in such notice,
specified objections in writing to the plan or parts thereof may be
filed in the office of the department. The department shall, upon the
day specified in the notice, or upon such subsequent day or days to
which it may adjourn the hearing, proceed to take testimony and proof
and to hear arguments submitted in support of and in opposition to the
plan, but no objectors shall be heard unless they have filed written
objections as authorized by this section. At the close of the hearing,
the department may fix a date or dates for the filing of briefs.

3. The department within ninety days after the last date fixed for the
filing of briefs and with all convenient speed shall render its
decision. The department, upon the proofs and evidence submitted at the
public hearing:

a. Shall determine whether the plan as proposed by the board conforms
to and complies with the purposes of title 11 of this article and would
serve the public interest and benefit, or whether it should be modified
in any respect, detail or part to accomplish such purposes;

b. Shall determine whether the plan as proposed by the board
interferes or conflicts with the plans of any other regional water
resources planning board, and would be just and equitable to the
interests of other areas of the state;

c. Shall approve such plan as submitted by the board or as modified by
the department; or shall disapprove the plan; or shall remit the
proposal to the board for further investigation, study, survey and
planning; and

d. Shall recommend with public corporations, private corporations or
agencies of the state, existing or proposed, would, in its opinion, be
best qualified to carry out expeditiously and efficiently the project
proposed by the plan, as approved by the department, and to construct,
maintain and operate the works in connection therewith. If the
department recommends that a new public corporation or state agency
should be established for such purposes, it shall transmit a
recommendation to the legislature and the Governor for the enactment of
legislation to create and establish such body or agency, or to grant
authority to existing public corporations or state agencies.

4. Upon the filing of the departments decision or, in the event such
decision is reviewed in the manner provided by article seventy-eight of
the Civil Practice Law and Rules, upon the final determination of such
review proceeding, the plan as approved by the department or as approved
or modified by the court in a review proceeding, shall be the general
plan for the conservation, development and utilization of the water
resources of the region, and such general plan shall be given
consideration by the department in any future application before it and
over which it has jurisdiction by virtue of this article or other
provision of law. None of the works or projects, included in the general
plan, nor any part or parts thereof shall be undertaken, constructed or
put into operation until detailed and specific maps and plans therefor
have been submitted to the department for approval upon the petition of
an agency authorized to undertake or construct such works or projects or
parts thereof. The department shall determine, after public hearing, if
the detailed and specific plan before it for approval conforms to and is
consistent with the general plan, and whether it is in the public
interest to undertake the construction and operation of the works or
projects as proposed. The department shall have the power to approve or
disapprove the detailed and specific maps and plans, or to so modify
them as will, on the evidence presented, bring them into conformity with
the general plan.

5. Any municipality or combination of municipalities may, except as
provided in subdivision 7 of section 15-1103, file with the department a
verified petition requesting the department to modify, change or rescind
any general plan approved by it. The petition shall set forth the facts
on which the petitioner or petitioners rely to show that it is necessary
and would be in the public interest to change or modify such plan as
requested in the petition, or to rescind such plan. Upon receipt of such
a petition, the department shall give public notice of hearing, shall
give written notice of hearing to parties and persons, shall hold a
public hearing on such petition, and shall take testimony and proof, in
the same manner as if the department were holding a public hearing on
the original submission of the plan which such petition seeks to change,
modify or rescind. The department, within ninety days after the last
date fixed for the filing of briefs and with all convenient speed, shall
render its decision changing, modifying or rescinding such plan, or
denying the petition, as the public interest shall require.

6. The department may, on its own motion, initiate proceedings to
change, modify or rescind any approved plan. The proceedings and
procedure with respect to any such proposal, including notice, hearing
and judicial review, shall be the same as in the case of a petition for
change, modification or rescission of a plan.

7. Except as hereinafter in this subdivision provided, the provisions
of sections 15-1109 and 15-1111 shall apply to the sharing and
apportionment of costs and expenses incurred by the department under
this section. In any case where an application under this section is
filed with respect to any plan by any municipality or municipalities
outside of the region specified in such plan, the share of the
department costs and expenses which would otherwise be paid by the
county or counties of such region, shall be paid by such municipality or
municipalities.