36.19.201    APPLICATION EVALUATION PROCEDURE

(1) The department shall review and evaluate all applications to determine compliance with the act and these rules. Eligible and qualified applications shall merit further funding consid eration. Applications that do not meet eligibility requirements or fail to convincingly demonstrate public benefits, need, and technical and financial feasibility will be disqualified and recommended for no funding.

(2) Crucial state need applications will be further evaluated to determine if the project clearly and convincingly documents a set of circumstances or conditions that require action to prevent or eliminate severe and unacceptable damage to public RESOURCES or to capture extraordinary public benefits that would otherwise be lost. In order to assist the department in making this determination, crucial state need applicants shall submit with their application an opinion from a knowledgeable and authoritative source, preferably a state agency, relative to the following:

(a) the potential threat to public health and safety;

(b) the validity of the problem or need;

(c) the consequence of no action or delayed action;

(d) the severity of the problem or need;

(e) the estimated number of people affected, directly and indirectly;

(f) the level of support for the project;

(g) whether the stated objectives will meet the need; and

(h) whether the source supports the project.

(3) Crucial state need applications which do not meet the requirements of preceding subsection (2) , but which are otherwise qualified, will be assigned to the category designated "other".

(4) All qualified applications will be evaluated for individual merit as well as for relative merit, except that projects designated as "other" shall not compete against qualified mineral development impacts or crucial state need projects.

History: 90-2-1105, MCA; IMP, 90-2-1105, 90-2-1111, 90-2-1112, and 90-2-1113, MCA; NEW, 1988 MAR p. 727, Eff. 4/15/88; AMD, 1996 MAR p. 775, Eff. 3/22/96.