(a) Any municipality may apply for funds under this Part. If a municipality and a not-for-profit corporation are cooperating in the submission of an application, the municipality must execute the application and project agreement and shall have final responsibility for the implementation of the project.

1. (1) Preliminary applications shall be submitted on forms to be furnished by the office. Forms may be obtained from the respective regional offices of the office which are listed in section 461.6 of this Title or by contacting the commissioner. For municipalities within the Catskill or Adirondack forest preserve, applications may be obtained from the appropriate regional office of the Department of Environmental Conservation or from the Division of Operations, Department of Environmental Conservation, 50 Wolf Road, Room 611, Albany, NY 12233.
2. (2) Prior to submitting a preliminary application, a municipality shall schedule a preapplication conference with the regional grants-in-aid representative. At the preapplication conference the application process, including the annual numerical ranking values and distribution of program funds, will be discussed and the regional grants representative will provide such information to the municipality as is necessary for the municipality to complete the preliminary application.

3. (3) The preliminary application shall contain the following:

   1. (i) general applicant information;
   2. (ii) documentation to demonstrate the source of the municipality's funding match and its commitment to operating and maintaining the facility;
   3. (iii) a program narrative, containing information to be specified by the office, including but not limited to data on environmental resources;
   4. (iv) a project cost breakdown;
   5. (v) a project map; and
   6. (vi) a copy of a resolution of the governing body of the municipality recommending the project to the commissioner.

4. (4) Three copies of the complete preliminary application shall be submitted to the appropriate Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation or Department of Environmental Conservation regional office, to the attention of the regional grants representative, no later than September 15th. Preliminary applications hand-delivered or postmarked after September 15th will not be accepted.

   (c) Review of preliminary applications.

5. (1) All preliminary applications will receive at least two separate reviews, one of which shall be conducted by the regional office. The final decision on all preliminary applications shall be made by the commissioner.
6. (2) All applications will be reviewed in accordance with section 437.3 of this Part.
7. (3) Reviews of preliminary applications will be completed and the commissioner's decision made not later than December 31st. All applicants will be immediately notified of the commissioner's decision. Such decision will be in writing and, where projects will not be funded, will contain the reasons for this determination.

8. (4) Conditional approval of a preliminary application will mean that the project will be funded in that grant cycle, provided that the documentation required to convert the preliminary application into a complete final application is submitted by the municipality as required by this section.

   (d) Final application.

   A municipality that has received conditional approval of a preliminary application shall submit the following documents to the office as soon as possible, but no later than 60 days from the notification of conditional approval.

9. (1) proof of ownership, such as copies of deeds, leases and easements (required for development projects only);
10. (2) appraisal of property to be acquired in an acquisition project or to be used towards the municipal share of the cost of a project;
11. (3) general site map;
12. (4) detailed park location map, showing park boundaries and adjacent land uses;
13. (5) detailed boundary map, clearly establishing the subject area's boundaries and showing features such as road names and numbers, bodies of water, etc.;

14. (6) environmental management forms:

    1. (i) supporting documentation to indicate compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act; and
    2. (ii) coastal assessment form, if applicable;

15. (7) historic preservation forms:

    1. (i) project review data sheet;
    2. (ii) building-structure inventory forms; and

16. (8) additional material specified by the office in the notice of conditional approval of a preliminary application.

    (e) Changes to project.

    It is understood that in the preparation of the additional documentation for the final application, the need for changes to the project may be identified because of engineering, environmental and historic preservation concerns. If a final application will contain such changes, these changes shall be fully explained and justified and, where appropriate, supported by documentation. Final applications which contain changes from the preliminary application which are not explained to the satisfaction of the commissioner, or in which changes alter the nature of the project, will not be approved.

    (f) Review of final application.

17. (1) The office will complete its review of the final application documentation and notify the municipality of the commissioner's approval as soon as possible, but no later than 60 days from receipt of the documentation.

18. (2) If the materials supplied by the municipality for the final application are incomplete or insufficient, the office will notify the municipality as soon as these deficiencies are known and will work with the municipality to assure the completion of an approvable application. In this case, notification by the office will be complete no later than 30 days after submission of complete final application documentation.

    (g) Accelerated approvals.

    If an approved preliminary application also contains the documentation required to convert it to a final application, early approval of the final application may be effected.

    (h) LWCF applications not funded.

19. (1) The office shall consider applications for assistance from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which were not funded.
20. (2) In order for such a project to be considered, the municipality shall complete and submit the preliminary application according to the procedures established by this section.
21. (3) The municipality may alter, revise or update any part of the application.
22. (4) The preliminary application will be reviewed and ranked along with all other preliminary applications received by the office for that grants cycle.
23. (5) If an approved preliminary application contains the documentation required to convert it to a final application, early approval of the final application will be effected.

24. (6) Municipalities may obtain copies of unfunded LWCF applications on file by contacting the regional grants-in-aid representative.

    (i) Joint applications.

    Joint applications between municipalities will be considered provided that the preliminary application clearly establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner the various responsibilities of each participating municipality, including which municipality shall have primary responsibility for being the contact with the office.

(b) Preliminary applications.

The office has instituted a preliminary application process by which a conditional determination will be made regarding which projects will be funded during a particular grants cycle.