(1) The environmental review section of the department shall be responsible for the following:

(a) Coordinating agency activities to comply with SEPA, encouraging consistency in SEPA compliance among all regions and programs.

(b) Providing information and guidance on SEPA and the SEPA rules to department staff, agencies, groups, and citizens.

(c) Receiving all SEPA documents sent to the department for review and comment, distributing documents and coordinating review with appropriate regions and programs, preparing the department's response, ensuring a timely response, and requesting extensions to the comment period of an EIS, when needed.

(d) Preparing and publishing the SEPA register weekly as required under WAC 197-11-508.

(e) Maintaining the department's files for EISs, DNSs, scoping notices, and notices of action sent to the department under SEPA and the SEPA rules.

(f) Maintaining files for the city/county SEPA procedures designating environmentally sensitive areas and flexible thresholds and making the information available to department staff and the public.

(g) Writing and/or coordinating EIS preparation, including scoping and the scoping notice, making sure to work with appropriate regions and programs.

(h) Preparing for, coordinating, and presenting annual SEPA workshops and publishing an annual SEPA handbook.

(i) Publishing and distributing the SEPA rules and amending the SEPA rules, as necessary.

(j) Responding to petitions for changes in exemptions from SEPA.

(k) Responding to petitions to resolve lead agency disputes.

(l) Fulfilling the department's other general responsibilities under SEPA and the SEPA rules.

(2) Regional offices and programs of the department shall be responsible for the following:

(a) Determining whether their decision on a permit or other approval, program, policy, plan, or regulation is an "action" under SEPA and, if so, whether it is exempt from SEPA's requirements (the first department official contacted may make these determinations).

(b) Determining whether WDOE or another agency is SEPA lead agency, contacting the environmental review section if there is a question about which agency is the lead agency.

(c) Making the threshold determination (made by the responsible official, see WAC 173-802-050).

(i) Issuing a determination of nonsignificance, if appropriate (issued by responsible official) and ensuring compliance with the public notice requirements of WAC 173-802-100; or

(ii) Contacting the environmental review section if a determination of significance is appropriate.

(d) Reviewing SEPA documents and submitting comments to the environmental review section in a timely fashion, recognizing that SEPA and the SEPA rules impose strict time limits on commenting.

(e) Working with the environmental review section on preparation of EISs.

(f) Ensuring that permit decisions are consistent with the final EIS and DNS.