(1) The responsible official shall begin any required environmental review for proposals initiated by the district at the earliest point in the planning and decision-making process when the principal features of that proposal and its probable environmental impacts are reasonably identified.

(2) The responsible official shall begin any required environmental review for proposals not initiated by the district no later than upon receipt of a complete application, which application shall not be complete without any required environmental document and fee. However, the responsible official may initiate environmental review (including preparation of EISs) at the conceptual stage rather than the final detailed design stage and have informal conferences with the applicant prior to the submittal of a complete application. When conducting such early environmental review, the applicant shall provide the responsible official with sufficient information (consistent with WAC 197-11-100 and 197-11-335) as to permit the responsible official to conduct an adequate review consistent with these rules.

(3) To the extent that the district establishes any advisory body for purposes of making a recommendation on a proposal to the board of commissioners, the responsible official shall provide such bodies with any relevant environmental documents for its consideration before any final recommendation is transmitted to the board of commissioners.

(4) Any environmental review may be organized in phases as specified in WAC 197-11-060(5).

(5) In all cases not otherwise covered above, the timing of the district’s environmental review for proposals shall be as specified on an individual, case-by-case basis by the responsible official consistent with these SEPA rules. [Res. 379 § 5, 1982.]