The commissioner shall annually establish a schedule of discrete application periods for the next year, provided that no period shall be less than one month nor more than six months. At the end of each application period, the commissioner shall rank and order all applications received during the period, after evaluation of each application in accordance with the specific criteria provided in section 6 of this act and, if a project is justified in relation to competing applications and the amount of funds available, the commissioner shall make a preliminary finding of feasibility and communicate to the applicant sponsor any recommended changes in the project plan and any conditions to the provision of assistance under this act, not inconsistent with this act or any other law. An application which does not receive a preliminary finding of feasibility within an application period shall be considered rejected, and shall be eligible for consideration in any future evaluation of projects only upon the submission of a new application.

L.1983, c. 190, s. 7, eff. May 23, 1983.