(a) Scoping Meeting. – No less than 60 days prior to filing an application for a permit for a proposed wind energy facility or proposed wind energy facility expansion, the applicant shall request the scheduling of a scoping meeting between the applicant and the Department. The scoping meeting shall be held no less than 30 days prior to filing an application for a permit for a proposed wind energy facility or proposed wind energy facility expansion. The applicant and the Department shall review the permit for the proposed wind energy facility or proposed facility expansion at the scoping meeting.

(b) Notice of Scoping Meeting. – No less than 21 days prior to the scheduled permit application scoping meeting with an applicant, the Department shall provide written notice of the meeting to the commanding military officer of each major military installation, or the commanding military officer’s designee, the Federal Aviation Administration, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the board of commissioners for each county and the governing body of each municipality in which the wind energy facility or proposed wind energy facility expansion is proposed to be located, and those local governments with jurisdictions over areas in which a major military installation is located. The notice shall include an invitation to participate in the scoping meeting. (2013-51, s. 1.)