(a) The Operating Administration(s) must solicit public comment on the pending request and must consider comments received before rendering a decision on the State's application. Materials made available for this public review must include the State's application, a draft of the MOU, and a list of responsibilities sought by the State that the Operating Administration(s) proposes to retain. The notification may be a joint notification if two or more Operating Administrations are involved in the assignment for a project or a class of projects.

(b) If the Operating Administration(s) approves the application of a State, then the Operating Administration(s) will invite the State to execute the MOU.

(c) The Administrator for the appropriate Operating Administration will be responsible for approving the application and executing the MOU on behalf of the Operating Administration.

(d) The State's participation in the Program is effective upon full execution of the MOU. The Operating Administration's responsibilities under NEPA and any other environmental laws may not be assigned to or assumed by the State prior to execution of the MOU with the exception of renewal situations under § 773.115(g) of this part.

(e) The MOU must have a term of not more than 5 years that may be renewed pursuant to § 773.115 of this part.

(f) The State must publish the MOU and approved application on its Web site and other relevant State Web sites and make it reasonably available to the public for inspection and copying.