(1) Public works request. Any agency submitting a public works request to the department of enterprise services shall be regarded as the lead agency. It will be the sole responsibility of an agency submitting a public works request to determine whether the action is exempt and, if not, to prepare an environmental checklist, make threshold determinations of nonsignificance or significance, prepare draft and final EIS's and conduct public hearings. If an EIS is required for any public works request the working draft EIS must be prepared concurrently or prior to the completion of the design development phase. Evidence of compliance with SEPA rules, chapter
197-11 WAC, must be provided to the department of enterprise services prior to implementing proposals.
(2) Space request. The department of enterprise services will normally assume responsibility as lead agency for space requests submitted to the department. However, if an EIS is required for a space request the agency submitting the space request may be assigned responsibility for preparing the draft and final EIS's and to conduct public hearings.