Availability of mediation for license or permit disputes

In the event of a serious disagreement between a Federal and State agency regarding whether a listed or unlisted federal license or permit activity is subject to the federal consistency requirement, either party may request the OCRM mediation or Secretarial mediation services provided for in subpart G of this part; notice shall be provided to the applicant. The existence of a serious disagreement will not relieve the Federal agency from the responsibility for withholding approval of a license or permit application for an activity on an approved management program list (see § 930.53) or individually approved by the Director (see § 930.54) pending satisfaction of the requirements of this subpart. Similarly, the existence of a serious disagreement will not prevent the Federal agency from approving a license or permit activity which has not received Director approval.