The "Three Year Look Back Rule" under Minnesota Environmental Quality Board Environmental Review requirements addresses how to determine whether a proposed expansion of an existing project requires a mandatory EAW due to the combined size of the existing project and the proposed expansion. The existing project’s magnitude must be added to that of the proposed expansion under the following conditions:
- Construction of the existing project commenced less than three years ago; and
- The existing project was not reviewed through an EAW or EIS.
The purpose of the 3-year look-back rule is to identify phased actions that are subject to review. This provision does not require EAW review of any existing stages of the project. It only requires the RGU to include previous stages in the calculation to determine if the EAW mandatory threshold is exceeded, not to review completed construction.
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