A. Whenever the responsible official has issued a determination of significance (DS) for a nonexempt action, a draft EIS and a final EIS shall be prepared by an independent consultant hired by the City, and the under the supervision of the responsible official. It is provided, however, that it shall be the responsibility of the individual, corporation or agency initiating or proposing the action to reimburse the City for the total costs of having the draft EIS and a final EIS prepared by the consultant. Consultants hired to prepare draft EISs or final EISs shall be selected based on their expertise and knowledge related to the scoped environmental elements to be analyzed in the EIS documents. Regardless of who prepares an EIS, it is the EIS of the City and the responsible official must be satisfied that the EIS complies with this chapter, with SEPA and with the SEPA rules prior to issuance of the EIS.

B. The responsible official may determine that City staff will complete all or part of an EIS for a private proposal, or the City may contract with one or more consultants to prepare or assist in preparation of an EIS, and may charge and collect fees from the applicant to cover costs incurred by the City in preparation of the EIS, if one or more of the following circumstances exist: