South Dakota
Environmental Assessment
An Environmental Assessment, in the sense DANR uses, is a review that the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) carries out when it is asked to evaluate what a proposed project or a change in land use would affect. DANR says the review is detailed: it identifies the permits or rules that apply, any documented spills or releases, any registered storage tanks, and possible issues of water quality, drinking water or water rights. DANR lists the service under its Inspection, Compliance, and Remediation Program.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name an agency review of this kind among its standard record sources. Four details shape its use.
- It goes through the state portal. DANR says that since January 1, 2024, every request must be filed through the South Dakota Citizen Portal, which needs an account. Answers come back in the portal and by email, and DANR mentions checking a spam folder for them.
- The clock starts when the request is complete. DANR allows 30 days for the review, counted from when it has everything it asks for: the requester's name, mailing address, email and phone; the project's name and a description, conceptual or complete, with the planned activity or future use, the timeline, and the location given both as section, township and range and as latitude and longitude; and the specific concerns DANR should address. A requester who needs only some information rather than a review across the whole agency should say so.
- The map has to show the whole project. DANR asks for aerial photos or maps that carry the project name, labeled streets, waterbodies and landmarks, a legend, a north arrow, an outline of the project area, and an outline of any off-site areas such as access or haul roads, disposal areas, stockpiles or staging. A project across several cities or counties should come with detailed maps, and DANR may ask for more if the map leaves the scope unclear.
- Online databases come first. DANR says it keeps several statewide databases suited to records and FOIA requests, and asks that anyone whose answer is available there use them rather than file an assessment request. The spill and tank search is the Tanks and Spills Map.
Plan for the 30 days before the report is due, and send every item DANR lists, the legal description and coordinates among them, with the first request, since the 30 days run only from when DANR has them all.
Where to look a site up
- DANR's Environmental Assessment page links the request, under the label Submit Your Environmental Assessment Request, and DANR's Data & Mapping page lists its databases.
- Questions go to (605) 773-3296.
Getting the file
DANR's page footer links Request Public Records, and the assessment request link points to the same sd.gov address, which this handbook did not open. The pages read do not say how the portal tells the two kinds of request apart.
Sources
South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: