As the application deadline for Category 2 applicants (October 4) is rapidly approaching, we are reissuing the following summary of important provisions of the Commission’s regulations for host and potential surrounding communities.  This summary has been available on the Commission’s regulations Web site page.  This summary describes the three ways a community may be designated as a surrounding community.  To be so designated, a community may:

1. Reach a surrounding community agreement by the application deadline;
2. Be designated by an applicant as a surrounding community in an applicant’s application and assent to such designation; or,
3. Be designated as a surrounding community after a successful petition the Commission made within 10 days of the application deadline.

We encourage communities to use the resources on the Commission’s Web site, including the page dedicated to host and surrounding communities and the Overview of the Licensing Process.

We also remind /inform communities that communities should notify the Commission if they would like to receive copies of certain reports relating to surrounding communities that are submitted by applicants as part of their RFA-2 applications.  The deadline to sign up for notification (as per below) is October 1, 2013 by 3:00 p.m. for Category 2 applications.  As noted in the Commission’s July 1, 2013 newsletter:

Communities may sign-up to receive direct copy of portions of gaming applications

The Commission’s regulations require applicants to forward copies of specified reports and studies to communities either before or contemporaneous with the filing of their gaming applications with the Commission.  These reports and studies include information that would be of interest to potential surrounding communities.  Any community that would like to receive such reports and studies can request to be added to the Commission’s list for receiving such studies.  To do so, a community should follow the e-mail instructions on the Commission’s Host Community Agreement page. Communities should note that the placement of a community on the list to receive such reports and studies does not result in the designation of that community as a “surrounding community” for the purposes of the Commission’s regulations.  As stated in the Commission’s regulations, in order to become a “surrounding community”, a community may be designated by an applicant as a surrounding community in the applicant’s gaming application to the Commission, may execute a surrounding community agreement with an applicant, or may be designated as a surrounding community by the Commission upon a petition to the Commission filed no later than 10 days after the date of the application.

In addition to the ability of communities to receive direct copies of these reports and studies, the Commission’s new Phase 2 application has been designed to enable the Commission to quickly make available non-confidential portions of all gaming applications.