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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 128RESOLUTION NO. 128 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF THE CITY OF AZUSA APPROVING THE "PROCEDURES OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF THE CITY OF AZUSA TO IMPLEMENT THE CALI- FORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (AS APPROVED MARCH 5 , 1984)" WHEREAS, Section 15022 of Title 14 of the California Administrative Code requires that each public agency shall adopt objectives, criteria and specific procedures consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") and the State CEQA Guidelines for administering its responsibili- ties under CEQA including the orderly evaluation of projects in preparation of environmental documents; and WHEREAS, The procedures approved by this resolution have been drafted in accordance with the requirements of said Section 15022 and within 120 days of the major revisions to the CEQA Guidelines which were effective November 29, 1983. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF THE CITY OF AZUSA THAT: SECTION 1. The Board of Directors of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Azusa hereby adopts the "Procedures of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Azusa to Implement the California Environmental Quality Act (As Approved , 1984)" which are attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and by this reference incorporated herein as though set forth in full. SECTION 2. These procedures shall be cited by their title or may be referred to as "Azusa CRA CEQA Procedures," and may be amended by a resolution of the Board of Directors as may be necessary. SECTION 3. The Secretary shall certify to the adop- tion of this resolution. 1984. APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 5th day of March , I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the Board of Directors of the Community Redevel- opment Agency of the City of Azusa at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 5th day of March 1984, by the following vote of the Board: AYES: BOARD MEMBERS: CRUZ, COOK, CAMARENA, LATTA, MOSES NOES: BOARD MEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: BOARD MEMBERS: NONE cretary PROCEDURES OF THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF THE CITY OF AZUSA TO IMPLEMENT THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (AS APPROVED SECTION 1. AUTHORITY MARCH 5 , 1984) These procedures are adopted to implement the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), Public Resources Code Section 21000 et sec., and the State CEQA Guidelines ("State Guidelines"), 14 California Administra- tive Code Section 15000 et sec., as amended, and may be referred to as "Azusa CRA CEQA Procedures." SECTION 2. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE GUIDELINES The State Guidelines are hereby incorporated by reference. These implementing procedures are not meant to replace the State Guidelines but to implement and tailor the general provisions of the State Guidelines to the specific operations of the City. If any section of these procedures are in conflict with or contrary to any provision of the State Guidelines as they now exist or may be amended hereafter, the State Guidelines shall control. SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS The term "Agency" as used in these procedures shall mean the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Azusa and "Board" shall mean the Board of Directors of said Agency. The term "Director" as used in these procedures shall mean the Executive Director of the Agency. The term "advisory body" as used in these proce- dures shall mean the person, committee, or commission which has authority by law or ordinance to comment upon or give an advisory decision on the project at issue. The term "decision-making body" as used in these procedures shall mean the person, commission or Board which has authority by law or ordinance to make a final decision to approve or disapprove the project at issue. SECTION 4. RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH CEQA The Executive Director of the Agency shall be responsible for the following CEQA functions on projects for which their department has CEQA responsiblities: (1) Determination of whether a project is exempt; EXHIBIT 1 (2) Conduct of an Initial Study; (3) Preparation of a Negative Declaration or EIR; (4) Determination that a Negative Declaration or EIR has been completed within applicable time limits; (5) Preparation of responses to public comments; (6) Certification that the decision making body has received and considered an EIR or Negative Declaration; (7) Filing of applicable Notices. SECTION 5. PRELIMINARY REVIEW A. Review for Completeness The Director shall determine whether an applica- tion for a permit or other entitlement for use is complete and notify the applicant in writing within 30 days from the receipt of the application except as provided in Section 9. If the application is incomplete, the notice shall specify the reasons therefor. If no written determination of the completeness of the application is made within that period, the application will be deemed complete on the 30th day. B. Review for Exemptions Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the requirements of CEQA do not apply. Such activities include the statutory exemptions set forth in Article 18 of the State Guidelines, projects over which the City has only ministerial authority and activities which are found to be categorically exempt. (1) Ministerial Permits - A ministerial permit is one approved or denied by a decision which a public offical or a public agency makes that involves only the use of fixed standards and objectives without personal judgment. Minis- terial projects are exempt from the requirements of CEQA and no environmental documents are required. (2) Categorical Exemptions The Board of Directors of the Community Redevelop- ment Agency of the City of Azusa hereby finds those classes of activities set forth in Article 19 of the State Guidelines to be categorically exempt with the following exceptions: (a) Location Classes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 11 of the State Guidelines are qualified by consideration of where -2- 0 to the project is to be located - a project that is ordinarily insignificant in its impact on the environment may in a particularly sensitive environment be significant. There- fore, these classes are considered to apply in all instances, except where the project may impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state or local agencies. (b) Cumulative Impact All exemptions for these classes are inapplicable when the cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place, over time is significant - for example, annual additions to an existing building under Class I of the State Guidelines. (c) Significant Effect A categorical exemption shall not be used for an activity where it can be fairly argued that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. (3) Specific Projects Subject to Categorical Exemptions Following is a list of specific projects often handled by the Agency which the Agency has determined to be categorically exempt pursuant to Article 19 of the State Guidelines. These are listed as additions to the lists of categorical exemptions set forth in Section 15100.4 of the State CEQA Guidelines. (a) Class 4: Minor alterations to land "(i) Grading on land with a slope of less than 10 percent, or earthwork is less than 1,000 cu. yds. and results in cuts and fills less than 5 feet in vertical height, except where it is to be located in a waterway, in any wetland, in an officially designated (by federal, state or local governmental action) scenic area, or in officially mapped areas of severe geologic hazards; "(j) Agricultural grading not in conjunc- tion with subdivision or other land development; "(k) Landscaping, irrigation work, slope planting, tree trimming, and minor tree removal." (b) Class 5: Alterations in land use limitations "(d) The extension, renewal, modification or preparation of leases where the proposed use is essentially the same as -3- the prior use; or where the leased facitilities were designed for the proposed use; "(e) Minor modifications granted pursuant to any existing precise plan of design, conditional use permit, variance, parcel map, or tentative map. "(f) Abandonment of public rights of way." (c) Class 12: Surplus government propert sales "(b)(4) The uses to which the property can legally be utilized are compatible with the use of the adjacent property." (4) Notice of Exemption If the Director determines that a project is exempt under these Procedures and the State Guidelines, he or she shall cause to be filed a Notice of Exemption after approval of the project in the form and manner required by Section 15062 of the State Guidelines. SECTION 6. PROCEDURES FOR THE CONDUCT OF INITIAL STUDIES A. Determination That Initial Study Should Be Conducted If a project is subject to the requirements of CEQA and not exempted by these Procedures, the Director shall conduct an Initial Study to determine if the project may have a significant effect on the environment. If the Director can determine that an EIR clearly will be required for the project, an Initial Study is not required but may still be made if determined to be desirable. If it is determined that an Initial Study is required for a project, all phases of project planning, implementation and operation shall be considered. An initial study or similar analyses prepared pursuant to NEPA may be used to meet the requirements of this Section. B. Results of Initial The Initial Study shall be used to provide a written determination of whether a Negative Declaration or an EIR shall be prepared for a project. If the Director determines that there is substan- tial evidence that any aspect of the project, either individually or cumulatively, may cause a significant effect on the environment, regardless of whether the overall effect of the project is adverse or beneficial, the Director shall cause an EIR to be prepared. A new EIR need not be prepared if the Director determines that a previously prepared EIR would adequately analyze the project under consideration. -4- If the Director determines that there is no substantial evidence that the project or any of its aspects may cause a significant effect on the environment, the Director shall cause a Negative Declaration to be prepared. C. Determining Significant Effect The determination of whether or not a project may have a significant effect on the environment shall be made as required by Section 15064 of the State Guidelines. D. Contents An Initial Study shall contain in brief form: (1) A description of the project including the location of the project; (2) An identification of the environmental setting; (3) An identification of environmental effects by use of a checklist, matrix, or other method. (4) A discussion of ways to mitigate the significant effects identified, if any; (5) An examination of whether the project is compatible with existing zoning, plans, and other applicable land use controls; and (6) The name of the person or persons who prepared or participated in the Initial Study. E. Submission of Data If the project is to be carried out by a private person or private organization, the Director may require such person or organization to submit data and information which will enable the Director to prepare the Initial Study. Any person may submit any information in any form to assist the Director in preparing an Initial Study. F. Format Forms for an applicant's project description and a review form for use by the Director shall be provided by the Department. When used together, these forms would meet the requirements for an Initial Study. If an EIR has been previously prepared which adequately analyzes the project, it may be used as the Initial Study. G. Consultation As soon as a Director has determined that a project is not exempt and that an Initial Study will be required to determine whether a Negative Declaration or an EIR is required, the Director shall consult informally with all Responsible Agencies and all Trustee Agencies -5- responsible for resources affected by the project to obtain the recommendations of those agencies as to whether an EIR or a Negative Declaration should be prepared. During or immediately after preparation of an Initial Study for a private project, the Director may consult with the applicant to determine if the applicant is willing to modify the project to reduce or avoid the signifi- cant effects identified in the Initial Study. H. Time Limits The Director shall determine within 45 days after accepting an application as complete whether it intends to prepare an EIR or a Negative Declaration or use a previously prepared EIR or Negative Declaration except as provided in Section 9. SECTION 7. PROCEDURES FOR THE PREPARATION OF NEGATIVE DECLARATIONS A. Determination to Prepare Negative Declaration The Director shall cause a proposed Negative Declaration to be prepared for a project under the following circumstances: (1) The Initial Study shows there is no substantial evidence that the project may have a significant effect on the environment; or (2) The Initial Study identified potentially significant effects but revisions in the project plans or proposals made by or agreed to by the applicant before the proposed Negative Declaration is released for public review would avoid or mitigate the effects to a point where clearly no significant effects would occur, and there is no sub- stantial evidence before the Director that the project as revised may have a significant effect on the environment. B. Contents A Negative Declaration circulated for public review shall include: (1) A brief description of the project, including a commonly used name for the project if any; (2) The location of the project and the name of the project proponent; (3) A proposed finding that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment; (4) An attached copy of the Initial Study documenting reasons to support the finding; (5) Mitigation measures, if any, included in the project to avoid potentially significant effects. C. Public Notice Notice that the decision-making body proposes to adopt a Negative Declaration shall be provided to the public within a reasonable period of time prior to adoption by the decision-making body of the Negative Declaration of at least seven (7) calendar days prior to adoption. Notice shall be given to all organizations and individuals who have previously requested such notice and shall also be given by at least one of the following procedures: (1) Publication at least one time by the lead agency in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the proposed project; or (2) Posting of notice on.and off site in the area where the project is to be located; or (3) Direct mailing to owners of property contiguous to the project as such owners are shown on the latest equalized assessment roll. The public notice shall state that the Negative Declaration is available for inspection at the Department office and at any other location or locations determined by the Director to be beneficial to adequate public review. D. Public Review of a Negative Declaration The Director shall provide a public review period for a proposed Negative Declaration. The noticed public review period shall be at least seven (7) calendar days prior to adoption and long enough to provide members of the public with sufficient time to respond to the pro- posed finding before the Negative Declaration is approved. A copy of the notice with the proposed Negative Declaration shall be sent to every Responsible Agency and Trustee Agency concerned with the project and every other public agency with jurisdiction by law over resources affected by the project. Where one or more state agencies will be a Responsible Agency or a Trustee Agency or will exercise jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by the project, the Director shall send copies of the Negative Declaration to the State Clearinghouse for distribution to the state agencies. When a Negative Declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review by state agencies, the public review period shall be not less than 30 days unless a shorter period is approved by the State Clearinghouse. E. Consideration Prior to recommending approval or disapproval of a project, the advisory body shall consider the proposed Negative Declaration. -7- • 6 F. Approval The decision making body shall approve the Negative Declaration by separate resolution if it finds on the basis of the Initial Study and any comments received that there is no substantial evidence that the project will have a signifi- cant effect on the environment. G. Notice of Determination After the decision making body has made a decision to carry out or approve a project for which a Negative Declaration has been prepared, the Director shall file a Notice of Determination. The Notice of Determination shall include: (1) An identification of the project including its common name where possible and its location; (2) A brief description of the project; (3) The date on which the project was approved; (4) A determination that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment; (5) A statement that a Negative Declaration has been prepared pursuant to the provisions of CEQA; and (6) The address where a copy of the Negative Declaration may be examined. The Notice of Determination shall be filed with the County Clerk of the County of Los Angeles. If the project requires a discretionary approval from any State agency, the Notice of Determination also shall be filed with the Secretary for Resources. H. Federal Projects For projects where federal involvement might require the preparation of a finding of no significant effect, the provisions of Article 14 of the State Guidelines shall be followed in addition to the procedures set forth in this Section. I. Completion of Negative Declaration With a private project, the Negative Declaration must be completed and ready for approval within 105 days from.the date when the Director accepted the application as complete. The Negative Declaration may be approved at a later time when the permit or other entitlement is approved. 4 SECTION 8. PROCEDURES FOR THE PREPARATION OF EIR's A. Decision to Prepare an EIR When a Director decides that an EIR will be required for a project, he or she shall follow the procedures contained in this section and the State Guidelines. B. Notice of Preparation (1) Immediately after determining that an EIR will be required for a project, the Director shall send a Notice of Preparation by certified mail or other method of transmittal which provides it with a notice that the Notice has been received, to each Responsible Agency, Trustee Agency responsible for resources affected by the project and to each federal agency involved in approving or funding the project and consult with those agencies as required by Section 15083 of the State Guidelines. (2) The contents of the Notice of Preparation shall be as set forth in Section 15082(a) of the State Guidelines. (3) The agencies to which a Notice of Preparation is sent shall have 30 days to respond in the form and manner set forth in Section 15082(b) of the State Guidelines. If an agency fails by the end of the 30 day period to respond, or make a well -justified request for additional time to respond, it shall be presumed that the agency has no response to make and the Director may ignore a late response. (4) The Director shall not circulate a draft EIR for public review before the time period for responses to the Notice of Preparation has expired. C. Early Public Consultation Prior to completing the draft EIR, the Director may consult directly with any person or organization he or she believes will be concerned with the environmental effects of the project. Where the Director, a Responsible Agency, a Trustee Agency or the project applicant has requested a meeting between representatives of the agencies involved to assist in determining the scope and content of a proposed EIR, the director shall convene such a meeting as soon as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days after the meeting is requested. For projects where federal involvement might require preparation of a federal EIS, the Director shall consult with the appropriate federal agencies as provided in Article 14 of the State Guidelines. D. Preparation of Draft EIR (1) One of the following methods or a combina- tion of them may be used, in the discretion of the Director, for preparing a draft EIR: (a) Preparing the draft EIR directly with City staff. (b) Contracting with another entity, public or private, to prepare the draft EIR. (c) Accepting a draft prepared by the applicant, a consultant retained by the applicant, or any other person. (d) Executing a third party contract with the applicant to govern the preparation of a draft EIR by an independent contractor. (e) Using a previously prepared EIR. (2) If a draft is prepared by a person other than the Agency staff, the draft shall be reviewed and analyzed by the Department before it is sent out for public review to ensure its adequacy and objectivity and its compliance with the requirements of CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines. (3) The Department may require the project applicant to supply data and information to determine whether the project may have a significant effect on the environment and to assist the Department in preparing the draft EIR. The project applicant shall also be required to identify any other public agencies which will have jurisdic- tion by law over the project. (4) The Department shall consider information or comments submitted by any person, whether requested or not, to assist in the preparation of the draft EIR. The information or comments may be submitted in any form and may be included in or in part in the draft EIR. E. Notice of Completion As soon as the draft EIR is completed, the Director shall file a Notice of Completion with the Secretary for Resources in the form specified in Section 15085 of the State Guidelines. F. Consultation Concerning Draft EIR The Department shall consult with and request comments on the draft EIR from Responsible Agencies, Trustee Agencies with resources affected by the project, and other state, federal, and local agencies which exercise authority over resources which may be affected by the project. The Department also may consult directly with any person who has special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved. -10- 0 0 G. Public Review of Draft EIR The Director shall provide public notice of the completion of a draft EIR at the same time as he or she sends a Notice of Completion to the Secretary for Resources. Notice shall be mailed to owners of property contiguous to the proposed project and to all organizations and individuals who have previously requested such notice and shall also be given by publication, no fewer times than required by Section 6061 of the Government Code, in a local newspaper. Said notice shall state that the draft EIR is available for public inspection at the Department office and at the Main Branch of the Public Library. The Director shall use the State Clearinghouse to distribute the documents to regional and local agencies. Public hearings may be conducted on the environ- mental documents, either in separate proceedings or in conjuction with other proceedings of the advisory body or decision-making body. The public review period for a draft EIR should be not less than 30 days nor longer than 90 days except in unusual circumstances. When a draft EIR or is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the normal review period is 45 days for draft EIR's The State Clearinghouse may set shorter review period when requested by the lead agency due to exceptional circumstances. H. Evaluation and Responses to Comments The Department shall evaluate and respond to comments received from persons who received the draft EIR and make any significant changes resulting from the response to comments by revising the text in the body of the EIR or including marginal notes showing that the information is revised in response to comments. I. Preparation of Final EIR It shall be the responsibility of the Director to prepare (or cause to be prepared) a final EIR. The con- tents of a final EIR are specified in Section 15132, et seq. of the State Guidelines. An opportunity for review of the final EIR by the public or by commenting agencies before the project is approved may be provided. J. Certification of Final EIR The final EIR shall be presented to the decision making body and that body or the Director shall certify by separate resolution or document that the final EIR has been completed in compliance with CEQA and the State Guidelines and that the decision making body has reviewed and considered the information contained in the EIR prior to the approval of the project. -11- K. Completion and Certification of EIR With a private project, the Director shall com- plete and certify the final EIR within one year after the date when the Director accepted the application as com- plete. The one-year time limit may be extended once for a period of not more than 90 days upon consent of the lead agency and the applicant. L. Notice of Determination After approving a project for which an EIR has been prepared, the Director shall file a Notice of Determin- ation. Such notice shall include: (1) An identification of the project including its common name where possible and its location; (2) A brief description of the project; (3) The date when the appropriate decision making body approved the project; (4) The determination of the appropriate decision making body of whether the project in its approved form will have a significant effect on the environment. (5) A statement that an EIR was prepared and certified pursuant to the provisions of CEQA. (6) Whether mitigation measures were made a condition of the approval of the project. (7) Whether findings were made pursuant to Section 15091 of the State Guidelines; (8) Whether a Statement of Overriding Considerations was adopted for the project; and (9) The address where a copy of the EIR and the record of project approval may be examined. The Notice of Determination shall be filed with the County Clerk of the County of Los Angeles. If the project requires discretionary approval from a state agency, the notice shall also be filed with the Secretary for Resources. SECTION 9. SPECIAL TIME LIMITS A. General Preparation and review of environmental documents shall be done within a reasonable period of time. Prepara- tion of an EIR should not cause undue delays in the proces- sing of applications for permits or other entitlements to use. -12- 0 0 B. Suspension of Time Periods An unreasonable delay by an applicant in meeting requests by the Director necessary for the preparation of a Negative Declaration or an EIR shall suspend the running of the time periods described in Sections 5,6,7,8, and 9 for the period of the unreasonable delay. Alternatively, an agency may disapprove a project application where there is unreasonable delay in meeting requests. The agency may allow a renewed applica- tion to start at the same point in the process where the application was when it was disapproved. C. Projects with Federal Involvement (1) At the request of an applicant, the lead agency may waive the one-year time limit for completing and certifying a final EIR or the 105 -day period for completing a Negative Declaration if: (a) The project will be subject to CEQA and to the National Environmental Policy Act; (b) Additional time will be required to prepare a combined EIR-EIS or combined negative declaration -finding of no significant impact as provided in Section 15222; and (c) The time required to prepare the combined document will be shorter than the time required to prepare the documents separately. (d) The time limits for taking final action on a permit for a development project may also be waived where a combined EIR-EIS will be prepared. (e) The time limits for processing permits for development projects under Government Code Sections 65950-65960 shall not apply if federal statutes or regulations require time schedules which exceed the state time limits. In this event, any state agencies involved shall make a final decision on the project within the federal time limits. D. Projects With Short Time Periods For Approval Where a statute or ordinance requires a public agency to make decisions on permits within time limits that are so short that review of the project under CEQA would be difficult, the Director shall deem an application for a project not received for filing under the permit statute or ordinance until such time as progress toward completing the environmental documentation required by CEQA is sufficient to enable the lead agency to finish the CEQA process within the short permit time limit. This section will apply where all of the following conditions are met: -13- 9 0 (1) The enabling legislation for a program, other than Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 65920) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, requires the lead agency to take action on an application within a specified period of time that is six months or less; (2) The enabling legislation provides that the project will become approved by operation of law if the lead agency fails to take any action within such specified time period; and (3) The project involves the issuance of a lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use. Examples of time periods subject to this section includes but is not limited to an action within 50 days on a tentative subdivision map for which an EIR is being or will be prepared pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 66452) of Chapter 3, Division 2, Title 2 of the Government Code but a negative declaration for a subdivision map must be completed within the 50 day period (see Government Code Section 66452.1(c)). In any case subject to this Section, the environ- mental document shall be completed or certified and the decision on the application shall be made within one year from the date on which an application requesting approval of such project has been received and accepted as complete for CEQA processing by such agency. This one-year time limit may be extended once for a period not to exceed 90 days upon consent of the public agency and the applicant. E. Development Projects If an EIR is required for a development project, the project shall be approved or disapproved within one year from the date on which an application requesting approval of a project has been received and accepted as complete by the Director. If a Negative Declaration is prepared or if the project is exempt from CEQA, the development project shall be approved or disapproved within six months from the date on which an application requesting approval of the project has been received and accepted as being complete by the Director. If there has been an extension of time pursuant to Section 21100.2 or 21151.5 of the Public Resources Code to complete and certify an EIR, the project shall be approved or disapproved within 90 days after certification of the EIR. The time limits in this section may once for a period not to exceed 90 days upon Director and the applicant. be extended consent of the SECTION 10. FEES If a project is to be carried out by any person or entity other than the Agency, the Director may collect a reasonable fee from such person or entity to recover the estimated costs incurred in preparing on EIR or negative declaration. -15-