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Home My WebLink AboutResolution No. 06-C0660 0 RESOLUTION NO. 06-C66 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA AMENDING AND ADOPTING LOCAL GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT — 2006 REVISION (PUB. RESOURCES CODE §§ 21000 ET SEQ.) WHEREAS, the California Legislature has amended the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") (Pub. Resources Code §§ 21000 et seq.) and the State CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Code of Regs, tit. 14, §§ 15000 et seq.) and the California courts have interpreted specific provisions of CEQA; WHEREAS, Section 21082 of CEQA requires all public agencies to adopt objectives, criteria and procedures for evaluation of public and private projects undertaken or approved by such public agencies, and the preparation, if required, of environmental impact reports and negative declarations in connection with that evaluation; and WHEREAS, The City of Azusa ("City") must revise its local guidelines for implementing CEQA to make them consistent with current provisions and interpretations of CEQA; NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Azusa hereby resolves as follows: SECTION 1. The City adopts "Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (2006 Revision)," a copy of which is on file at the offices of the City and is available for inspection by the public. SECTION 2. All prior actions of the City enacting earlier guidelines are hereby repealed. ADOPTED this 7th day of August, 2006. 19 _ MAA 1 -- 11 0 RESOLUTION NO. 06-C66 2006 CEQA Guidelines PAGE 2 of 2 PANii_ 96a•,I 0 I, Vera Mendoza, City Clerk of the City of Azusa hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. 06-C66 was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Azusa, at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 7`' day of August, 2006, by the following vote of the Council: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: HARDISON, CARRILLO, ROCHA, HANKS, CHAGNON NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE VERA MENDOZA CITY CLERK 2. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page GENERAL PROVISIONS, PURPOSE AND POLICY ................................................. 1-1 1.01 General Provisions..............................................................................................1-1 Selection Of Lead Agency ............................................. ....................... .............. 1.02 Purpose................................................................................................................1-1 Duties Of A Lead Agency...................................................................................2-1 1.03 Applicability.......................................................................................................1-1 Consultation Requirements For Development Projects......................................2-2 1.04 Reducing Delay and Paperwork............................................................ Responsible Agency Principle............................................................................2-3 1.05 Compliance With State Law...............................................................................1-3 Duties Of A Responsible Agency ...... ................................................................. 1.06 Terminology........................................................................................................1-3 Response To Notice Of Preparation By Responsible Agencies .........................2-3 1.07 Partial Invalidity..................................................................................................1-3 Use Of Final EIR Or Negative Declaration By Responsible Agencies..............2-4 1.08 Electronic Delivery of Comments and Notices .................................................. 1-3 LEAD AND RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES....................................................................2-1 2.01 Lead Agency Principle ..................................... .... ....... .................................... ....2-1 2.02 Selection Of Lead Agency ............................................. ....................... .............. 2-1 2.03 Duties Of A Lead Agency...................................................................................2-1 2.04 Consultation Requirements For Development Projects......................................2-2 2.05 Responsible Agency Principle............................................................................2-3 2.06 Duties Of A Responsible Agency ...... ................................................................. 2-3 2.07 Response To Notice Of Preparation By Responsible Agencies .........................2-3 2.08 Use Of Final EIR Or Negative Declaration By Responsible Agencies..............2-4 2.09 Shift In Lead Agency Responsibilities...............................................................2-4 ACTIVITIES EXEMPT FROM CEQA......................................................................... 3-1 3.01 Actions Subject To CEQA..................................................................................3-1 3.02 Ministerial Projects.............................................................................................3-1 3.03 Exemptions In General.......................................................................................3-2 3.04 Preliminary Exemption Assessment...................................................................3-2 3.05 Notice Of Exemption.......................................................................................... 3-2 3.06 Disapproved Projects..........................................................................................3-2 3.07 No Possibility Of Significant Effect...................................................................3-3 3.08 Emergency Projects ............................................... ............................................. 3-3 3.09 Feasibility And Planning Studies........................................................................ 3-3 3.10 Rates, Tolls, Fares And Charges ......... :............................................................... 3-3 3.11 Subsurface Pipelines Within A Public Right-Of-Way........................................3-4 3.12 Certain Residential Housing Projects .............................................. 3.13 Minor Alterations To Fluoridate Water Utilities................................................3-9 3.14 Ballot Measures..................................................................................................3-9 3.15 Other Specific Exemptions...............................................................................3-10 3.16 Categorical Exemptions.................................................................................... 3-10 4. TIME LIMITATIONS....................................................................................................4-1 4.01 Review Of Private Project Applications............................................................. 4-1 4.02 Determination Of Environmental Impact........................................................... 4-1 4.03 Completion And Adoption Of Negative Declaration ......................................... 4-1 SACVTBU0WQTY@2869.3 i ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 9 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 4.04 Completion And Certification Of Final EIR........................................ ............... 4-1 4.05 Projects Subject To The Permit Streamlining Act..............................................4-1 4.06 Projects, Other Than Those Subject To The Permit Streamlining Act, With Short Time Periods For Approval.......................................................................4-2 4.07 Suspension Of Time Periods...............................................................................4-2 5. ' INITIAL STUDY............................................................................................................5-1 5.01 Preparation Of Initial Study................................................................................5-1 5.02 Informal Consultation With Other Agencies......................................................5-1 5.03 Consultation With Private Project Applicant......................................................5-1 5.04 An Initial Study...................................................................................................5-2 5.05 Contents Of Initial Study....................................................................................5-2 5.06 Use Of A Checklist Initial Study........................................................................5-3 5.07 Evaluating Significant Environmental Effects....................................................5-3 5.08 Mandatory Findings Of Significant Effect.........................................................5-4 5.09 Mandatory Preparation Of An FIR For Waste -Burning Projects .......................5-5 5.10 Development Pursuant To An Existing Community Plan And EIR...................5-6 5.11 Land Use Policies...............................................................................................5-7 5.12 Evaluating Impacts On Historical Resources.....................................................5-7 5.13 Evaluating Impacts On Archaeological Sites ............ :........................................ 5-8 5.14 Consultation With Water Agencies Regarding Large Development Projects................................................................................................................ 5-9 5.15 Subdivisions With More Than 500 Dwelling Units.........................................5-10 5.16 Impacts to Oak Woodlands...............................................................................5-10 5.17 Environmental Impact Assessment...................................................................5-10 5.18 Final Determination..........................................................................................5-11 6. NEGATIVE DECLARATION.......................................................................................6-1 6.01 Decision To Prepare A Negative Declaration..................................................... 6-1 6.02 Decision To Prepare A Mitigated Negative Declaration....................................6-1 6.03 Contracting For Preparation Of Negative Declaration ....................................... 6-1 6.04 Notice Of Intent To Adopt A Negative Declaration Or Mitigated Negative Declaration.......................................................................................................... 6-1 6.05 Posting And Publication Of Negative Declaration Or Mitigated Negative Declaration.......................................................................................................... 6-2 6.06 Submission Of Negative Declaration Or Mitigated Negative Declaration ToState Clearinghouse.......................................................................................6-3 6.07 Special Notice Requirements For Waste And Fuel Burning Projects ................6-5 6.08 Consultation With Water Agencies Regarding Large Development Projects................................................................................................................ 6-5 6.09 Content Of Negative Declaration........................................................................ 6-5 6.10 Adoption Of Negative Declaration Or Mitigated Negative Declaration ............ 6-5 6.11 Mitigation Reporting Or Monitoring Program For Mitigated Negative Declaration.......................................................................................................... 6-6 SACVTB\2006\0I 2869J ❑ ®Best Best& Krieger LLP TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 6.12 Approval Or Disapproval Of Project ....................... ........................................... 6-7 6.13 Recirculation Of A Negative Declaration Or Mitigated Negative Declaration.......................................................................................................... 6-7 6.14 Notice Of Determination On A Project For Which A Proposed Negative Or Mitigated Negative Declaration Has Been Approved...................................6-8 6.15 Addendum To Negative Declaration..................................................................6-9 6.16 Subsequent Negative Declaration .......................................................................6-9 6.17 Private Project Costs.........................................................................................6-10 6.18 Filing Fees For Projects Which Affect Wildlife Resources..............................6-10 7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT.....................................................................7-1 7.01 Decision To Prepare An EIR ..............................................................................7-1 7.02 Contracting For Preparation Of EIRs.................................................................7-1 7.03 Notice Of Preparation Of Draft EIR...................................................................7-1 7.04 Preparation Of Draft EIR....................................................................................7-2 7.05 Consultation With Other Agencies And Persons ................................................ 7-2 7.06 Early Consultation On Projects Involving Permit Issuance ................................ 7-3 7.07 Consultation With Water Agencies Regarding Large Development Projects................................................................................................................ 7-3 7.08 Airport Land Use Plan........................................................................................ 7-3 7.09 General Aspects Of An EIR................................................................................7-3 7.10 Use Of Registered Consultants In Preparing EIRs........................................ ..... 7-4 7.11 Incorporation By Reference................................................................................7-4 7.12 Standards For Adequacy Of An EIR..................................................................7-4 7.13 Form And Content Of EIR..................................................................................7-5 7.14 Analysis Of Cumulative Impacts........................................................................ 7-6 7.15 Analysis Of Mitigation Measures.......................................................................7-7 7.16 Analysis Of Alternatives In An EIR...................................................................7-9 7.17 Analysis Of Future Expansion..........................................................................7-11 7.18 - Notice Of Completion Of Draft EIR.................................................................7-11 7.19 Submission Of Draft EIR To State Clearinghouse...........................................7-12 7.20 Special Notice Requirements For Waste And Fuel Burning Projects..............7-13 7.21 Review Of Draft EIR By Other Agencies And Persons...................................7-13 7.22 Time For Review Of Draft EIR; Failure To Comment.....................................7-14 7.23 Public Hearing On Draft EIR............................................................................7-15 7.24 Response To Comments On Draft EIR.............................................................7-15 7.25 Preparation And Contents Of Final EIR...........................................................7-16 7.26 Recirculation When New Information Is Added To EIR................................. 7-16 7.27 Certification Of Final EIR................................................................................7-17 7.28 Consideration Of EIR Before Approval Or Disapproval Of Project ................ 7-17 7.29 Findings.............................................................................................................7-17 7.30 Special Findings Required For Facilities Which May Emit Hazardous Air EmissionsNear Schools....................................................................................7-18 7.31 Statement Of Overriding Considerations.......................................................... 7-19 SACVTB�00MTYr22869.3 iii ®Best Hest & Krieger LLP 0 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 0 7.32 Mitigation Monitoring or Reporting Program For EIR....................................7-19 7.33 Notice Of Determination................................................................................... 7-21 7.34 Disposition Of A Final EIR........................................................ ...................... 7-22 7.35 Private Project Costs.........................................................................................7-22 7.36 Filing Fees For Projects Which Affect Wildlife Resources..............................7-22 8. TYPES OF EIRS.............................................................................................................8-1 8.01 Project EIR..........................................................................................................8-1 8.02 Subsequent EIR...................................................................................................8-1 8.03 Supplemental EIR...............................................................................................8-2 8.04 Addendum To An EIR........................................................................................8-2 8.05 Tiered EIR........................................................................................................... 8-2 8.06 Staged EIR..........................................................................................................8-4 8.07 .................................. Program EIR..................................................................... 8-4 8.08 Use of a Program EIR with Subsequent EIRs and Negative Declarations......... 8-4 8.09 Use of an FIR From an Earlier Project...............................................................8-5 8.10 Master EIR..........................................................................................................8-5 8.11 Focused ETR........................................................................................................8-6 9. CEQA LITIGATION ................... :.................................................................................. 9-1 9.01 Timelines.............................................................................................................9-1 9.02 Administrative Record........................................................................................9-1 10. DEFINITIONS..............................................................................................................10-1 10.01 "Applicant".......................................................................................................10-1 10.02 "Approval"........................................................................................................10-1 10.03 "Baseline".........................................................................................................10-1 10.04 "CEQA".............................................................. .............................................. 10-1 10.05 "Categorical Exemption"..................................................................................10-1 10.06 "City" ...... ................................................................. ......................................... 10-1 10.07 "Clerk".....................................................................................:........................10-2 10.08 "Community -Level Environmental Review" ................................................... 10-2 10.09 "Cumulative Impacts".......................................................................................10-2 10.10 "Cumulatively Considerable"...........................................................................10-2 10.11 "Decision-making Body....................................................................................10-2 10.12 "Developed Open Space".................................................................................10-2 10.13 "Development Project".....................................................................................10-3 10.14 "Discretionary Project"..................................................................................... 10-3 10.15 "Draft EIR".......................................................................................................10-3 10.16 "Emergency .....................................................................................10-3 10.17 `Endangered, Rare or Threatened Species"...................................................... 10-3 10.18 "Environment".................................................................................................. 10-4 10.19 "EIR................................................................................................................... 10-4 10.20 "Feasible"..........................................................................................................10-4 SACUTBUOMCFT 2869.3 iv ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 10.21 "Final EIR"....................... ................................................................................ 10-4 10.22 "Historical Resources"......................................................................................10-4 10.23 "Infill Site"........................................................................................................10-5 10.24 "Initial Study .. ............................................ ......... ....... ....... ............. ................... 10-5 10.25 "Jurisdiction by Law".......................................................................................10-5 10.26 "Land Disposal Facility.....................................................................................10-5 10.27 "Large Treatment Facility . ................................................... ............................ 10-6 10.28 "Lead Agency....................................................................................................10-6 10.29 "Low -Income Households"..............................................................................10-6 10.30 "Low- and Moderate -Income Households"......................................................10-6 10.31 "Major Transit Stop...........................................................................................10-6 10.32 "Ministerial" ........................... .......................................................................... 10-6 10.33 "Mitigated Negative Declaration" ......... ........................................................... 10-6 10.34 "Mitigation"......................................................................................................10-7 10.35 "Negative Declaration"..................................................................................... 10-7 10.36 "Notice of Completion"....................................................................................10-7 10.37 "Notice of Determination"................................................................................ 10-7 10.38 "Notice of Exemption".....................................................................................10-7 10.39 "Notice of Preparation".....................................................................................10-7 10.40 "Oak"................................................................................................................10-7 10.41 "Oak Woodlands".............................................................................................10-7 10.42 "Offsite Facility.................................................................................................10-7 10.43 "Person"............................................................................................................10-8 10.44 "Private Project"...............................................................................................10-8 10.45 "Project"............................................................................................................10-8 10.46 "Project -Specific Effects".................................................................................10-8 10.47 "Qualified Urban Use"......................................................................................10-8 10.48 "Residential".....................................................................................................10-9 10.49 "Responsible Agency"......................................................................................10-9 10.50 `Significant Effect"...........................................................................................10-9 10.51 `Staff'...............................................................................................................10-9 10.52 "Standard".........................................................................................................10-9 10.53 "State Guidelines".............................................................................................10-9 10.54 `Substantial Evidence"..................................................................................... 10-9 10.55 "Tiering .. ......................................................................................................... 10-10 10.56 "Transportation Facilities".............................................................................. 10-10 10.57 "Trustee Agency..............................................................................................10-10 10.58 "Urbanized Area"............................................................................................10-10 10.59 "Urban Growth Boundary .. ............................................................................. 10-11 10.60 "Wetlands"......................................................................................................10-11 10.61 "Wildlife Habitat"...........................................................................................10-11 10.62 "Zoning Approval".........................................................................................10-11 SACVTB\2006\CITY\22869.3 v ®Best Best & Krieger LLP TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 11. FORMS .................................................... .... ....... ....... .... ....... ................ ............ 11-1 SACUTB12006ICIT 2969.3 VI ®Best Best&Krieger LLP 9 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Cali Fomia Fnv roomental0 lil Ar, 80061 General Provisions Nroose and Palb LOCAL GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (2006 REVISION) 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS, PURPOSE AND POLICY 1.01 GENERAL PROVISIONS. These Local Guidelines ("Guidelines") are to assist the City in implementing the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). These Guidelines are consistent with the Guidelines for the Implementation of CEQA ("State Guidelines") which must be followed by state and local agencies in California. These Guidelines have been adopted pursuant to California Public Resources Code Section 21082. 1.02 PURPOSE. The purpose of these Local Guidelines is to help the City accomplish the following basic objectives of CEQA: (a) To enhance and provide long-term protection for the environment, while providing a decent home and satisfying living environment for every Californian. (b) To provide information to governmental decision -makers and the public regarding the potential significant environmental effects of the proposed project. (c) To provide an analysis of the environmental effects of future actions associated with the project to adequately apprise all interested parties of the true scope of the project for intelligent weighing of the environmental consequences of the project. (d) To identify ways that environmental damage can be avoided or significantly reduced. (e) To prevent significant avoidable environmental damage through utilization of feasible project alternatives or mitigation measures. (f) To disclose and demonstrate to the public the reasons why a governmental agency approved the project in the manner chosen. Public participation is an essential part of the CEQA process. Each public agency should encourage wide public involvement, formal and informal, in order to receive and evaluate public reactions to environmental issues related to a public agency's activities. Such involvement should include, whenever possible, making environmental information available in electronic format on the Internet, on a web site maintained or utilized by the public agency. 1.03 APPLICABILITY. These Guidelines apply to any activity of the City which constitutes a "project" as defined in Guidelines Section 10.45. An Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") is required for each such project which may have a significant effect on the environment. When the City finds that a project will have no significant environmental effect, a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration rather than an EIR shall be prepared. SAC BoOWCIT 2869.1 I -I ®Ben Best &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Ouality A (20061 General Previsions. Pumose and blr An EIR serves several functions for the benefit of the City and the public. An EIR (1) identifies and analyzes the significant environmental effects of a proposed project, (2) identifies alternatives to the project, and (3) discloses possible ways to reduce or avoid potential environmental damage. These matters are to be evaluated by the City before the project is approved or disapproved. The EIR is an informational document. It should not be used to rationalize approval of a project. CEQA requires that decisions be informed and balanced. It must not be subverted into an instrument for the oppression and delay of social economic, or recreational development or advancement. Indications of adverse environmental impacts from the project which are identified in the FIR do not necessarily require disapproval of a project. Rather, when an EIR shows that a project would cause substantial adverse changes in the environment, the City must respond to the information by one or more of the following methods: (a) Changing the proposed project. (b) Imposing conditions on the approval of the project. (c) Adopting plans or ordinances to control a broader class of activities to avoid the problems. (d) Choosing an alternative way of meeting the same need. (e) Disapproving the project. (f) Finding that the unavoidable, significant environmental damage is acceptable pursuant to a Statement of Overriding Considerations. . Although CEQA requires that major consideration be given to preventing environmental damage, the City also has an obligation to balance other public objectives for each project including economic and social factors. 1.04 REDUCING DELAY AND PAPERWORK. The State Guidelines encourage local governmental agencies to reduce delay and paperwork by, among other things: (a) Integrating the CEQA process into early planning review; to this end, the project approval process and these procedures, to the maximum extent feasible, are to run concurrently, not consecutively; (b) Identifying projects which fit within categorical or other exemptions and are therefore exempt from CEQA processing; (c) Using initial studies to identify significant environmental issues and to narrow the scope of EIRs; (d) Using a Negative Declaration when a project not otherwise exempt will not have a significant effect on the environment; (e) Consulting with state and local responsible agencies before and during the preparation of an EIR so that the document will meet the needs of all the agencies which will use it; (f) Allowing applicants to revise projects to eliminate possible significant effects on the environment, thereby enabling the project to qualify for a Negative Declaration rather than an EIR; SACOTBU0061CIT 2969.3 1-2 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califomia Eavifonmmial0 ll A !20061 f I Provigions. Pumose and Wio (g) Integrating CEQA requirements with other environmental review and consultation requirements; (h) Emphasizing consultation before an EIR is prepared, rather than submitting adverse comments on a completed document; (i) Combining environmental documents with other documents, such as general plans; (j) Eliminating repetitive discussions of the same issues by using EIRs on programs, policies or plans and tiering from statements of broad scope to those of narrower scope; (k) Reducing the length of EIRs by means such as setting appropriate page limits; (1) Preparing analytic, rather than encyclopedic EIRs; (m) Mentioning insignificant issues only briefly; (n) Writing EIRs in plain language; (o) Following a clear format for EIRs; (p) Emphasizing the portions of the EIR that are useful to decision -makers and the public and reducing emphasis on background material; (q) Incorporating information by reference; and (r) Making comments on EIRs as specific as possible. 1.05 COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAW. These Guidelines are intended to implement the provisions of CEQA and the State Guidelines, and the provisions of CEQA and the State Guidelines shall be fully complied with even though they may not be set forth or referred to herein. 1.06 TERMINOLOGY. The terms "must' or "shall' identify mandatory requirements. The term "may" is permissive, with the particular decision being left to the discretion of the City. The term "should" identifies the guidance of the Office of Planning and Research, which the City can follow in the absence of countervailing considerations. 1.07 PARTIAL INVALIDITY. In the event any part or provision of these Guidelines shall be determined to be invalid, the remaining portions which can be separated from the invalid unenforceable provisions shall continue in full force and effect. 1.08 ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF COMMENTS AND NOTICES. Individuals may file a written request to receive copies of public notices provided under these Guidelines or the State Guidelines. The requestor may elect to receive these notices via email rather than regular mail. Notices sent by email are deemed delivered when the staff person sending the email sends it directed to the last email address provided by the requestor to the public agency. Individuals may also submit comments on the CEQA documentation for a project via email. Comments submitted via email shall be treated as written comments for all purposes. Comments sent to the public agency via email are deemed received when they actually arrive in an email account of a staff person who has been designated or identified as the point of contact SACVTBI2006\CIT 2869.3 1-3 ®Hen Ben&Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the C I'f E l Qualits, Act f2006) C I Pwisior, P end Policy for a particular project. SAC Bt20MC1TY 28693 14 ®Bev Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California E LI Quality A (2006) L d d a u,I A 2. LEAD AND RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES 2.01 LEAD AGENCY PRINCIPLE. The City will be the Lead Agency if it will have principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a project. Where a project is to be carried out or approved by more than one public agency, only one agency shalt be responsible for the preparation of environmental documents. This agency shall be called the Lead Agency. 2.02 SELECTION OF LEAD AGENCY. Where two or more public agencies will be involved with a project, the Lead .Agency shall be designated according to the following criteria: (a) If the project will be carried out by a public agency, that agency shall be the Lead Agency even if the project will be located within the jurisdiction of another public agency. (b) If the project will be carried out by a nongovernmental person or entity, the Lead Agency shall be the public agency with the greatest responsibility for supervising and approving the project as a whole. The Lead Agency will normally be the agency with general governmental powers, rather than an agency with a single or limited purpose. (For example, a district which will provide a public service or utility to the project serves a limited purpose.) If two or more agencies meet this criteria equally, the agency which acts first on the project will be the Lead Agency. (c) If two or more public agencies have a substantial claim to be the Lead Agency under either (a) or (b), they may designate one agency as the Lead Agency by agreement. An agreement may also provide for cooperative efforts by contract, joint exercise of powers, or similar devices. If the agencies cannot agree which agency should be the Lead Agency for preparing the environmental document, any of the disputing public agencies or the project applicant may submit the dispute to the Office of Planning and Research. Within 21 days of receiving the request, the Office of Planning and Research will designate the Lead Agency. 2.03 DDTIEs OF A LEAD AGENCY. As a Lead Agency, the City shall decide whether a Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative Declaration or an EIR will be required for a project and shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, and consider the document before making its decision on whether and how to approve the project. The documents may be prepared by Staff or by private consultants pursuant to a contract with the City. However, the City shall independently review and analyze all draft and final EIRs or Negative Declarations prepared for a project and shall find that the EIR or Negative Declaration reflects the independent judgment of the City prior to approval of the document. If a Draft EIR, Final EIR or Focused EIR is prepared under a contract to the City, the contract must be executed within forty-five (45) days from the date on which the City sends a Notice of Preparation. (See Guidelines Section 7.02.) During the process of preparing an FIR, the City shall have the following duties: SACUTB%2006\C1T 2869.3 2-1 ®Ben Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califormia Environmental0 1 A !20061 Lead and Responsible Aeences (a) Immediately after deciding that an EIR is required for a project, the City shall send to the Office of Planning and Research and each Responsible Agency a Notice of Preparation (Form "G") stating that an EIR will be prepared. (See Guidelines Section 7.03.) (b) The City shall prepare or cause to be prepared the Draft EIR for the project. (See Guidelines Section 7.04.) (c) Once the Draft EIR is completed, the City shall file a Notice of Completion (Form "H") with the Office of Planning and Research. (See Guidelines Section 7.18.) (d) The City shall consult with state, federal and local agencies which exercise authority over resources which may be affected by the project for their comments on the completed Draft EIR, (See Guidelines Section 7.21.) (e) The City shall provide public notice of the availability of a Draft EIR (Form "K") at the same time that it sends a Notice of Completion to the Office of Planning and Research. (See Guidelines Section 7.18.) (f) The City shall evaluate comments on environmental issues received from persons who reviewed the Draft EIR and shall prepare or cause to be prepared a written response. A written response must be provided to all commenting public agencies at least ten (10) days prior to certifying an EIR. (See Guidelines Section 7.24.) (g) The City shall prepare or cause to be prepared a Final FIR before approving the project. (See Guidelines Section 7.25.) (h) The City shall certify that the Final EIR has been completed in compliance with CEQA and has been reviewed by the City Council. (See Guidelines Section 7.27.) (i) The City shall include in the Final EIR, the reply of any Responsible Agency to the Notice of Preparation or Draft EIR. (See Guidelines Sections 2.07, 7.24 and 7.25.) As Lead Agency, the City may charge a non-elected body, such as the Planning Department or Planning Commission, with the responsibility of adopting, certifying or authorizing environmental documents; however, the City must have a procedure allowing for the appeal of the CEQA decisions of any non-elected body to the City Council. Existing provisions of the municipal code may be used to satisfy this requirement. 2.04 CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. An applicant for a development project must submit a signed statement to the City stating whether the project and any alternatives are located on a site which is included in any list compiled by the Secretary for Environmental Protection of the California Environmental Protection Agency ("California EPA") listing hazardous waste sites and other specified sites located in the City. The applicant's statement must contain the following information: (a) The applicant's name, address, and phone number. (b) Address of site, and local agency (city/county). (c) Assessor's book, page, and parcel number. (d) The list which includes the site, identification number, and date of list. Before accepting as complete an application for any development project as defined in Guidelines Section 10.13, the City shall consult lists compiled by the Secretary for Environmental Protection of the California EPA pursuant to Government Code Section 65962.5 listing hazardous waste sites and other specified sites located in the City. The City shall notify SANT912006\CRY@2869.1 2-2 Oiler[ Best & Kneger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing Ne C,lilcunnia Enwo.suendal0 1' A (20061 Lead and Is mnnsihle Aeencies an applicant for a development project if the project site is located on such a list and not already identified. In the Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration (see Guidelines Section 6.04) or the Notice of Preparation of Draft EIR (see Guidelines Section 7.03), the City shall specify the California EPA list, if any, which includes the project site, and shall provide the information contained in the applicant's statement. This provision applies only to projects for which applications have not been deemed complete on or before January 1, 1992. 2.05 RESPONSIBLE AGENCY PRINCIPLE. Where a project is to be carried out or approved by more than one public agency, all public agencies other than the Lead Agency which have discretionary approval power over the project shall be called Responsible Agencies. 2.06 DUTIES OFA RESPONSIBLE AGENCY. As a Responsible Agency, the City shall consider the environmental documents prepared or caused to be prepared by the Lead Agency and reach its own conclusions on whether and how to approve the project involved. The City shall also. both respond to consultation by the Lead Agency and attend meetings as requested by the Lead Agency to assist the Lead Agency in preparing adequate environmental documents. The City should also review and comment on Draft EIRs and Negative Declarations. Comments shall be limited to those project activities which are within the City's area of expertise or are required to be carried out or approved by the City or are subject to the City's powers. As a Responsible Agency, the City may identify significant environmental effects of a project for which mitigation is necessary. As a Responsible Agency, the City may submit to the Lead Agency proposed mitigation measures which would address those significant environmental effects. If mitigation measures are required, the City shall submit to the Lead Agency complete and detailed performance objectives for such mitigation measures which would address the significant environmental effects identified, or refer the Lead Agency to appropriate, readily available guidelines or reference documents. Any mitigation measures submitted to the Lead Agency by the City shall be limited to measures which mitigate impacts to resources that are within the City's authority. For private projects, the City, as a Responsible Agency, may require the project proponent to provide such information as may be required and to reimburse the City for all costs incurred by it in reporting to the Lead Agency. 2.07 RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF PREPARATION BY RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of a Notice of Preparation of an EIR, the City, as a Responsible Agency, shall specify to the Lead Agency the scope and content of the environmental information related to the City's area of statutory responsibility in connection with the proposed project. At a minimum, the response shall identify the significant environmental issues and possible alternatives and mitigation which the City, as a Responsible Agency, will need to have explored in the Draft EIR. Such information shall be specified in writing, shall be as specific as possible, and shall be communicated to the Lead Agency, by certified mail or any other method of transmittal which provides it with a record that the notice SACVT812006\CJT 2869.3 2-3 ®BeA Beg &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the C=rf Enironm=Ul Oualiry A (2006) Lead and Rgponsble Aeercies was received, not later than thirty (30) days after receipt of the notice of the Lead Agency's determination. The Lead Agencyshallincorporate this information into the EIR. 2.08 USE OF FINAL EIR OR NEGATIvE DECLARATION BY RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES. The City, as a Responsible Agency, shall consider the Lead Agency's Final EIR or Negative Declaration before acting upon or approving a proposed project. The City shall consider the adequacy of the prior environmental documents for its purposes and in certain instances may require that a Subsequent EIR or a Supplemental EIR be prepared. Mitigation measures and alternatives deemed feasible and relevant to the City's role in carrying out the project shall be adopted. Findings which are relevant to the City's responsibility shall be made. A Notice of Determination shall be filed by the Responsible Agency, but need not state that the Lead Agency's EIR or Negative Declaration complies with CEQA. 2.09 SHIFT IN LEAD AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. The City, as a Responsible Agency, shall assume the role of the Lead Agency if any one of the following three conditions is met: (a) The Lead Agency did not prepare any environmental documents for the project, and the statute of limitations has expired for a challenge to the action of the appropriate Lead Agency. (b) The Lead Agency prepared environmental documents for the project, and all of the following conditions occur: (1) A Subsequent or Supplemental EIR is required; (2) The Lead Agency has granted a final approval for the project; and (3) The statute of limitations has expired for a challenge to the action of the appropriate Lead Agency. (c) The Lead Agency prepared inadequate environmental documents without providing public notice of a Negative Declaration or sending Notice of Preparation of an EIR to Responsible Agencies and the statute of limitations has expired for a challenge to the action of the appropriate Lead Agency. SACJTa120MCFT 2969.3 24 ®Ben Ben & Krieger LLP 9 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califomia Evviforternental Occality A (20061 ActMtira Exempt horn CEQA 3. ACTIVITIES EXEMPT FROM CEOA 3.01 ACTIONS SUBJECT To CEQA. CEQA applies to discretionary projects proposed to be carried out or approved by public agencies. If the proposed activity does not come within the definition of "project" contained in Guidelines Section 10.45 it is exempt from CEQA review. "Project" does not include: (a) Proposals for legislation to be enacted by the State Legislature. (b) Continuing administrative or maintenance activities, such as purchases for supplies, personnel -related actions, and general policy and procedure making (except as provided in Guidelines Section 10.45)., (c) The submittal of proposals to a vote of the people in response to a petition drive initiated by voters, or the enactment of a qualified voter -sponsored initiative under California Constitution Art. II, Section I I(a) and Election Code Section 9214. (d) The creation of government funding mechanisms or other government fiscal activities that do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may have a potentially significant physical impact on the environment. Government funding mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, assessment districts and community facilities districts. Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (e) Activities that do not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. 3.02 MINISTERIAL PROJECTS. A ministerial project is exempt from CEQA review. This is a project undertaken or approved by the City upon a given set of facts, in a prescribed manner, and in obedience to statute, ordinance, regulation or other legal mandate. A ministerial project is one in which the City officer or employee has no discretionary power to exercise personal judgment or opinion as to the method in which the project will be carried out. CEQA review would be irrelevant for a ministerial project, because the City must act in a preordained way regardless of environmental impacts. The decision whether a proposed project is ministerial in nature may involve or require, to some extent, interpretation of the language of the legal mandate, and should be made on a case-by-case basis. Ministerial projects include, but are not limited to: (a) Issuance of business licenses; (b) Approval of final subdivision maps and final parcel maps; (c) Approval of individual utility service connections and disconnections; (d) Issuance of licenses; (e) Issuance of a permit to do street work; (i) Issuance of building permits where the City does not retain significant discretionary power to modify or shape the project. SACdTB\2006\CLT 28693 3-1 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implcmentiny the Cali fomia EnviratoncroUl Ouality A (20061 Aci vil es Exempt from CEOA (g) Where a project involves an approval that contains elements of both a ministerial and discretionary nature, the project will be deemed to be discretionary and subject to the requirements of CEQA. 3.03 EXEMPTIONS IN GENERAL CEQA and the State Guidelines exempt certain activities and provide that local agencies shall further identify and describe certain exemptions. The requirements of CEQA and the obligation to prepare an EIR, Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration do not apply to the exempt activities which are set forth in CEQA, the State Guidelines and this Chapter. 3.04 PRELIMINARY EXEMPTION ASSESSMENT. If, in the judgment of Staff, a proposed activity is exempt, Staff should so find on the form entitled "Preliminary Exemption Assessment" (Form "A"). The Preliminary Exemption Assessment shall be retained at City Hall as a public record. 3.05 NOTICE OF EXEMPTION. After City approval of an exempt project, a "Notice of Exemption" (Form `B") may be filed by Staff with the Clerk. The Preliminary Exemption Assessment shall be attached to the Notice of Exemption for filing. If filed, the Clerk must post the Notice within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt, and the Notice must remain posted for thirty (30) days. Although no California Department of Fish and Game ("DFG") filing fee is applicable to exempt projects, most Clerks customarily charge a documentary handling fee to pay for record keeping on behalf of the DFG. Refer to the Index in the Staff Summary to determine if such a fee will be required for the project. The filing of a Notice of Exemption is recommended because it starts a 35 -day statute of limitations on legal challenges to the City's determination that the project is exempt from CEQA. The City is encouraged to make postings of all filed notices available in electronic format on the Internet. These electronic postings are in addition to the procedures required by the State Guidelines and the Public Resources Code. If a Notice of Exemption is not filed, a 180 -day statute of limitations will apply. When a request is made for a copy of the Notice prior to the date on which the City determines the project is exempt, the Notice must be mailed, first class postage prepaid, within five (5) days of the City's determination. If such a request is made following the City's determination, then the copy should be mailed in the same manner as soon as possible. 3.06 DISAPPROVED PROJECTS. Projects which the City rejects or disapproves are exempt. An applicant shall not be relieved of paying the costs for an EIR or Negative Declaration prepared for a project prior to the City's disapproval of the project. sAC1Sr'B\2006\CIrY\22869.3 3-2 ®Hen Bert & Kdeger LLP F Local Guidelines for Implementing an, California Environmental Guality Act f2006) Activities Exempt from CEOA 3.07 NO POSSIBILITY OF SIGNIFICANT EFFECT. Where it can be seen with absolute certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is exempt. 3.08 EMERGENCY PROJECTS. The following types of emergency projects are exempt: (The term "emergency" is defined in Guidelines Section 10.16.) (a) Work in a disaster -stricken area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to Section 8550 of the Government Code. This includes projects that will remove, destroy, or significantly alter a historical resource when that resource represents an imminent threat to the public of bodily harm or of damage to adjacent property or when the project has received a determination by the State Office of Historic Preservation pursuant to Section 5028(b) of the Public Resources Code. (b) Emergency repairs to publicly or privately owned service facilities necessary to maintain service essential to the public health, safety or welfare. (c) Projects necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency. This does not include long-term projects undertaken for the purpose of preventing or mitigating a situation that has a low probability of occurrence in the short-term. (d) Projects undertaken, carried out, or approved by a public agency to maintain, repair, or restore an existing highway damaged by fire, flood, storm, earthquake, land subsidence, gradual earth movement, or landslide, provided that the project is within the existing right of way of that highway and is initiated within one year of the damage occurring. This exemption does not apply to highways designated as official state scenic highways, nor to any project undertaken, carried out, or approved by a public agency to expand or widen a highway damaged by fire, flood, storm, earthquake, land subsidence, gradual earth. movement, or landslide. (e) Seismic work on highways and bridges pursuant to Section 180.2 of the Streets and Highways Code Section 180, et seq. 3.09 FEASIBILITY AND PLANNING STUDIES. A project that involves only feasibility or planning studies for possible future actions which the City has not yet approved, adopted or funded is exempt. 3.10 RATES, TOLLS, FARES AND CHARGES. The establishment, modification, structuring, restructuring or approval of rates, tolls, fares or other charges by the City that the City finds are for one or more of the purposes listed below are exempt. (a) Meeting operating expenses, including employee wage rates and fringe benefits; (b) Purchasing or leasing supplies, equipment or materials; (c) Meeting financial reserve needs and requirements; or (d) Obtaining funds for capital projects necessary to maintain service within existing service areas. SAGVTaUOO"1T1 2869.3 3-3 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Caff E 1 O r A (20061 Act vhics Exemm ham CEQA (e) When the City determines that one of the aforementioned activities pertaining to rates, tolls, fares or charges is exempt from the requirements of CEQA, it shall incorporate written findings setting forth the specific basis for the claim of exemption in the record of any proceeding in which such an exemption is claimed. 3.11 SUBSURFACE PIPELINES WITHIN A PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. The installation of a new pipeline or the maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation, replacement, removal or demolition of an existing subsurface pipeline is exempt where the project is less than one mile in length and located within a public street, highway or any other public right-of-way. 3.12 CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL HOUSING PROJECTS. CEQA does not apply to the construction, conversion, or use of residential housing if the project meets all of the general requirements described in Section A below and satisfies the specific requirements for any one of the following three categories: (1) agricultural housing (Section B below), (2) affordable housing projects in urbanized areas (Section C below), or (3) affordable housing projects near major transit stops (Section D below). A. General Requirements. The construction, conversion, or use of residential housing units affordable to low-income households (as defined in Section 10.29) located on an infill site in an urbanized area is exempt from CEQA if all of the following general requirements are satisfied: (1) The project is consistent with: (a) any applicable general plan, specific plan, and local coastal program, including any mitigation measures, as that plan or program existed on the date that the application was deemed complete, and (b) any applicable zoning ordinance, as that zoning ordinance existed on the date that the application was deemed complete. A project may satisfy the zoning consistency requirement even if it proposes rezoning of the project site as long as the proposed zoning is consistent with the applicable General Plan designation; (2) Community level environmental review has been adopted or certified; (3) The project and other projects approved prior to the approval of the project can be adequately served by existing utilities, and the project applicant has paid or committed to pay all applicable in -lieu or development fees; (4) The project meets all of the following four criteria relating to biological resources: (a) The project site does not contain wetlands; (b) The project site does not have any value as a wildlife habitat; SA0JmU0 haCI=8693 3-4 ®Ben Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califomia Envirunmcnial Oualiw AO (20061 (c) The project does not harm any species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Native Plant Protection Act, or the California Endangered Species Act; and (d) The project does not cause the destruction or removal of any species protected by a local ordinance in effect at the time the application for the project was deemed complete; (5) The site is not included on any list of facilities and sites compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code; (6) The project site is subject to a preliminary endangerment assessment prepared by a registered environmental assessor to determine the existence of any release of a hazardous substance on the site and to determine the potential for exposure of future occupants to significant health hazards from any nearby property or activity; (a) If a release of a hazardous substance is found to exist on the site, the release shall be removed or any significant effects of the release shall be mitigated to a level of insignificance in compliance with state and federal requirements. (b) If a potential for exposure to significant hazards from surrounding properties or activities is found to exist, the effects of the potential exposure shall be mitigated to a level of insignificance in compliance with state and federal requirements. (7) The project does not have a significant effect on historical resources; (8) The project site is not subject to any of the following potential hazards except when mitigated as set forth below: (a) A wildland fire hazard, as determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, unless the applicable general plan or zoning ordinance contains provisions to mitigate the risk of a wildland fire hazard; (b) An unusually high risk of fire or explosion from materials stored or used on nearby properties; (c) Risk of a public health exposure at a level that would exceed the standards established by any state or federal agency; (d) Within a delineated earthquake fault zone, as determined pursuant to Section 2622 of the Public Resources Code, or a seismic hazard zone, as determined pursuant to Section 2696 of the Public Resources Code, unless the applicable general plan or zoning ordinance contains provisions to mitigate the risk of an earthquake fault or seismic hazard zone; or (e) Landslide hazard, flood plain, floodway, or restriction zone, unless the applicable general plan or zoning ordinance contains provisions to mitigate the risk of a landslide or flood; SACUTa\2006\CITY 29693 3-5 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Oualny Act Motor (9) The project site is not located on developed open space; (10) The project site is not located within the boundaries of a state conservancy; and (11) The project meets the requirements in either Section 21159.22, 21159.23 or 21159.24 of the Public Resources Code. B. Specific Requirements for Agricultural Housing (Public Resources Code Section 21159.22.) CEQA does not apply to the construction, conversion, or use of residential housing for agricultural employees that meets all of the general requirements described above in Section A and meets the following additional criteria: (1) The project either: (a) is affordable to lower income households, lacks public financial assistance, and the developer has provided sufficient legal commitments to ensure the continued availability and use of the housing units for lower income households for a period of at least fifteen (15) years; or (b) provides housing for very low, low-, or moderate -income households, public financial assistance exists for the development project, and the developer of the project has provided sufficient legal commitments to the appropriate local agency to ensure the continued availability and use of the housing units for low- and moderate -income households for a period of at least fifteen (15) years; (2) The project site is adjacent on at least two sides to land that has been developed and the project consists of not more than forty-five (45) units or provides dormitories, barracks, or other group -living facilities for a total of forty-five (45) or fewer agricultural employees, and either: (a) The project site is within incorporated City limits or within a census -defined place with a minimum population density of at least five thousand (5,000) persons per square mile; or (b) The project site is within incorporated City limits or within a census- defined place and the minimum population density of the City or the census -defined place is at least one thousand (1,000) persons per square mile, unless the City determines that there is a reasonable possibility that the project would have a significant effect on the environment or that the cumulative effects of successive projects of the same type in the same area would, over time, be significant; (3) If the project is located on a site zoned for general agricultural use, it must consist of twenty (20) or fewer units, or, if the housing consists of SACVT13\2000,C1T 2869.3 3-6 ®Beg Bert&Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implemen[inS the Cgfi&rrig EtiviTon.eni.1 0u. 006) dormitories, barracks, or other group -living facilities, the project must not provide housing for more than twenty (20) agricultural employees; and (4) The project is not more than two (2) acres in area if the project site is located in an area with a population density of at least one thousand (1,000) persons per square mile, and is not more than five (5) acres in area for all other project sites. C. Specific Requirements for Affordable Housing Projects in Urbanized Areas (Public Resources Code Section 21159.23.) CEQA does not apply to any development project that consists of the construction, conversion, or use of residential housing consisting of one hundred (100) or fewer units that are affordable to low-income households if all of the general requirements described in Section A above are satisfied and the following additional criteria are also met: (1) The developer of the project provides sufficient legal commitments to the local agency to ensure the continued availability and use of the housing units for lower income households for a period of at least thirty (30) years; (2) The project site: (a) has been previously developed for qualified urban uses; (b) is immediately adjacent to parcels that are developed with qualified urban uses; or (c) at least 75% of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels that are developed with qualified urban uses and the remaining 25% of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels that have previously been developed for qualified urban uses, the site has not been developed for urban uses and no parcel within the site has been created within ten (10) years prior to the proposed development of the site; (3) The project site is not more than five (5) acres in area; and (4) The project site is located: (a) within an urbanized area or within a census -defined place with a population density of at least five thousand (5,000) persons per square mile, (b) if the project consists of fifty (50) or fewer units, within an incorporated city with a population density of at least twenty-five hundred (2,500) persons per square mile and a total population of at least twenty-five thousand (25,000) persons, or - (c) within either an incorporated city or a census -defined place with a population density of one thousand (1,000) persons per square mile, unless there is a reasonable possibility that the project would have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances or due to the related or cumulative impacts of reasonably foreseeable projects in the vicinity of the project. SACJTB@OMCIT922869.3 3-7 ®Bert Bert & Kne,er LLP E Local Guidelines for Implementing the alit mia Emir nm(2006) Activiti� Exempt fro, CEOA D. Specific Requirements for Affordable Housing Projects Near Major Transit Stops (Public Resources Code Section 21159.24.) CEQA does not apply to a residential project on an infill site within an urbanized area if all of the general requirements described above in Section A are satisfied and the following additional criteria are also met: (1) Within five (5) years prior to the date that the application for the project is deemed complete, community -level environmental review was certified or adopted. This exemption does not apply, however, if new information about the project or substantial changes regarding the circumstances surrounding the project become available after the community -level environmental review was certified or adopted; (2) The site is not more than four (4) acres in total area; (3) The project does not contain more than one hundred (100) residential units; (4) The project meets either of the following criteria: (a) At least 10% of the housing is sold to families of moderate income or rented to families of low income or at least 5% of the housing is rented to families of very low income, and the project developer has provided the City with sufficient legal commitments to ensure the continued availability and use of the housing units for very low, low-, and moderate -income households at monthly housing costs; or (b) The project developer has paid or will pay in -lieu fees sufficient to pay for the development of the same number of units that would otherwise be sold or rented to families of moderate or very low income pursuant to subparagraph (a); (5) The project is within one-half mile of a major transit stop; (6) The project does not include any single -level building that exceeds 100,000 square feet; and (7) The project promotes higher density infill housing. (a) A project with a density of at least 20 units per acre shall be conclusively presumed to promote higher density infill housing. (b) A project with a density of at least 10 units per acre and a density greater than the average density of the residential properties within 1,500 feet shall be presumed to promote higher density housing unless the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates otherwise. (8) Exception. SACVTB20090T 2869.3 3-8 ®Best Best &Kreger LLP P Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califomia Env' mental Ouality Act (2006) L (a) The Exemption for Affordable Housing Projects near Major Transit Stops does not apply if any one of the following criteria is met: 1. There is a reasonable possibility that the project will have a project -specific, significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances; 2. Since community -level environmental review was certified or adopted, substantial changes have occurred with respect to the circumstances under which the project is being undertaken, and those changes are related to the project; or 3. Since community -level environmental review was certified or adopted, new information regarding the circumstances under which the project is being undertaken has become available, and that new information is related to the project and was not known and could not have been known at the time of the community -level environmental review. (b) If a project satisfies any one of the three criteria described above in Section D.(8)(a), the environmental effects of the project must be analyzed in an environmental impact report or a negative declaration. The environmental analysis shall be limited to the effects identified pursuant to Section D (8) (a). E. Whenever the Lead Agency determines that a project is exempt from environmental review based on Public Resources Code section 21159.22 [Section 3.12 B of these Guidelines], 21159.23 [Section 3.12 C of these Guidelines], or 21159.24 [Section 3.12 D of these Guidelines], staff and/or the proponent of the project shall file notice of the determination of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research within five working days after the approval of the project. 3.13 MINOR ALTERATIONS TO FLUORIDATE WATER UTILITIES. Minor alterations to water utilities made for the purpose of complying with the fluoridation requirements of Health and Safety Code Sections 4026.7 and 4026.8 or regulations adopted thereunder are exempt. r 3.14 BALLOT MEASURES. The definition of project in the State Guidelines specifically excludes the submittal of proposals to a vote of the people of the state or of a particular community. This exception applies only to measures proposed in response to a petition drive initiated by voters. When a governing body makes a decision to put a measure on the ballot, that decision may be discretionary and therefore subject to CEQA. In contrast, the enactment of a qualified voter - sponsored initiative under California Constitution Art. II, Section 11(a) and Election Code Section 9214 is not a project and therefore is not subject to CEQA review. (See Guidelines Section 3.01.) SACV 13@00MTYU29693 3-9 ®Bert Bert&Krieger LLP 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Ouality Act (20061 Acti, 3.15 OTHER SPECIFIC EXEMPTIONS CEQA and the State Guidelines exempt many other specific activities, including early activities related to thermal power plants, ongoing projects, transportation improvement programs, family day care homes, congestion management programs, railroad grade separation projects, restriping of streets or highways to relieve traffic congestion, and hazardous or volatile liquid pipelines. Specific statutory exemptions are listed in the Public Resources Code, including Sections 21080 through 21080.33, and in the State Guidelines, including Sections 15260 through 15285. 3.16 CATEGORICAL EXEMPTIONS. The State Guidelines establish certain classes of categorical exemptions. These apply to classes of projects which have been determined not to have a significant effect on the environment and which, therefore, are exempt. Compliance with the requirements of CEQA or the preparation of environmental documents for any project which comes within one of these classes of categorical exemptions is not required. The classes of projects are briefly summarized below. (Reference to the State Guidelines for the full description of each exemption is recommended.) The exemptions of Classes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 11 below are qualified in that such projects must be considered in light of the location of the project. A project that is ordinarily insignificant in its impact on the environment may, in a particularly sensitive environment, be significant. Therefore, these classes are considered to apply in all instances except where the project may impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern which is designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state or local agencies. All classes of categorical exemptions are qualified. These exemptions are inapplicable when the cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place over time is significant or when there is a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. With the foregoing limitations in mind, the following classes of activity are generally exempt: Class 1: Existine Facilities. Activities involving the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, minor alteration of, or legislative activities to regulate, existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment or other property, or topographical features, provided the activity involves negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the City's determination. The types of"existing facilities" itemized in Class 1 are not intended to be all-inclusive of the types of projects which might fall within Class 1. The key consideration is whether the project involves negligible or no expansion of an existing use. (State Guidelines Section 15301.) Class 2: Replacement or Reconstruction. Replacement or reconstruction of existing facilities, structures, or other property where the new facility or structure will be located on the same site as the replaced or reconstructed facility or structure and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the replaced or reconstructed facility or structure. (State SACtl B@0061CITY22869.3 3-10 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Calif m a Environmental Ouarw Act (2000 A from OA Guidelines Section 15302.) Class 3: New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures. Construction of limited numbers of small new facilities or structures; installation of small new equipment or facilities in small structures; and the conversion of existing small structures from one use to another, when only minor modifications are made in the exterior of the structure. This exemption includes structures built for both residential and commercial uses. (The maximum number of structures allowable under this exemption is set forth in State Guidelines Section 15303.) Class 4: Minor Alterations to Land. Minor alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees, except for forestry or agricultural purposes. (State Guidelines Section 15304.) Class 5: Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations. Minor alterations in land use limitations in areas with an average slope of less than 20% which do not result in any changes in land use or density. (State Guidelines Section 15305.) Class 6: Information Collection. Basic data collection, research, experimental management, and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or major disturbance to an environmental resource. (State Guidelines Section 15306.) Class 7: Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources. Actions taken by regulatory agencies as authorized by state law or local ordinance to assure the maintenance, restoration, or enhancement of a natural resource where the. regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. (State Guidelines Section 15307.) Class 8: Actions By Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment. Actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. (State Guidelines Section 15308.) Class 9: Inspection. Inspection activities, including, but not limited to, inquiries into the performance of an operation and examinations of the quality, health or safety of a project. (State Guidelines Section 15309.) Class 10: Loans. Loans made by the Department of Veteran Affairs under the Veterans Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1943, mortgages for the purchase of existing structures where the loan will not be used for new construction and the purchase of such mortgages by financial institutions. (State Guidelines Section 15310.) Class 11: Accessory Structures. Construction or replacement of minor structures accessory or appurtenant to existing commercial, industrial, or institutional facilities, including, but not limited to, on -premise signs; small parking lots; and placement of seasonal or temporary use items, such as lifeguard towers, mobile food units, portable restrooms or similar items in generally the same locations from time to time in publicly owned parks, stadiums or other facilities designed for public use. (State Guidelines Section 15311.) SACUTBt1006IC]r 2869.3 3-11 ®Best Best & xrleger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implemm6ng tl,e Lalifumia anvtonmental Oual'm Act (2006) q p B pp Class 12: Surplus Government Property Sales. Sales of surplus government property, except for certain parcels of land located in an area of statewide, regional or areawide concern as that term is defined in State Guidelines Section 15206(b)(4). However, even if the surplus property to be sold is located in any of those areas, its sale is exempt if: (a) The property does not have significant values for wildlife or other environmental purposes, and (b) Any one of the following three conditions is met: (l) The property is of such size, shape, or inaccessibility that it is incapable of independent development or use; (2) The property to be sold would qualify for an exemption under any other class of categorical exemption in the State Guidelines; or (3) The use of the property and adjacent property has not changed since the time of purchase by the public agency. (State Guidelines Section 15312.) Class 13: Acquisition of Lands for Wildlife Conservation Purposes. Acquisition of lands for fish and wildlife conservation purposes, including preservation of fish and wildlife habitat, establishment of ecological preserves under Fish and Game Code Section 1580, and preservation of access to public lands and waters where the purpose of the acquisition is to preserve the land in its natural condition. (State Guidelines Section 15313.) Class 14: Minor Additions to Schools. Minor additions to existing schools within existing school grounds where the addition does not increase original student capacity by more than 25% or ten (10) classrooms, whichever is less. The addition of portable classrooms is included in this exemption. (State Guidelines Section 15314.) Class 15: Minor Land Divisions. Division(s) of property in urbanized areas zoned for residential, commercial or industrial use into four or fewer parcels when the division is in conformance with the General Plan and zoning, no variances or exceptions are required, all services and access to the proposed parcels to local standards are available, the parcel was not involved in a division of a larger parcel within the previous two (2) years, and the parcel does not have an average slope greater than 20%. (State Guidelines Section 15315.) Class 16: Transfer of Ownership of Land in Order to Create Parks. Acquisition, sale, or other transfer of land in order to establish a park where the land is in a natural condition or contains historical or archaeological resources and either: (a) The management plan for the park has not been prepared, or (b) The management plan proposes to keep the area in a natural condition or preserve the historic or archaeological resources. CEQA will apply when a management plan is proposed that will change the area from its natural condition or cause substantial adverse change in the significance of the historic or archaeological resource. (State Guidelines Section 15316.) SA=B12006\CPM22869.3 3-12 ®eest eeet & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the _ alif 0061 Activities Class 17: Open Space Contracts or Easements. Establishment of agricultural preserves, making and renewing of open space contracts under the Williamson Act or acceptance of easements or fee interests in order to maintain the open space character of the area. (The cancellation of such preserves, contracts, interests or easements is not included in this exemption.) (State Guidelines Section 15317.) Class 18: Desienation of Wildemess Areas. Designation of wilderness areas under the California Wildemess System. (State Guidelines Section 15318.) Class 19: Annexations of Existing Facilities and Lots for Exempt Facilities. Annexations: (a) to a city or special district of areas containing existing public or private structures developed to the density allowed by the current zoning or prezoning of either the gaining or losing governmental agency, whichever is more restrictive; provided, however, that the extension of utility services to the existing facilities would have a capacity to serve only the existing facilities; and (b) of individual small parcels of the minimum size for facilities exempted by Class 3, New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures. (State Guidelines Section 15319.) Class 20: Changes in Organization of Local Agencies. Changes in the organization of local governmental agencies where the changes do not change the geographical area in which previously existing powers are exercised. Examples include but are not limited to: (a) Establishment of a subsidiary district; (b) Consolidation of two or more districts having identical powers; (c) Merger with a city of a district lying entirely within the boundaries of the city. (State Guidelines Section 15320.) Class 21: Enforcement Actions b�Re ug latory Agencies. Actions by the City to enforce or revoke a lease, permit, license, certificate or other entitlement for use issued, adopted or prescribed by the City or a law, general rule, standard or objective administered or adopted by the City; or law enforcement activities by peace officers acting under any law that provides a criminal sanction. (Construction activities undertaken by the City taking the enforcement or revocation action are not included in this exemption.) (State Guidelines Section 15321.) Class 22: Educational or Training Programs Involving No Physical Changes. The adoption, alteration or termination of educational or training programs which involve no physical alteration in the area affected or which involve physical changes only in the interior of existing school or training structures. Examples include but are not limited to: (a) Development of or changes in curriculum or training methods. (b) Changes in the trade structure in a school which do not result in changes in student transportation. (State Guidelines Section 15322.) SACWIr2006tC1r 2869.3 3-13 ®Best Best 8: x,cr LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the ali 2006 Class 23: Normal Operations of Facilities for Public Gatherings. Continued or repeated normal operations of existing facilities for public gatherings for which the facilities were designed, where there is past history, of at least three years, of the facility being used for the same or similar purposes. Facilities included within this exemption include, but are not limited to race tracks, stadiums, convention centers, auditoriums, amphitheaters, planetariums, swimming pools and amusement parks. (State Guidelines Section 15323.) Class 24: Regulation of Working Conditions. Actions taken by the City to regulate employee wages, hours of work or working conditions where there will be no demonstrable physical changes outside the place of work. (State Guidelines Section 15324.) Class 25: Transfers of Ownership of Interest in Land to Preserve Existing Natural Conditions and Historical Resources. Transfers of ownership of interest in land in order to preserve open space, habitat, or historical resources. Examples include, but are not limited to, acquisition, sale, or other transfer of areas to: preserve existing natural conditions, including plant or animal habitats; allow continued agricultural use of the areas; allow restoration of natural conditions; preserve open space or lands for natural park purposes; or prevent encroachment of development into floodplains. This exemption does not apply to the development of parks or park uses. (State Guidelines Section 15325.) Class 26: Acquisition of Housing for Housing Assistance Pro rg ams. Actions by a redevelopment agency, housing authority or other public agency to implement an adopted Housing Assistance Plan by acquiring an interest in housing units, provided the housing units are either in existence or possessing all required permits for construction when the agency makes its final decision to acquire the units. (State Guidelines Section 15326.) Class 27: Leasing New Facilities. Leasing of a newly constructed or previously unoccupied privately owned facility by a local or state agency when the City determines that the proposed use of the facility: (1) conforms with existing state plans and policies and with general, community, and specific plans for which an EIR or Negative Declaration has been prepared; (2) is substantially the same as that originally proposed at the time the building permit was issued; (3) does not result in a traffic increase of greater than 10% of front access road capacity; and (4) includes the provision of adequate employee and visitor parking facilities. (State Guidelines Section 15327.) Class 28: Small Hydroelectric Projects as Existing Facilities. Installation of certain small hydroelectric -generating facilities in connection with existing dams, canals and pipelines, subject to the conditions in State Guidelines Section 15328. (State Guidelines Section 15328.) Class 29: Cogeneration Projects at Existing Facilities. Installation of cogeneration equipment with a capacity of 50 megawatts or less at existing facilities meeting certain conditions listed in State Guidelines Section 15329. (State Guidelines Section 15329.) SACVTB12006\CI=869.3 3-14 ®Best Hest & Krieger LLP 0 0 Lural Guidelines for Implementing the Aoivities Eern,t hurn CEOA Class 30: Minor Actions to Prevent. Minimize, Stabilize. Mitigate or Eliminate the Release or Threat of Release of Hazardous Waste or Hazardous Substances. Any minor cleanup actions taken to prevent, minimize, stabilize, mitigate, or eliminate the release or threat of release of a hazardous waste or substance which are small or medium removal actions costing $1 million or less. (State Guidelines Section 15330.) (a) No cleanup action shall be subject to this Class 30 exemption if the action requires the onsite use of a hazardous waste incinerator or thermal treatment unit or the relocation of residences or businesses, or the action involves the potential release into the air of volatile organic compounds as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 25123.6, except for small scale in situ soil vapor extraction and treatment systems which have been permitted by the local Air Pollution Control District or Air Quality Management District. All actions must be consistent with applicable state and local environmental permitting requirements including, but not limited to, off-site disposal, air quality rules such as those governing volatile organic compounds and water quality standards, and approved by the regulatory body with jurisdiction over the site. (b) Examples of such minor cleanup actions include but are not limited to: (1) Removal of sealed, non -leaking drums of hazardous waste or substances that have been stabilized, containerized and are designated for a lawfully permitted destination; (2) Maintenance or stabilization of berms, dikes, or surface impoundments; (3) Construction or maintenance or interim of temporary surface caps; (4) Onsite treatment of contaminated soils or sludges provided treatment system meets Title 22 requirements and local air district requirements; (5) Excavation and/or offsite disposal of contaminated soils or sludges in regulated units; (6) Application of dust suppressants or dist binders to surface soils; (7) Controls for surface water run-on and run-off that meets seismic safety standards; (8) Pumping of leaking ponds into an enclosed container; - (9) Construction of interim or emergency ground water treatment systems; (10) Posting of warning signs and fencing for a hazardous waste or substance site that meets legal requirements for protection of wildlife. Class 31: Historical Resource Restoration/Rehabilitation. Maintenance, repairs, stabilization, rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, conservation, or reconstruction of historical resources in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and SACVTB12006\0TYt22869.3 3-15 ®Ben Ben & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califilurni. Eniro.onental OualiN Act (20M)m Reconstructing Historic Buildings (1995), Weeks and Grimmer. (State Guidelines Section 15331.) Class 32: Infill Development Projects. Infill development meeting the following conditions: (a) The project is consistent with the applicable general plan designation and all applicable general plan policies as well as with applicable zoning designation and regulations; (b) The proposed development occurs within city limits on a project site of no more than five acres substantially surrounded by urban uses; (c) The project site has no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species; (d) Approval of the project would not result in any significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality; and (e) The site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services. (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15332.) Class 33: Small Habitat Restoration Projects. Revegetation of disturbed areas with native plant species; wetland restoration, the primary purpose of which is to improve conditions for waterfowl or other species that rely on wetland habitat; stream or river bank revegetation, the primary purpose of which is to improve habitat for amphibians or native fish; projects to restore or enhance habitat that are carried out principally with hand labor and not mechanized equipment; stream or river bank stabilization with native vegetation or other bioengineering techniques, the primary purpose of which is to reduce or eliminate erosion and sedimentation; culvert replacement conducted in accordance with published guidelines of the Department of Fish and Game or NOAA Fisheries, the primary purpose of which is to improve habitat or reduce sedimentation, and other similar projects to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of habitat for fish, plants, or wildlife. This exemption only applies to project that are five acres or less in size and that meet the following criteria: (a) There would be no significant adverse impact on endangered, rare or threatened species or their habitat pursuant to Section 15065 of the State Guidelines; (b) There are no hazardous materials at or around the project site that may be disturbed or removed; and (c) The project will not result in impacts that are significant when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, the effects of other current projects, and the effects of probable future projects. SACUTa@006\CITYt22869.3 3-16 ®Hest Hest & Kneger LLP Loeal Guidelines for Implementing the ' Cal tomia Environmenul Ouality Act f2QQO Ti,c Unuti,m 4. TIME LIMITATIONS 4.01 REVIEW OF PRIVATE PROJECT APPLICATIONS. Staff shall determine whether the application for a private project is complete within thirty (30) days of receipt of the application. No application may be deemed incomplete for lack of a waiver of the time limitations in Guidelines Sections 4.03 and 4.04. Accepting an application as complete does not limit the authority of the City, acting as the Lead Agency, to require the applicant to submit additional information needed for environmental evaluation of the project. Requiring such additional information after the application is complete does not change the status of the application. 4.02 DETERMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. Except as provided in Guidelines Sections 4.05 and 4.06, Staff's initial determination as to whether a Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative Declaration or an EIR should be prepared shall be made within thirty (30) days from the date on which an application for a project is accepted as complete by the City. This period may be extended fifteen (15) days with consent of the applicant and the City. 4.03 COMPLETION AND ADOPTION OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION. For private projects involving the issuance of a lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use by one or more public agencies, the Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration shall be completed and approved within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date when the City accepted the application as complete. Completion of a Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration within the 180 -day period shall include completion of the Initial Study, public review and the preparation of documents for approval by the decision- making body, either the Planning Commission or City Council (see definition in Guidelines Section 10.11). In the event that compelling circumstances justify additional time and the project applicant consents thereto, Staff may provide for a reasonable extension of the time limit for completing and adopting the Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration. 4.04 COMPLETION AND CERTIFICATION OF FINAL EIR. For private projects, the Final EIR shall be completed and certified by the City Council within one year after the date when the City accepted the application as complete. In the event that compelling circumstances justify additional time, the City Council may provide a one-time extension up to ninety (90) days for completing and adopting the EIR, upon consent of the City and the project applicant. 4.05 PROJECTS SUBJECT TO THE PERMIT STREAMLINING ACT. The Permit Streamlining Act requires agencies to make decisions on certain development project approvals within specified time limits. If a project is subject to the Act, the City cannot require the project applicant to submit the informational equivalent of an EIR or prove SACVTB@0WCIM22869.3 4-1 CBea Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Emir n 6 compliance with CEQA as a prerequisite to determining whether the project application is complete. In addition, if requested by the project applicant, the City must begin processing the project application prior to final CEQA action, provided the information necessary to begin the process is available. Under the Permit Streamlining Act, the City as Lead Agency must approve or disapprove the development project application within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date on which it certifies the EIR, or ninety (90) days if an extension for completing and certifying the FIR is granted (see Guidelines Section 4.04). If the City adopts a Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration, or determines the development project is exempt from CEQA, it shall approve or disapprove the project application within sixty (60) days from the date on which it adopts the Negative Declaration/Mitigated Negative Declaration or determines that the project is exempt from CEQA. Except for waivers of the time periods for preparing a joint Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (as outlined in Government Code Sections 65951 and 65957), the City cannot require a waiver of the time limits specified in the Permit Streamlining Act as a condition of accepting or processing a development project application. In addition, the City cannot disapprove a development project application in order to comply with the time limits specified in the Permit Streamlining Act. 4.06 PROJECTS, OTHER THAN THOSE SUBJECT TO THE PERMIT STREAMLINING ACT, WITH SHORT TIME PERIODS FOR APPROVAL. A few statutes require agencies to make decisions on project applications within time limits that are so short that review of the project under CEQA would be difficult. To enable the City as Lead Agency to comply with both the enabling statute and CEQA, the City shall deem a project application as not received for filing under the enabling statute until such time as the environmental documentation required by CEQA is complete. This section applies where all of the following conditions are met: (a) The enabling statute for a program, other than development projects under Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 65920) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, requires the City to take action on an application within a specified period of time of six (6) months or less; (b) The enabling statute provides that the project is approved by operation of law if the City fails to take any action within the specified time period; and (c) The project application involves the City's issuance of a lease, permit, license, certificate or other entitlement for use. In any case, the environmental document shall be completed or certified and the decision on the application shall be made within the period established by the Permit Streamlining Act (Government Code Sections 65920, et seq.). 4.07 SUSPENSION OF TIME PERIODS. An unreasonable delay by an applicant in meeting City requests necessary for the preparation of a Negative Declaration or an EIR shall suspend the running of the time periods SACVTB12006\C1T1'III869.3 4-2 ®Bert Bert & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California it n 006 Ti described in Guidelines Sections 4.03 and 4.04 for the period of the unreasonable delay. Alternatively, the City may disapprove a project application where there is unreasonable delay in meeting requests. The City may also allow a renewed application to start at the same point in the process where the application was when it was disapproved. SAC rFB@OMCIl 2869.3 4-3 ®Rex Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing tie California 006 0 0 5. INITIAL STUDY 5.01 PREPARATION OF INITIAL STUDY. If the City determines that it is the Lead Agency for a project which is not exempt, the City shall prepare an Initial Study to ascertain whether the project may have a substantial adverse effect on the environment, regardless of whether the overall effect of the project is adverse or beneficial. All phases of project planning, implementation and operation must be considered in the Initial Study. An Initial Study may rely on expert opinion supported by facts, technical studies or other substantial evidence. However, an Initial Study is neither intended nor required to include the level of detail included in an EIR. (a) For City projects, the Initial Study shall be prepared by Staff or by private experts pursuant to contract with the City. (b) For private projects, the person or entity proposing to carry out the project shall submit all data and information as may be required by the City to determine whether the proposed project may have a significant effect on the environment. All costs incurred by the City in reviewing the data and information submitted, or in conducting its own investigation based upon such data and information, or in preparing an Initial Study for the project shall be home by the person or entity proposing to carry out the project. 5.02 INFORMAL CONSULTATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES. When more than one public agency will be involved in undertaking or approving a project, the City as Lead Agency shall consult with all Responsible and any Trustee Agencies. Such consultation shall be undertaken as part of the Initial Study process prior to determining whether an EIR, Mitigated Negative Declaration or Negative Declaration is required for the project. This early consultation, which may be done quickly and informally, is designed to insure that the EIR, Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration will reflect the concerns of all Responsible Agencies that will issue approvals for the project and all Trustee Agencies responsible for natural resources affected by the project. It may include consultation with other individuals or organizations with an interest in the project. The Office of Planning and Research, upon request of the City or a private project applicant, shall assist in identifying the various Responsible Agencies for a proposed project and ensure that the Responsible Agencies are notified regarding any early consultation. In the case of a project undertaken by a public agency, the Office of Planning and Research, upon request of the City, shall ensure that any Responsible Agency or public agency that has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project is notified regarding any early consultation. If, during the early consultation process it is determined that the project will clearly have a significant effect on the environment, the City may immediately dispense with the Initial Study and determine that an EIR is required. 5.0$ CONSULTATION WITH PRIVATE PROJECT APPLICANT. During or immediately after preparation of an Initial Study for a private project, the City SACNrrW200MCIT 2869.3 5-1 ®Bet Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the 0006) Initial Sl,dy may consult with the applicant to determine if the applicant is willing to modify the project to reduce or avoid the significant effects identified in the Initial Study. If the project can be revised to avoid or mitigate effects to a level of insignificance and there is no substantial evidence before the City that the project, as revised, may have a significant effect on the environment, the City may prepare and adopt a Negative Declaration. If any significant effect may still occur despite alterations of the project, an EIR must be prepared. 5.04 AN INITIAL STUDY. The Initial Study shall be used to determine whether a Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative Declaration or an EIR shall be prepared for a project. It provides written documentation of whether the City found evidence of significant adverse impacts which might occur. The purposes of an Initial Study are to: (a) Identify environmental impacts; (b) Enable an applicant or Lead Agency to modify a project, mitigating adverse impacts before an EIR is written; (c) Focus an EIR, if one is required, on potentially significant environmental effects; (d) Facilitate environmental assessment early in the design of a project; (e) Provide documentation of the factual basis for the finding in a Negative Declaration that a project will not have a significant effect on the environment; (f) Eliminate unnecessary EIRs; and (g) Determine whether a previously prepared FIR could be used for the project. 5.05 CONTENTS OF INITIAL STUDY. An Initial Study shall contain in brief form (a) A description of the project, including the location of the project. The project description must be consistent throughout the environmental review process; (b) An identification of the environmental setting; (c) An identification of environmental effects by use of a checklist, matrix, or other method provided that entries are briefly explained to show the evidence supporting the entries. The brief explanation may be through either a narrative or a reference to other information such as attached maps, photographs, or an earlier EIR or Negative Declaration. A reference to another document should include, if possible, a citation to the page or pages where the information is found; (d) A discussion of ways to mitigate any significant effects identified; (e) An examination of whether the project is compatible with existing zoning and local land use plans; (f) The name of the person or persons who prepared or participated in the Initial Study; (g) A summary of any comments regarding the project received from Responsible Agencies, Trustee Agencies or other persons; and (h) Identification of prior EIRs or environmental documents which could be used with the project. SACdTB1NWCITY122869.3 5-2 ®Ben Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califoraia Environmental uali 2006 ] itia 5.06 USE OF A CHECKLIST INITIAL STUDY. When properly completed, the Environmental Checklist (Form "T') will meet the requirements of Guidelines Section 5.05 provided that the entries on the checklist are explained. Either the Environmental Checklist (Form `J") should be expanded or a separate attachment should be prepared to describe the project, including its location, and to identify the environmental setting. California courts have rejected the use of a bare, unsupplemented Initial Study checklist. An Initial Study must contain more than mere conclusions. It must disclose supporting data or evidence upon which the City relied in conducting the Study. The City shall augment checklists with supporting factual data and reference information sources when completing the forms. Explanation of all "potential impact' answers should be provided on attached sheets. For controversial projects, it is advisable to state briefly why "no" answers were checked. If practicable, attach a list of reference materials, such as prior EIRs, plans, traffic studies, air quality data, or other supporting studies. 5.07 EVALUATING SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS. In evaluating the environmental significance of effects disclosed by the Initial Study, the City shall consider: (a) Whether the Initial Study and/or any comments received informally during consultations indicate that a fair argument can be made that the project may have a significant adverse environmental impact which cannot be mitigated to a level of insignificance. Even if a fair argument can be made to the contrary, an FIR should be prepared. (b) Whether both primary (direct) and secondary (indirect) consequences of the project were evaluated. Primary consequences are immediately related to the project, while secondary consequences are related more to the primary consequences than to the project itself. For example, secondary impacts upon the resources base, including land, air, water and energy use of an area, may result from population growth, a primary impact. (c) Whether adverse social and economic changes will result from a physical change caused by the project. Adverse economic and social changes resulting from a project are not, in themselves, significant environmental effects. However, if such adverse changes cause physical changes in the environment, those consequences may be used as the basis for finding that the physical change is significant. (d) Whether there is serious public controversy or disagreement among experts over the environmental effects of the project. However, controversy or disagreement alone shall not require preparation of an FIR in the absence of substantial evidence of significant effects. (e) Whether the cumulative impact of the project is significant and whether the incremental effects of the project are "cumulatively considerable" (as defined in Guidelines Section 10.10) when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, current projects, and probable future projects. (f) Whether the project may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of an archaeological or historical resource. SACOTBUOWCJf 2869.3 5-3 ®Best BCA &Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Env ronerental Ouality Act (20W Initial Sl,& 5.08 MANDATORY FINDINGS OF SIGNIFICANT EFFECT Whenever there is substantial evidence, in light of the whole record, that any of the conditions set forth below may occur, the City shall find that the project may have a significant effect on the environment and thereby shall require preparation of an EIR: (a) The project has the potential to substantially degrade the quality of the environment, substantially reduce the habitat of a fish or wildlife species, cause a fish or wildlife population to drop below self-sustaining levels, threaten to eliminate a,plant or animal community, substantially reduce the number or restrict the range of a rare or endangered plant or animal, or eliminate important examples of major periods of California history or prehistory; (b) The project has the potential to achieve short-term environmental goals to the disadvantage of long-term environmental goals; (c) The project has possible environmental effects which are individually limited but cumulatively considerable. "Cumulatively considerable" means that the incremental effects of an individual project are significant when viewed in connection with the effects of past, current, and probable future projects. That is, the City is required to determine whether the incremental impacts of a project are cumulatively considerable by evaluating them against the back -drop of the environmental effects of the other projects; or (d) The environmental effects of a project will cause substantial adverse effects on humans either directly or indirectly. If, before the release of the CEQA document for public review, the potential for triggering one of the mandatory findings of significance is avoided or mitigation measures or project modifications reduce the potentially significant impacts to a point where clearly the mandatory finding of significance is not triggered, preparation of an EIR is not mandated. If the project's potential for triggering one of the mandatory findings of significance cannot be avoided or mitigated to a point where the criterion is clearly not triggered, an EIR shall be prepared, and the relevant mandatory findings of significance shall be used: (1) as thresholds of significance for purposes of preparing the EIR's impact analysis, (2) in making findings on the feasibility of alternatives or mitigation measures, (3) when found to be feasible, in making changes in the project to lessen or avoid the adverse environmental impacts, and (4) when necessary, in adopting a statement of overriding considerations. Although an FIR prepared for a project that triggers one of the mandatory findings of significance must use the relevant mandatory findings as thresholds of significance, the EIR need not conclude that the impact itself is significant. Rather, the City must exercise its discretion and determine, on a case-by-case basis after evaluating all of the relevant evidence, whether the project's environmental impacts are avoided or mitigated below a level of significance or whether a statement of overriding considerations is required. With regard to a project that has the potential to substantially reduce the number or restrict the range of a protected species, the City does not have to prepare an EIR solely due to that impact, provided the project meets the following three criteria: SACVTB@20WCITI'V.2869.3 5-4 ®Bert Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the alit Initial Study (1) The project proponent must be bound to implement mitigation requirements relating to such species and habitat pursuant to an approved habitat conservation plan and/or natural communities conservation plan; (2) The state or federal agency must have approved the habitat conservation plan and/or natural community conservation plan in reliance on an EIR and/or EIS; and (3) The mitigation requirements must either avoid any net loss of habitat and net reduction in number of the affected species, or preserve, restore, or enhance sufficient habitat to mitigate the reduction in habitat and number of the affected species below a level of significance. 5.09 MANDATORY PREPARATION OF AN EIR FOR WASTE -BURNING PROJECTS. The City, as Lead Agency, shall prepare or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an EIR, or, if appropriate, a modification, addendum, or supplement to an existing EIR, for any project involving the burning of municipal wastes, hazardous waste or refuse - derived fuel, including, but not limited to, tires, if the project consists of any of the following: (a) The construction of a new facility. (b) The expansion of an existing hazardous waste burning facility which would increase its permitted capacity by more than 10%. (c) The issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit to a land disposal facility, as defined in Guidelines Section 10.26. (d) The issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit to an offsite large treatment facility, as defined in Guidelines Sections 10.27 and 10.42 This section does not apply to projects listed in subsections (c) and (d), immediately above, if the facility only manages hazardous waste that is identified or listed pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 25140 or 25141 or only conducts activities which are regulated pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 25100, et seq. The City shall calculate the percentage of expansion for an existing facility by comparing the proposed facility's capacity with either of the following, as applicable: (a) The facility capacity authorized in the facility's hazardous waste facilities permit pursuant to Section 25200 of the Health and Safety Code, or its grant of interim status pursuant to Section 25200.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or the facility capacity authorized in any state or local agency permit allowing the construction or operation of the facility for the burning of hazardous waste granted before January 1, 1990; or (b) The facility capacity authorized in the facility's original hazardous facilities permit, grant of interim status, or any state or local agency permit allowing the construction or operation of a facility for the burning of hazardous waste, granted on or after January 1, 1990. The EIR requirement does not apply to any project which exclusively burns any of the following: SACVTBUOWCIT 2869.3 5-5 ®Bert Beat &Krieger 6LP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the (a) digester gas produced from manure or any other solid or semi-solid animal waste; (b) methane gas produced from a disposal site which is used only for the disposal of solid waste; (c) forest, agricultural, wood or other biomass wastes; (d) hazardous waste in an incineration unit that is transportable and which is either at a site for not longer than three years or is part of a remedial or removal action; (e) refinery waste burned in a flare on the site of generation; (f) methane gas produced at a municipal sewage treatment plant and burned in a flare; (g) hazardous waste, or hazardous waste as a supplemental fuel, as part of a research, development, or demonstration project which, consistent with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, has been determined to be innovative and experimental by the State Department of Health Services and which is limited in type and quantity of waste to that necessary to determine the efficacy and performance capabilities of the technology or process; provided, however, that any facility which operated as a research, development or demonstration project and for which an application is thereafter submitted for a hazardous waste facility permit for operation other than as a research, development or demonstration project shall be considered a new facility for the burning of hazardous waste, and therefore subject to EIR requirements; (h) soils contaminated only with petroleum fuels or the vapors from these soils; (i) exclusively treats less than 3,000 pounds of hazardous waste per day in a thermal processing unit operated in the absence of open flame, and submits a worst-case health risk assessment of the technology to the State Department of Health Services for review and distribution to the interested public. This assessment shall be prepared in accordance with guidelines set forth in the Air Toxics Assessment Manual of the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association; (j) less than 1,200 pounds of infectious waste per day, as defined in Section 25117.5 of the Health and Safety Code, on hospital sites; (k) chemicals and fuels as part of firefighter training; (1) exclusively conducts open bums of explosives subject to the requirements of the local or regional air pollution control district and in compliance with OSHA and Cal -OSHA regulations; or (m) exclusively conducts onsite burning of less than 3,000 pounds per day of fumes directly from a manufacturing or commercial process. Such projects are not exempt from the other requirements of CEQA, the State Guidelines, or these Local Guidelines. This section does not apply to any project over which the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission has assumed jurisdiction per Health and Safety Code Section 25500, et sec. 5.10 DEVELOPMENT PURSUANT TO AN EXISTING COMMUNITY PLAN AND EIR. Before preparing a CEQA document, Staff should determine whether the proposed project involves development consistent with an earlier zoning or community plan to accommodate a particular density for which an EIR has been certified. If an earlier EIR for the zoning or planning action has been certified, and if the proposed project is approval of a SAC'JnUO 61CIT 2869.3 5-6 ®Bess Best & Krieger LLP 0 9 Local Guidelines for Implementing the C.1ifigniaE vi n al'096) Initial Study subdivision map or development, CEQA applies only to the extent the project raises environmental effects peculiar to the parcel which were not addressed in the earlier EIR. Off-site and cumulative effects not discussed in the general plan EIR must still be considered. Mitigation measures set out in the earlier EIR should be implemented at this stage. Environmental effects shall not be considered peculiar to the parcel if uniformly applied development policies or standards have been previously adopted by a city or county with a finding based on substantial evidence that the policy or standard will substantially mitigate the environmental effect when applied to future projects. Any rezoning action consistent with the Community Plan shall be subject to exemption from CEQA in accordance with this section. "Community Plan" means part of a city's general plan which: (1) applies to a defined geographic portion of the total area included in the general plan, (2) complies with Article 5 (commencing with Section 65300) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code by referencing each of the mandatory elements specified in Government Code Section 65302, and (3) contains specific development policies adopted for the area in the Community Plan and identifies measures to implement those policies, so that the policies which will apply to each parcel can be determined. 5.11 LAND USE POLICIES. When a project will amend a general plan or another land use policy, the Initial Study must address how the change in policy and its expected direct and indirect effects will affect the environment. When the amendments constitute substantial changes in policies that result in a significant impact on the environment, an EIR may be required. 5.12 EVALUATING IMPACTS ON HISTORICAL RESOURCES. Projects that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource, as defined in Guidelines Section 10.22, are projects that may have a significant effect on the environment, thus requiring consideration under CEQA. Particular attention and care should be given when considering such projects, especially projects involving the demolition of a historical resource, since such demolitions have been determined to cause a significant effect on the environment. Substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource means physical demolition, destruction, relocation or alteration of the resource or its immediate surroundings, such that the significance of a historical resource would be materially impaired. The significance of a historical resource is materially impaired when a project: (a) Demolishes or materially alters in an adverse manner those physical characteristics of a historical resource that convey its historical significance and that justify its inclusion in, or eligibility for inclusion in, the California Register of Historical Resources; (b) Demolishes or materially alters in an adverse manner those physical characteristics that account for its inclusion in a local register of historical resources or its identification in a historical resources survey, unless the Lead Agency establishes by a preponderance of evidence that the resource is not historically or culturally significant; or SAGIBTB2006\02869.3 5-7 - ®Bert Best&Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the (c) Demolishes or materially alters in an adverse manner those physical characteristics of a historical resource that convey its historical significance and that justify its eligibility for inclusion in the California Register of Historical Resources as determined by the Lead Agency for purposes of CEQA. Generally, a project that follows either one of the following sets of standards and guidelines will be considered mitigated to a level of less than significance: (a) the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings; or (b) the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings (1995), Weeks and Grimmer. In the event of an accidental discovery of a possible historical resource during construction of the project, the City may provide for the evaluation of the find by a qualified archaeologist or other professional. If the find is determined to be a historical resource, the City should take appropriate steps to implement appropriate avoidance or mitigation measures. Work on non -affected portions of the project, as determined by the City, may continue during the process. Curation may be an appropriate mitigation measure for an artifact that must be removed during project excavation or testing. 5.13 EVALUATING IMPACTS ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES. When a project will impact an archaeological site, the City shall first determine whether the site is a historical resource, as defined in Guidelines Section 10.22. If the archaeological site is a historical resource, it shall be treated and evaluated as such, and not as an archaeological resource. If the archaeological site does not meet the definition of a historical resource, but does meet the definition of a unique archaeological resource set forth in Section 21083.2 of the Public Resources Code, the site shall be treated in accordance with said provisions of the Public Resources Code. The time and cost limitations described in Section 21083.2(c-1) do not apply to surveys and site evaluation activities intended to determine whether the project site contains unique archaeological resources. If the archaeological resource is neither a unique archaeological resource nor a historical resource, the effects of the project on those resources shall not be considered a significant effect on the environment. It shall be sufficient that both the resource and the effect on it are noted in the Initial Study or EIR, if one is prepared to address impacts on other resources, but they need not be considered further in the CEQA process. In the event of an accidental discovery of a possible unique archaeological resource during construction of the project, the City may provide for the evaluation of the find by a qualified archaeologist. If the find is determined to be a unique archaeological resource, the.City should take appropriate steps to implement appropriate avoidance or mitigation measures. Work on non -affected portions of the project, as determined by the City, may continue during the process. Curation may be an appropriate mitigation measure for an artifact that must be removed during project excavation or testing. When an initial study identifies the existence of, or the probable likelihood of, Native SACUTB@006,CITT122669.3 5-8 ®Ben Besi & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califamia Environmental Oual'ty Act (2006) Initial c d American human remains within the Project, the City shall comply with the provisions of State CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.5(d). In the event of an accidental discovery or recognition of any human remains in any location other than a dedicated cemetery, the City shall comply with the provisions of State CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.5(e). 5.14 CONSULTATION WITH WATER AGENCIES REGARDING LARGE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. - (a) Projects Subject to Consultation Requirements. This section applies only when a project involves one of the following: (1) Over 500 homes; (2) Shopping centers or businesses with over 1,000 employees or 500,000 square feet of floor space; (3) Commercial office buildings with over 1,000 employees or 250,000 square feet of floor space; (4) Hotels or motels with more than 500 rooms; (5) Industrial, manufacturing or processing plants which will house more than 1,000 persons, occupy more than 40 acres of land or have more than 650,000 square feet of floor space; (6) Mixed-use projects that include one or more of their projects specified in this section; (7) Projects that would demand at least as much water as a 500 dwelling unit project; or (8) If a public water system has fewer than 5,000 connections, then this section applies to any proposed residential, business, commercial, hotel or motel, or industrial development that would increase the public water system's number of service connections by 10% or more, or any mixed- use project that would increase water demand by an amount equivalent to a 10% increase in service connections. (b) Water Supply Assessment. When the City determines what type of environmental document will be prepared for a project, the City must identify any public water system that may supply water for the project and request that the public water system prepare a specified water supply assessment. For purposes of this section, any system that provides water to 3,000 or more service connections qualifies as a public water system. The assessment must include identification of existing water supply entitlements, water rights, or water service contracts relevant to the water supply for the proposed project and water received in prior years pursuant to those entitlements, rights, and SACUT13\20061CITY122869.3 5-9 ®Bea Ben & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for implementing the Cal *Jmnia r nmemal 6 Ini is contracts. If the public water system concludes that the water supply is, or will be, insufficient, it must submit plans for acquiring additional water supplies. If a city is unable to identify any public water system that may supply water for the project, the City must prepare the water supply assessment itself. The City must include the water supply assessment (prepared by the public water system or itself) in any environmental document prepared for the project. A discussion of water supply availability should be included in the main text of the environmental document. Normally, this discussion should be based on the data and information included in the water supply assessment. For complete information on these requirements, consult Water Code Sections 10910, et seq. 5.15 SUBDIVISIONS WITH MORE THAN 500 DWELLING UNITS. The City and its advisory agencies are prohibited from approving a tentative map, parcel map for which a tentative map was not required, or a development agreement for a subdivision of property of more than 500 dwellings units, unless: (1) The City Council or the advisory agency receives written verification from the applicable public water system that a sufficient water supply is available; or (2) Under certain circumstances, the City Council or the advisory agency makes a specified finding that sufficient water supplies are, or will be, available prior to completion of the project. As a result, the City should obtain written verification as described above during the Initial Study phase of the CEQA process for any proposed residential development of more than 500 dwelling units. For complete information on these requirements, consult Government Code Section 66473.7. 5.16 IMPACTS TO OAK WOODLANDS. When a county prepares an Initial Study to determine what type of environmental document will be prepared for a project within its jurisdiction, the county must determine whether the project may result in a conversion of oak woodlands that will have a significant effect on the environment. Normally, this rule does not apply to projects undertaken by the City. However, if the City is a Responsible Agency on such a project, the City should endeavor to ensure that the county, as Lead Agency, analyzes these impacts in accordance with CEQA. 5.17 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT. The job of the Initial Study is to identify which environmental impacts may be significant. Based upon the Initial Study, Staff shall determine whether a proposed project may or will have a significant effect on the environment. Such determination shall be made in writing on the Environmental Impact Assessment Form (Form "C"). If Staff finds that a project will not have a significant effect on the environment, it shall recommend that a Negative Declaration be prepared and adopted by the decision-making body. If Staff finds that a project may have a significant effect on the environment, but the effects can be mitigated to a level of insignificance, it shall recommend that a Mitigated Negative Declaration be prepared and adopted by the 540 01le9 Ber & Krieger LLP 0 Local Guidelines for Implemrnting We Cal'fomia Env roumental Ouartv Act f20061 t " I Ct d.. decision-making body. If Staff finds that a project may have a significant effect on the environment, it shall recommend that an EIR be prepared and certified by the decision-making body. 5.18 FINAL DETERMINATION. The City Council shall have the final responsibility for determining whether an EIR, Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration shall be required for any project. The City Council's determination shall be final and conclusive on all persons, including Responsible Agencies and Trustee Agencies, except as provided in Section 15050(c) of the State Guidelines. SACUTB@A06\CIT 2869.3 5-11 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing Ne al Ocalit, Act (20061 6. NEGATIVE DECLARATION 6.01 DECISION TO PREPARE A NEGATIVE DECLARATION. A Negative Declaration (Form `E") shall be prepared for a project subject to CEQA when the Initial Study shows that there is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record that the project may have a significant or potentially significant adverse effect on the environment. (See Guidelines Sections 10.45 and 10.50.) 6.02 DECISION TO PREPARE A MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (Farm "E") shall be prepared for a project subject to CEQA when the Initial Study identifies potentially significant effects on the environment, but: (a) The project applicant has agreed to revise the project or the City can revise the project to avoid these significant effects or to mitigate the effects to a point where it is clear that no significant effects would occur and (b) There is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record before the City that the revised project may have a significant effect. If an applicant proposes mitigation measures, the project plans must be revised to incorporate these mitigation measures before the proposed Negative Declaration is released for public review. It is insufficient to require an applicant to adopt mitigation measures after final adoption of the Negative Declaration or to state that mitigation measures will be recommended on the basis of a future study. The City must know the measures at the time the Negative Declaration is adopted in order for them to be evaluated and accepted as adequate mitigation. Evidence of agreement by the applicant to such mitigation should be in the record prior to public review. Except where noted, the procedural requirements for the preparation and approval of a Negative Declaration and Mitigated Negative Declaration are the same. 6.03 CONTRACTING FOR PREPARATION OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION. The City, when acting as Lead Agency, is responsible for preparing all documents required pursuant to CEQA. The documents may be prepared by Staff or by private consultants pursuant to a contract with the City, but they must be the City's product and reflect the independent judgment of the City. 6.04 NOTICE OF INTENT TO ADOPT A NEGATIVE DECLARATION OR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION. When, based upon the Initial Study, it is recommended to the decision-making body that a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration be adopted, a Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration (Form "D") shall be provided to the public, to all Responsible Agencies and to every other public agency with jurisdiction by law over resources affected by the project. The Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration (Form "D") must be filed and posted at least twenty (20) days, or, in cases subject to review by the State Clearinghouse, posted by the Office and Planning and Research at least thirty (30) days, before the final adoption of the Negative Declaration or SACkMI�006\01 2869.3 6-1 ®Beu Bert & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Env 'rn l ChialityA (2006) Neuative Declaratunt Mitigated Negative Declaration by the decision-making body. The Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration shall be mailed to the last known name and address of all organizations and individuals who have previously filed a written request with the City. A copy of the proposed Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Initial Study shall be attached to the Notice of Intent to Adopt that is 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. The City may charge a fee for this service, except to other public agencies. The City may require requests for notices to be renewed annually. If the documents are submitted to the State Clearinghouse for circulation, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review by the State Clearinghouse. (See Guidelines Section 6.06.) If the City is submitting a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration to the State Clearinghouse, the Notice of Completion form may be used. The Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration shall contain the following information: (a) The period during which comments shall be received. (b) The date, time and place of any public meetings or hearings on the proposed project. (c) A brief description of the proposed project and its location. (d) The address where copies of the proposed Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration and all documents referenced in the proposed Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration are available for review. (e) The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") list on which the proposed project site is located, if applicable, and the corresponding information from the applicant's statement. (See Guidelines Section 2.04.) (f) The significant effects on the environment, if any, anticipated as a result of the proposed project. The proposed Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration and Initial Study must reflect the independent judgment of the City. 6.05 POSTING AND PUBLICATION OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION OR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION. The City shall have a copy of the Notice of Intent to Adopt, the Draft Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Initial Study posted at the City's offices and made available for public inspection. The Notice must be provided either twenty (20) or thirty (30) days prior to final adoption of the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration: Negative Declarations prepared for projects subject to State Clearinghouse review must be circulated for at least thirty (30) days, while all other Negative Declarations must be circulated for at least twenty (20) days. The Notice must also be posted in the office of the Clerk in each county in which the Project is located and must remain posted for a minimum of twenty (20) days, unless otherwise required by law to be posted for thirty (30) days. The Clerk shall post the Notice within twenty- four (24) hours of receipt. SACVTB\2006\C[ M 2a69.3 6-2 ®lien Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Loral Guidelines for Implementing tire 'Cali bulia Bnv mnmental Oualiv Art (20061 Negative As stated in Guidelines Section 6.04, notice shall be given by mail to the last (mown name and address of all organizations and individuals who have previously requested such notice. In addition, it must be given by at least one of the following procedures: (a) Publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the proposed project. If more than one area will be affected, the notice shall be published in the newspaper of largest circulation from among the newspapers of general circulation in those areas; (b) Posting of notice on and off site in the area where the project is to be located; or (c) Direct mailing to owners and occupants of property contiguous to the project, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll. The City shall consider all comments received during the public review period for the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration. Comments submitted via email shall be treated as written comments for all purposes. Comments sent to the public agency via email are deemed received when they actually arrive in an email account of a staff person who has been designated or identified as the point of contact for a particular project. The City is not required to respond in writing to comments it receives either during or after the public review period. However, the City may want to provide a written response to all comments if it will not delay action on the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, since any comment received prior to final action on the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration can form the basis of a legal challenge. A written response which refutes the comment or adequately explains the City's action in light of the comment will assist the City in defending against a legal challenge. The City shall notify any public agency which comments on a Negative Declaration. or Mitigated Negative Declaration of the public hearing or hearings, if any, on the project for which the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared. 6.06 SUBMISSION OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION OR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION TO STATE CLEARINGHOUSE. A Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse for circulation in the following situations: (a) The Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration is prepared by a Lead Agency that is a state agency. (b) The Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration is prepared by a public agency where a state agency is a Responsible Agency, Trustee Agency, or otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project. (c) The Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration is for a project identified in State Guidelines Section 15206 as being of statewide, regional, or areawide significance. State Guidelines Section 15206 identifies the following types of projects as being examples of projects of statewide, regional, or areawide significance which require submission to the State Clearinghouse for circulation: SACJTB@006\CIT1922N9J 6-3 ®Bert Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Env'r 2006) Nvutive Dcchirath,n Projects which have the potential for causing significant environmental effects beyond the city or county where the project would be located, such as: • Residential development of more than 500 units. • Commercial projects employing more than 1,000 persons or covering more than 500,000 square feet of floor space. • Office building projects employing more than 1,000 persons or covering more than 250,000 square feet of floor space. • Hotel or motel development of more than 500 rooms. • Industrial projects housing more than 1,000 persons, occupying more than 40 acres of land, or covering more than 650,000 square feet of floor area. Projects for the cancellation of a Williamson Act contract covering more than 100 acres. Projects in one of the following Environmentally Sensitive Areas: • Lake Tahoe Basin. • Santa Monica Mountains Zone. • Sacramento -San Joaquin River Delta. • Suisun Marsh. • Coastal Zone, as defined by the California Coastal Act. • Areas within one-quarter mile of a river designated as wild and scenic. • Areas within thejurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Projects which would affect sensitive wildlife habitats or the habitats of any rare, threatened, or endangered species. Projects which would interfere with water quality standards. Projects which would provide housing, jobs, or occupancy for 500 or more people within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant. A Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration may also be submitted to the State Clearinghouse for circulation if a state agency has special expertise with regard to the environmental impacts involved. When the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least thirty (30) days. The review period begins (day one) on the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration to state agencies. The State Clearinghouse is required to distribute the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration to state agencies within three working days from the date the State Clearinghouse receives the document, as long as the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration is complete when submitted to the State Clearinghouse. If the document submitted to the State Clearinghouse is not complete, the State Clearinghouse must notify the Lead Agency. The review period for the public and all other agencies may run concurrently with the state agency review period established by the State Clearinghouse, but the public review period cannot conclude before the state agency review period does. When a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse, a Notice of Completion (Form "N') should be included as a cover sheet. A SACtl Bt20MC1TYWM93 6-4 ®Best Beat &Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Oualily Act 006 Declaration sufficient number of copies of the documents must be sent to the State Clearinghouse for circulation. Staff should contact the State Clearinghouse to find out the correct number of printed copies required for circulation. In addition to the printed copies, a copy of the documents in electronic format shall be submitted on a diskette or by electronic mail transmission if available. A shorter review period by the State Clearinghouse for a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration can be requested by the decision-making body. The shortened review period shall not be less than twenty (20) days. Such a request must be made in writing by the Lead Agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decision-making body may designate by resolution or ordinance an individual authorized to request a shorter review period. Any approval of a shortened review period must be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice. However, a shortened review period shall not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for any proposed project of statewide, regional or areawide environmental significance, as defined by State Guidelines Section 15206. 6.07 SPECIAL NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR WASTE AND FUEL BURNING PROJECTS. For any waste burning project, as defined in Guidelines Section 5.09, Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration (see Guidelines Section 6.04) shall be given to all organizations and individuals who have previously requested it and shall also be given by all three of the procedures listed in Guidelines Section 6.05. In addition, Notice shall be given by direct mailing to the owners and occupants of property within one-quarter mile of any parcel or parcels on which such a project is located. These notice requirements apply only to those projects described in Guidelines Section 5.08. These notice requirements do not preclude the City from providing additional notice by other means if desired. 6.08 CONSULTATION WITH WATER AGENCIES REGARDING LARGE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. Under specific circumstances the City must consult with the public water system which will supply the project to determine whether it can adequately supply the water needed for the project. See Guidelines Section 5.15 for more information on these requirements. 6.09 CONTENT OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION. A Negative Declaration must be prepared directly by or under contract to the City and should generally resemble Form "E" It shall contain the following information: (a) A brief description of the project proposed, including any commonly used name for the project, if any. (b) . The location of the project and the name of the project proponent. (c) A finding that the project as proposed will not have a significant effect on the environment. (d) An attached copy of the Initial Study documenting reasons to support the finding. SACVMR 006\0T 29693 6-5 Crest Rest &Krieger LLP 0 0 Loeal Guidelines for Implementing the Caliromia Environmental Quality Aa (2006) Neeatie (e) For a Mitigated Negative Declaration, feasible mitigation measures included in the project to substantially lessen or avoid potentially significant effects, which must be fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements, or other measures. Such permit conditions, agreements, and measures must be consistent with applicable constitutional requirements such as the "nexus" and "rough proportionality" standards established by case law. 6.10 ADOPTION OF NEGATIVE DECLARATION OR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION. Following the publication, posting or mailing of the Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, but in no event sooner than the expiration of the applicable twenty (20) or thirty (30) day public review period, the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration may be presented to the decision-making body at a regular or special meeting. Prior to adoption, the City shall independently review and analyze the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration and find that the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration reflects the independent judgment of the City. If the decision- making body finds that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment, it shall adopt the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration. When adopting the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, the City shall specify the location and custodian of the documents or other material which constitute the record of proceedings upon which it based its decision. If the decision-making body finds that the proposed project may have a significant effect on the environment that cannot be mitigated or avoided, it shall order the preparation of a Draft EIR and the filing of a Notice of Preparation of a Draft FIR. Recirculation should be considered if substantial new mitigation is added after public review (see Guidelines Section 6.13). 6.11 MITIGATION REPORTING OR MONITORING PROGRAM FOR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION. When adopting a Mitigated Negative Declaration pursuant to Guidelines Section 6.10, the City shall adopt a reporting or monitoring program to assure that mitigation measures which are required to mitigate or avoid significant effects on the environment will be fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements, or other measures and implemented by the project proponent or other responsible party in a timely manner, in accordance with conditions of project approval. The City shall also specify the location and the custodian of the documents which constitute the record of proceedings upon which it based its decision. There is no requirement that the reporting or monitoring program be circulated for public review; however, the City may choose to circulate it for public comments along with the Negative Declaration. The mitigation measures required to mitigate or avoid significant effects on the environment must be adopted as conditions of project approval. This reporting or monitoring program shall be designed to assure compliance during the implementation or construction of a project and shall otherwise comply with the requirements described in Guidelines Section 7.32. If a Responsible Agency or Trustee Agency has required that certain conditions be incorporated into the project, the City may request that agency to prepare and submit a proposed reporting or monitoring program. The City shall also require that SAC=U00aCIrY122869.3 6-6 ®Best Bert & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the n a ali 2006 a i[)CQ,MfiQn prior to the close of the public review period for a Mitigated Negative Declaration (see Guidelines Section 6.04), the Responsible or Trustee Agency submit detailed performance objectives for mitigation measures, or refer the City to appropriate, readily available guidelines or reference documents. Any mitigation measures submitted to the City by a Responsible or Trustee Agency shall be limited to measures which mitigate impacts to resources which are within the Responsible or Trustee Agency's authority. Local agencies have the authority to levy fees sufficient to pay for this program. Therefore, the City can charge the project proponent a fee to cover actual costs of program processing and implementation. Transportation information resulting from the reporting or monitoring program required to be adopted by the City shall be submitted to the regional transportation planning agency where the project is located and to the Department of Transportation for a project of statewide, regional OT areawide significance according to State Guidelines Section 15206. The transportation planning agency and the Department of Transportation are required by law to adopt guidelines for the submittal of these reporting or monitoring programs, so the City may wish to tailor its submittal to such guidelines. 6.12 APPROVALORDIsAPPROVALOF PROJECT. At the time of adoption of a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, the decision-making body may consider the project for purposes of approval or disapproval. Prior to approving the project, the decision-making body shall consider the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, together with any written comments received and considered during the public review period, and shall approve or disapprove the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration. In making a finding as to whether there is any substantial evidence that the project will have a significant effect on the environment, the factors listed in Guidelines Section 5.08 should be considered. (See Guidelines Section 7.30 for approval requirements for facilities which may emit hazardous pollutants or which may handle extremely hazardous substances within one-quarter mile of a school site.) 6.13 RECIRCULATION OF A NEGATIVE DECLARATION OR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION. A Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration must be recirculated when the document must be substantially revised after the public review period but prior to its adoption. A "substantial revision" is defined as a new and avoidable significant effect for which mitigation measures or project revisions must be added in order to reduce the effect to a level of insignificance. A "substantial revision" can also include when the City determines that the proposed mitigation measures or project revisions will not reduce the potential effects to less than significant and new measures or revisions must be required. Recirculation is not required under the following circumstances: (a) Mitigation measures are replaced with equal or more effective measures, and the City makes a finding to that effect. SACVTB0006 Cr1Y1228693 6-7 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the 0 (b) New project revisions are added after circulation of the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration or in response to written or oral comments on the project's effects, but the revisions do not create new significant environmental effects and are not necessary to mitigate an avoidable significant effect. (c) Measures or conditions of project approval are added after circulation of the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, but the measures or conditions are not required by CEQA, do not create new significant environmental effects and are not necessary to mitigate an avoidable significant effect. (d) New information is added to the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Declaration which merely clarifies, amplifies, or makes insignificant modifications to the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration. If, after preparation of a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration, the City determines that the project requires an EIR, it shall circulate the Draft EIR for consultation and review and advise reviewers in writing that a proposed Negative Declaration or Mitigated Declaration had previously been circulated for the project. 6.14 NOTICE OF DETERMINATION ON A PROJECT FOR WHICH A PROPOSED NEGATIVE OR MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION HAS BEEN APPROVED. Following consideration and approval of a project for which the City is Lead Agency, the decision-making body shall order Staff to prepare and file a Notice of Determination (Form "F") which shall contain the following: (a) An identification of the project including the project title as identified on the proposed Negative Declaration, location, and the State Clearinghouse identification number for the proposed Negative Declaration if the Notice of Determination is filed with the State Clearinghouse; (b) A brief description of the project; (c) The name of the City and the date on which the City approved the project; (d) The determination of the City that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment; (e) A statement that a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration was adopted pursuant to the provisions of CEQA; (f) A statement indicating whether mitigation measures were made a condition of the approval of the project, and whether a mitigation monitoring plan/program was adopted; and (g) The address where a copy of the Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration may be examined. The Notice of Determination shall be filed with the Clerk of each county in which the project will be located within five (5) working days of project approval. The City is encouraged to make copies of filed notices available in electronic format on the Internet. Such electronic notices are in addition to the posting requirements of the CEQA Guidelines and the Public Resources Code. The Clerk must post the Notice of Determination within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt. The Notice must be posted in the office of the Clerk for a minimum of thirty (30) days. Thereafter, the Clerk shall return the notice to the City with a notation of the period it SA"TBUOWC=2869.3 6-8 ®Bert Bert & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the Calitmoint Environments] Onalfty Act (20061 Neaativ Declaration was posted. 'Be City shall retain the notice for not less than twelve (12) months. If the project requires discretionary approval from any State agency, the Notice of Determination shall also be filed with the Office of Planning and Research within five (5) working days of project approval along with proof of payment of the California Department of Fish and Game fee or Certificate of Fee Exemption (see Guidelines Section 6.18). Simultaneously with the filing of the Notice of Determination with the Clerk, Staff shall cause a copy of the Notice of Determination to be posted at City Hall. When a request is made for a copy of the Notice prior to the date on which the City adopts the Negative Declaration, the copy must be mailed, first class postage prepaid, within five (5) days of the City's determination. If such a request is made following the City's determination, then the copy should be mailed in the same manner as soon as possible. The recipients of such documents may be charged a fee reasonably related to the cost of providing the service. For projects with more than one phase, Staff shall file a Notice of Determination for each phase requiring a discretionary approval. The filing and posting of a Notice of Determination with the Clerk, and, if necessary, with the Office of Planning and Research, usually starts a thirty (30) day statute of limitations on court challenges to the approval under CEQA. When separate notices are filed for successive phases of the same overall project, the thirty (30) day statute of limitation to challenge the subsequent phase begins to run when the second notice is filed. Failure to file the Notice results in a one hundred eighty (180) day statute of limitations. 6.15 ADDENDUM TO NEGATIVE DECLARATION. The City may prepare an addendum to an adopted Negative Declaration if only minor technical changes or additions are necessary. The City may also prepare an addendum to an adopted Negative Declaration when none of the conditions calling for a subsequent Negative Declaration have occurred. (See Guidelines Section 6.16 below.) An addendum need not be circulated for public review but can be attached to the adopted Negative Declaration. The City shall consider the addendum with the adopted Negative Declaration prior to project approval. 6.16 SUBSEQUENT NEGATIVE DECLARATION. .When a Negative Declaration has been adopted for a project, or when an EIR has been certified, a subsequent Negative Declaration or FIR must be prepared in the following instances: (a) Substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions of the previous EIR or Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; (b) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the previous EIR or Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; or SACU W WWCI Y 2869.1 6-9 ®Best Best&Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Ouarry Art(20061 Negative Duel (c) New information of substantial importance which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at -the time the previous EIR was certified or the Negative Declaration was adopted which shows any of the following: (1) The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR or Negative Declaration; (2) Significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in the previous FIR; (3) Mitigation measure(s) or altemative(s) previously found not to be feasible would in fact be feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project, but the project proponents declined to adopt the mitigation measure(s) or altemative(s); or (4) Mitigation measure(s) or altemative(s) which are considerably different from those analyzed in the previous EIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure(s) or altemative(s). The City as Lead Agency would then determine whether a Subsequent EIR, Supplemental EIR, Negative Declaration or Addendum would be applicable. Subsequent Negative Declarations must be given the same notice and public review period as other Negative Declarations. The Subsequent Negative Declaration shall state where the previous document is available and can be reviewed. 6.17 PRIVATE PROJECT COSTS. For private projects, the person or entity proposing to carry out the project shall bear all costs incurred by the City in preparing the Initial Study and in preparing and filing the Negative Declaration and Notice of Determination. 6.18 FILING FEES FOR PROJECTS WHICH AFFECT WILDLIFE RESOURCES. At the time a Notice of Determination for a Negative Declaration is filed with the Clerk, a fee of $1,250 shall be paid to the Clerk for projects which will adversely affect fish and wildlife resources. These fees are collected by the Clerk on behalf of the California Department of Fish and Game ("DFG"). Only one filing fee is required for each project unless the project is tiered or phased and separate environmental documents are prepared. For projects where a Lead Agency and Responsible Agencies file separate Notices of Determination, only the Lead Agency is required to pay the fee. Note: The Clerk customarily charges a documentary handling fee for each project in addition to the filing fee specified above. Refer to the Index in the Staff Summary to help determine the correct amount. SACUTB0006\C=2869J 6-10 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Imp1em=6ng the 1' nm ntal Og.fiImfion For private projects, the City shall pass these costs onto the project applicant. No fees are required for projects with a "de minimis" effect on fish and wildlife resources, or for certain projects undertaken by the DFG and implemented through a contract with a non-profit entity or local government agency. A project with a "de minimis" effect has no potential for adverse effect on fish and wildlife. This is an important exception. DFG considers the following projects as likely to have "de minimis" effects on fish and wildlife, depending on the specific facts of each project: (1) Projects which enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats and result in no accompanying adverse impacts to fish or wildlife; (2) Lot line adjustments; (3) Building remodeling; (4) Annexations; - (5) Redevelopment on existing urban subdivisions with no wildlife habitat; (6) Infill of undeveloped urban lots; or (7) Adoption of a General Plan, where CEQA requires a subsequent discretionary project approval before any physical change to natural habitat is permitted. If the City believes that a project will have a "de minimis" effect on wildlife resources, it should file the Certificate of Fee Exemption attached as Form "L". This form requires the City to set forth facts in support of the fee exemption. These facts should include: (1) the name and address of the project proponent; (2) a brief description of the project and its location; (3) a statement that an Initial Study has been prepared by the City to evaluate the project's effects on wildlife resources, if any; (4) a declaration that there is no evidence before the City that the project will have any potential for adverse effect on wildlife resources; and (5) a declaration that the City has, on the basis of substantial evidence, "rebutted" the presumption of adverse effect contained in the regulations. A presumption of adverse effect occurs if the project has the potential for adverse effects on the fish and wildlife resources as listed on Form "L". To rebut the presumption of adverse effect, the City should explain in the declaration why the project would not have an adverse impact on fish and wildlife and reference any supporting evidence. These findings should be made at the time of approval of the Negative Declaration and attached to Form "L" when submitted to the County. Two copies of this form must be filed with the Notice of Determination in order to obtain the fee exemption. If the City believes that a project has been undertaken by the DFG, that the project's costs are payable from one or more of the sources indicated in the Fish and Game Code, and that the project is being implemented through a contract with a non-profit entity or a local government agency, the DFG filing fee does not apply. Since the DFG has not yet adopted regulations to govem this exemption, including a new "Certificate of Fee Exemption," the City may wish to use Form "L" and make appropriate modifications to reflect this exemption. SA=B0006\0T 2869.3 6-11 ®Ben Beg & "eger UP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environnal Onal ty A0 (20061 Environmental 7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT 7.01 DECISION TO PREPARE AN EIR. An EIR shall be prepared whenever there is substantial evidence in light of the whole record which supports a fair argument that a project may have a significant effect on the environment. (See Guidelines Sections 10.45 and 10.50.) The record may include the Initial Study or other documents or studies prepared to assess the project's environmental impacts. 7.02 CONTRACTING FOR PREPARATION OF EIRs. If a Draft EIR, EIR or Focused EIR is prepared under a contract to the City, the contract must be executed within forty-five (45) days from the date on which the City sends a Notice of Preparation. The City may take longer to execute the contract if the project applicant and the City mutually agree to an extension of the 45 -day time limit. The Draft EIR, EIR or Focused FIR prepared under contract must be the City's product. Staff, together with such consultant help as may be required, shall independently review and analyze the Draft EIR, EIR or Focused EIR to verify its accuracy, objectivity and completeness prior to presenting it to the decision-making body. The Draft EIR, EIR or Focused EIR made available for public review must reflect the independent judgment of the City. Staff may require such information and data from the person or entity proposing to carry out the project as it deems necessary for completion of the Draft EIR, EIR or Focused EIR. 7.03 NOTICE OF PREPARATION OF DRAFT EIR. After Staff determines that an EIR will be required for a proposed project, the City as Lead Agency shall prepare and send a Notice of Preparation (Form "G") to each Responsible Agency and Trustee Agency involved with the project, as well as the Office of Planning and Research. When submitting the Notice of Preparation to the Office of Planning and Research, a Notice of Completion (Form "H") should be used as a cover sheet. Responsible and Trustee Agencies, the State Clearinghouse, and the state agencies contacted by the State Clearinghouse have thirty (30) days to respond to the Notice of Preparation. Agencies that do not respond within thirty (30) days shall be deemed not to have any comments on the Notice of Preparation. The City shall send copies of the Notice of Preparation by certified mail or any other method of transmittal which provides it with a record that the Notice was received. The Notice must also be posted in the office of the Clerk in each county in which the project is located for thirty (30) days. The Clerk shall post the Notice within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt. - At a minimum, the Notice of Preparation shall include: (a) A description of the project; (b) The location of the project indicated either on an attached map (preferably a copy of the USGS 15' or 7'/2' topographical map identified by quadrangle name) or by a street address and cross street in an urbanized area; (c) The probable environmental effects of the project; (d) The name and address of the consulting firth retained to prepare the Draft EIR, if applicable; and SAC%TBUOMCJ" 2869.3 7-1 ®Beg Beg &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califom'a Fnvi,onmental Ouarty Act (20061 linviToomentalI R coat (e) The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") list on which the proposed site is located, if applicable, and the corresponding information from the applicant's statement. (See Guidelines Section 2.04.) 7.04 "PREPARATION OF DRAFT EIR The City as Lead Agency is responsible for preparing a Draft EIR and may begin preparation immediately without awaiting responses to the Notice of Preparation. However, information communicated to the City not later than thirty (30) days after receipt of the City's Notice of Preparation shall be included in the Draft EIR. 7.05 CONSULTATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES AND PERSONS To expedite consultation in response to the Notice of Preparation, the City as Lead Agency, a Responsible Agency, or a project applicant may request a meeting among the agencies involved to assist the City in determining the scope and content of the environmental information that responsible agencies may require. The City must convene the meeting as soon as possible but no later than 30 days after the request. Prior to completion of the Draft EIR, the City shall consult with each Responsible Agency and any public agency which has jurisdiction by law over the project. The City may fulfill this obligation by soliciting the comments of the responsible agency(ies) and any other affected agencies on the City's Notice of Preparation. The City shall also consult with any city or county which borders the project or within which the project is located, unless otherwise designated annually by agreement between the City and any other city or county. The City may also consult with any individual who has special expertise with respect to any environmental impacts involved with a project. The City may also consult directly with any person or organization it believes will be concerned with the environmental effects of the project including any interested individuals and organizations of which the City is reasonably aware. The purpose of this consultation is to "scope" the EIR's range of analysis. When a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration will be prepared for a project, no scoping meeting need be held, although the City may hold one if it so chooses. The City as Lead Agency may charge and collect from the applicant a fee not to exceed the actual cost of the consultations. For a project of "statewide, regional or areawide significance," as defined in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15206, the City shall hold at least one scoping meeting. Likewise, for a project that may affect highways or other facilities under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Transportation. The City shall call the scoping meeting as soon as possible but not later than 30 days after receiving the request from the Department of Transportation. The City shall provide notice of the scoping meeting to: (a) Any county or city that borders on a county or city within which the project is located, unless the City has a specific agreement to the contrary with that county or city; (b) Any Responsible Agency; (c) Any public agency that has jurisdiction by law over the project; and (d) Any organization or individual who has filed a written request for the notice. SACJTBt2006ACIT W.2869.3 7-2 ®Bert Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Lncer Gddetiues for Imp4menting We I'f nmrn 006 A Responsible Agency or other public agency shall only make comments regarding those activities within its area of expertise or which are required to be carried out or approved by it. These comments must be supported by specific documentation. Any mitigation measures submitted to the City by a Responsible or Trustee Agency shall be limited to measures which mitigate impacts to resources which are within the Responsible or Trustee Agency's authority. For projects where federal involvement might require preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), the City as Lead Agency shall consult with the appropriate federal agencies as provided in Section 15110 and Sections 15220-15228 of the State Guidelines. In addition, the City shall notify the appropriate federal agencies regarding any scoping meetings for proposed projects that require preparation of an EIS. 7.06 EARLY CONSULTATION ON PROJECTS INVOLVING PERMIT ISSUANCE. Where the project involves issuance of a lease, permit, license, certificate or other entitlement for use by one or more public agencies, the City, upon request of the applicant, shall meet with the applicant prior to the filing of the application regarding the range of actions, potential alternatives, mitigation measures and significant effects to be analyzed in depth in the EIR. The City may also consult with concerned persons identified by the applicant and persons who have made written requests to be consulted. Such requests must be made not later than thirty (30) days after the City's decision to prepare an EIR. 7.07 CONSULTATION WITH WATER AGENCIES REGARDING LARGE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. Under specific circumstances, the City must consult with the public water system which will supply the project to determine whether it can adequately supply the water needed for the project. See Guidelines Section 5.15 for more information on these requirements. 7.08 AIRPORT LAND USE PLAN. When the City prepares an EIR for a project within the boundaries of a comprehensive airport land use plan or, if such a plan has not been adopted for a project within two (2) nautical miles of a public airport or public use airport, the City shall utilize the Airport Land Use Planning Handbook published by CalTrans' Division of Aeronautics to assist in the preparation of the EIR relative to potential airport or related safety hazards and noise problems. 7.09 GENERAL ASPECTS OF AN EIR. Both a Draft and Final EIR must contain the information outlined in Guidelines Section 7.13. Each element must be covered, and when elements are not separated into distinct sections, the document must state where in the document each element is covered. The body of the EIR shall include summarized technical data, maps, diagrams and similar relevant information. Highly technical and specialized analyses and data should be included in appendices. Appendices may be prepared in separate volumes, but must be equally available to the public for examination. All documents used in preparation of the EIR must be referenced. SACVTBg20 CIT 2969.3 7-3 ®Ben Ben & Krieger LLP 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Env ronmental Oual tv Act (2006) Envirunmen An EIR shall not include "trade secrets," locations of archaeological sites and sacred lands, or any other information subject to the disclosure restrictions of the Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250, et seq.). The FIR should discuss environmental effects in proportion to their severity and probability of occurrence. Effects dismissed in the Initial Study as clearly insignificant and unlikely to occur need not be discussed. The Initial Study should be used to focus the EIR so that the EIR identifies and discusses only the specific environmental problems or aspects of the project which have been identified as potentially significant or important. A copy of the Initial Study shall be attached to the EIR to provide a basis for limiting the impacts discussed. The EIR shall contain a statement briefly indicating the reason for determining that various effects of a project that could possibly be considered significant were not found to be significant and consequently were not discussed in detail in the EIR. The City should also note any conclusion by it that a particular impact is too speculative for evaluation. The EIR should omit unnecessary descriptions of projects and emphasize feasible mitigation measures and alternatives to projects. 7.10 USE OF REGISTERED CONSULTANTS IN PREPARING FIRS. An EIR is not a technical document that can be prepared only by a registered consultant or professional. However, state statutes may provide that only registered professionals can prepare certain technical studies which will be used in or which will control the detailed design, construction, or operation of the proposed project and which will be prepared in support of an FIR. 7.11 INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE. An EIR may incorporate by reference all or portions of another document which is a matter of public record or is generally available to the public. Any incorporated document shall be considered to be set forth in full as part of the text of the EIR. When all or part of another document is incorporated by reference, that document shall be made available to the public for inspection at the City's offices. The EIR shall state where incorporated documents will be available for inspection. When an EIR uses incorporation by reference, the incorporated part of the referenced document shall be briefly summarized, if possible, or briefly described if the data or information cannot be summarized. The relationship between the incorporated document and the EIR shall be described. When information from an EIR that has previously been reviewed through the state review system ("State Clearinghouse") is incorporated by the City, the state identification number of the incorporated document should be included in the summary or text of the EIR. 7.12 STANDARDS FOR ADEQUACY OF AN EIR. An EIR should be prepared with a sufficient degree of analysis to provide decision SACtlTB)2006)0rl'122869.3 7-4 ®Ben Bert & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Ouality Aa (2006 makers with information which enables them to make a decision which takes into account the environmental consequences of the project. The evaluation of environmental effects need not be exhaustive, but must be within the scope of what is reasonably feasible. The EIR should be written and presented in such a way that it can be understood by govemmental decision makers and members of the public. A good faith effort at completeness is necessary. The adequacy of an EIR is assessed in terms of what is reasonable in light of factors such as the magnitude of the project at issue, the severity of its likely environmental impacts, and the geographic scope of the project. CEQA does not require a Lead Agency to conduct every test or perform all research, study, and experimentation recommended or demanded by commenters, but CEQA does require the Lead Agency to make a good faith, reasoned response to timely comments raising significant environmental issues. There is no need to unreasonably delay adoption of an EIR in order to include results of studies in progress, even if those studies will shed some additional light on subjects related to the project. 7.13 FORM AND CONTENT OF EIR. The text of the EIR should normally be less than 150 pages. For proposals of unusual scope or complexity, the EIR may be longer than 150 pages but should normally be less than 300 pages. The required contents of an EIR are set forth in Sections 15122 through 15132 of the State Guidelines. In brief, the EIR must contain: (a) A table of contents or an index. (b) A brief summary of the proposed project and its environmental impacts. (c) A description of the proposed project, including its underlying purpose and a list of permit and other approvals required to implement the project. (See Guidelines Section 7.17 regarding analysis of future project expansion.) (d) A description of the project's physical environmental conditions from both a local and regional perspective at the time the Notice of Preparation is published, or if no Notice of Preparation is published, at the time environmental analysis begins. (State Guidelines Section 15125.) This environmental setting will normally constitute the baseline physical conditions by which the City determines whether an impact is significant. However, the City may choose any baseline that is appropriate as long as the City's choice of baseline is supported by substantial evidence. (e) A discussion of any inconsistencies between the proposed project and applicable general and regional plans. (1) A description of the direct and indirect significant environmental impacts of the proposed project explaining which, if any, can be avoided or mitigated to a level of insignificance, indicating reasons that various possible significant effects were determined not to be significant and denoting any significant effects which are unavoidable or could not be mitigated to a level of insignificance. Direct and indirect significant effects shall be clearly identified and described, giving due consideration to both short-term and long- term effects. (g) An analysis of a range of alternatives to the proposed project which could feasibly attain the project's objectives as discussed in Guidelines Section 7.16. SACVTB\2006\CITY\2286a3 7-5 ®Bert Ben & Krieger LLP E L cal Guidelines for Implementing the m n 006 0 (h) A description of any significant irreversible environmental changes which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented if, and only if, the EIR is being prepared in connection with: (1) The adoption, amendment, or enactment of a plan, policy, or ordinance of a public agency; (2) The adoption by a Local Agency Formation Commission of a resolution making determinations; or (3) A project which will be subject to the requirement for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. (i) An analysis of the growth -inducing impacts of the proposed action. The discussion should include ways in which the project could foster economic or population growth, or the construction of additional housing, either directly or indirectly, in the surrounding environment. (j) A discussion of any significant, reasonably anticipated future developments and the cumulative effects of all proposed and anticipated action as discussed in Guidelines Section 7.17. (k) In certain situations, a regional analysis should be completed for certain impacts, such as air quality. (1) A discussion of any economic or social effects, to the extent that they cause or may be used to determine significant environmental impacts. (m) A statement briefly indicating the reasons that various possible significant effects of a project were determined not to be significant and, therefore, were not discussed in the EIR. (n) The identity of all federal, state or local agencies or other organizations and private individuals consulted in preparing the EIR, and the identity of the persons, firm or agency preparing the EIR, by contract or other authorization. To the fullest extent possible, the City should integrate CEQA review with these related environmental review and consultation requirements. (o) A discussion of those potential effects of the proposed project on the environment which the City has determined are or may be significant. The discussion on other effects may be limited to a brief explanation as to why those effects are not potentially significant. (p) A description of feasible measures, as set forth in Guidelines Section 7.15, which could minimize significant adverse impacts. 7.14 ANALYSIS OF Ct1MULATIVE IMPACTS. An EIR must discuss cumulative impacts when the project's incremental effect is "cumulatively considerable" as defined in Guidelines Section 10.10. When the City is examining a project with an incremental effect that is not "cumulatively considerable," it need not consider that effect significant, but must briefly describe the basis for this conclusion. A project's contribution is less than cumulatively considerable if the project is required to implement or fund its fair share of a mitigation measure designed to alleviate the cumulative SACUTBU0061CIT9122B693 7-6 ®Ben Best & Kneger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines raAmplemen[ing the Calif,mia E.vmmntal OWi0W Erni a] Im impact. The City must identify facts and analysis supporting its conclusion that the cumulative impact is less than significant. (a) A cumulative impact consists of an impact which is created as a result of the combination of the project evaluated in the EIR together with other projects causing related impacts. An FIR should not discuss impacts which do not result in part from the project evaluated in the FIR. (b) The discussion of cumulative impacts in an EIR must focus on the cumulative impact to which the identified other projects contribute, rather than the attributes of other projects which do not contribute to the cumulative impact. The discussion of significant cumulative impacts must meet either of the following elements: (1) A list of past, present, and probable future projects causing related or cumulative impacts including, if necessary, those projects outside the control of the City; or (2) A summary of projections contained in an adopted general plan or related planning document, or in a prior environmental document that was adopted or certified, which described or evaluated regional or areawide conditions contributing to the cumulative impact. (c) When utilizing a list, as suggested above, factors to consider when determining whether to include a related project should include the nature of each environmental resource being examined and the location and type of project. Location may be important, for example, when water quality impacts are involved since projects outside the watershed would probably not contribute to a cumulative effect. Project type may be important, for example, when the impact is specialized, such as a particular air pollutant or mode of traffic. (d) The City should define the geographic scope of the area affected by the cumulative effect and provide a reasonable explanation for the geographic limitation used. (e) A cumulative impacts discussion contained in previously certified EIRs may be incorporated by reference pursuant to the provisions for tiering and program EIRs. 7.15 ANALYSIS OF MITIGATION MEASURES. The discussion of mitigation measures in an EIR must distinguish between measures proposed by project proponents and other measures proposed by Lead, Responsible or Trust Agencies. This discussion shall identify mitigation measures for each significant environmental effect identified in the EIR. Where several measures are available to mitigate an impact, each should be disclosed and the basis for selecting a particular measure should be identified. Formulation of mitigation measures should not be deferred until some future time. However, measures may specify performance standards which would mitigate the significant effects of the project and which may be accomplished in more than one specified way. If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant effects in addition to those that would be caused by the project as proposed, the effects of the mitigation measure shall be SACUTWaW6\CIT 29693 7-7 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP 0 10 local Guidelines for Implementing the C,tlifgErt�mnhenulO I A (2006) R,tyaoirtrerttl1 tR disclosed but in less detail than the significant effects of the project itself. If a project includes a housing development, the City may not reduce the project's proposed number of housing units as a mitigation measure or project alternative if the City determines that there is another feasible specific mitigation measure or project alternative that would provide a comparable level of mitigation without reducing the number of housing units. Mitigation measures must be fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements, or other legally binding instruments. In the case of the adoption of a plan, policy, regulating, or other public project, mitigation measures can be incorporated into the plan, policy, regulation, or project design. Mitigation measures must also be consistent with all applicable constitutional requirements such as the "nexus" and "rough proportionality" standards. Where maintenance, repair, stabilization, rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, conservation or reconstruction of the historical resource will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings (1995), Weeks and Grimmer, the project's impact on the historical resource shall generally be considered mitigated below a level of significance and thus not significant. The City should, whenever feasible, seek to avoid damaging effects on any historical resource of an archaeological nature. The following factors must be considered and discussed in an EIR for a project involving an archaeological site: (a) Preservation in place is the preferred manner of mitigating impacts to archaeological sites. (b) Preservation in place may be accomplished by, but is not limited to, the following: (1) Planning construction to avoid archaeological sites; (2) Incorporation of sites within parks, green space, or other open spaces; (3) Covering the archaeological sites with a layer of chemically stable soil before building tennis courts, parking lots, or similar facilities on the site; (4) Deeding the site into a permanent conservation easement. When data recovery through excavation is the only feasible mitigation, a data recovery plan, which makes provision for adequately recovering the scientifically consequential information from and about the historical resource, shall be prepared and adopted prior to excavation. Such studies must be deposited with the California Historical Resources Regional Information Center. Data recovery shall not be required for a historical resource if the City determines that existing testing or studies have adequately recovered the scientifically consequential information from and about the archaeological or historical resource, provided that the determination is documented in the EIR and that the studies are deposited with the California Historical Resources Regional Information Center. SACVTB\2006\CIT 2869.3 7-8 ®Bert Rest &Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing be C,Iif,,ia ft,inamamtal OmtliW20 al [.,act Ream 7.16 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES IN AN EIR. The alternatives analysis must describe and evaluate the comparative merits of a range of reasonable alternatives to the project or to the location of the project which would feasibly attain most of the basic objectives of the project, but which would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects of the project. An FIR need not consider every conceivable alternative to a project, and it need not consider alternatives which are infeasible. Rather, it must consider a reasonable range of potentially feasible alternatives that will foster informed decision-making and public participation. Purpose of the Alternatives Analysis: An EIR must identify ways to mitigate or avoid the significant effects that a project may have on the environment. For this reason, a discussion of alternatives must focus on alternatives to the project or its location which are capable of avoiding or substantially lessening any significant effect of the project, even if these alternatives would impede to some degree the attainment of the project objectives or would be more costly. Selection of a Range of Reasonable Alternatives: The range of potential alternatives to the proposed project shall include those.that could feasibly accomplish most of the basic purposes of the project and could avoid or substantially lessen one or more of the significant effects, even if those alternatives would be more costly or would impede to some degree the attainment of the project's objectives. The EIR should briefly describe the rationale for selecting the alternatives to be discussed. The EIR should also identify any alternatives that were considered by the City and rejected as infeasible during the scoping process, and briefly explain the reasons for rejection. Additional information explaining the choice of alternatives should be included in the administrative record. Among the factors that may be used to eliminate alternatives from detailed consideration in an EIR are: (a) failure to meet most of the basic project objectives; (b) infeasibility; or (c) inability to avoid significant environmental impacts. Evaluation of Alternatives: The EIR shall include sufficient information about each alternative to allow meaningful evaluation, analysis and comparison with the proposed project. A matrix displaying the major characteristics and significant environmental effects of each alternative may be used to summarize the comparison. If an alternative would cause one or more significant effects in addition to those that would be caused by the project as proposed, the significant effects of the alternative shall be discussed but in less detail than the significant effects of the project as proposed. The Rule of Reason: The range of alternatives required in an EIR is governed by a "rule Of reason" which courts have held means that an alternatives discussion must be reasonable in scope and content. Therefore, the EIR must set forth only those alternatives necessary to permit public participation, informed decision-making, and a reasoned choice. The alternatives shall be limited to ones that would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects of the project. Of those alternatives, the EIR need examine in detail only the ones the City determines could feasibly attain most of the basic objectives of the project. An EIR need not consider an alternative whose effect cannot be reasonably ascertained and whose implementation is remote and speculative. _ Feasibility of Alternatives: The factors that may be taken into account when addressing SAC FFB\2006\CIT 28693 7-9 OBcA Ben & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Cali is Envir n 006 ra a R the feasibility of alternatives include: site suitability; economic viability; availability of infrastructure; general plan consistency; other plans or regulatory limitations; jurisdictional boundaries (projects with a regionally significant impact should consider the regional context); and whether the proponent already owns the alternative site or can reasonably acquire, control or otherwise have access to the site. No one factor establishes a fixed limit on the scope of reasonable alternatives. Alternative Locations: The first step in the alternative location analysis is to determine whether any of the significant effects of the project could be avoided or substantially lessened by putting the project in another location. This is the key question in this analysis. Only locations that would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects of the project need be considered for inclusion in the EIR. The second step in this analysis is to determine whether any of the alternative locations are feasible. If the City concludes that no feasible alternative locations exist, it must disclose its reasons, and it should include them in the EIR. Where a previous document has sufficiently analyzed a range of reasonable alternative locations and environmental impacts for a project with the same basic purpose, the City should review the previous document. To the extent the circumstances have remained substantially the same with respect to an alternative, the EIR may rely on the previous document to help it assess the feasibility of the potential project alternative. The "No Project" Alternative: The specific alternative of "no project" must be evaluated along with its impacts. The purpose of describing and analyzing the no project alternative is to allow decision makers to compare the impacts of approving the proposed project with the impacts of not approving the proposed project. The no project alternative analysis, therefore, is normally not the baseline for determining whether the proposed project's environmental impacts may be significant. The no project alternative will be the baseline only if it is identical to the existing environmental setting and the City has chosen the existing environmental setting as the baseline. A discussion of the "no project" alternative should proceed along one of two lines (a) When the project is the revision of an existing land use or regulatory plan, policy or ongoing operation, the "no project" alternative will be the continuation of the existing plan, policy or operation into the future. Typically, this is a situation where other projects initiated under the existing plan will continue while the new plan is developed. Thus, the projected impacts of the proposed plan or alternative plans would be compared to the impacts that would occur under the existing plan; or (b) If the project is other than a land use or regulatory plan, for example a development project on identifiable property, the "no project" alternative is the circumstance under which the project does not proceed. This discussion would compare the environmental effects of the property remaining in its existing state against environmental effects which would occur if the project is approved. If disapproval of the project would result in predictable actions by others, such as the proposal of some other project, this "no project" consequence should be discussed. After defining the "no project" alternative, the City should proceed to analyze the impacts SAC rrBV.0061CITYI22869.3 7-10 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califoortia Enviforane,italali 'r nm n 1 [,act fter,n of the "no project' alternative by projecting what would reasonably be expected to occur in the foreseeable future if the project were not approved, based on current plans and consistent with available infrastructure and community services. If the "no project' alternative is the environmentally superior alternative, the FIR must also identify another environmentally superior alternative among the remaining alternatives. ' Remote or Speculative Alternatives: An EIR need not consider an alternative whose effect cannot be reasonably ascertained and whose implementation is remote and speculative. 7.17 ANALYSIS OF FUTURE EXPANSION. An EIR must include an analysis of the environmental effects of future expansion (or other similar future modifications) if there is credible and substantial evidence that: (a) The future expansion or action is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the initial project; and (b) The future expansion or action is likely to change the scope or nature of the initial project or its environmental effects. Absent these two circumstances, future expansion of a project need not be discussed. CEQA does not require speculative discussion of future development which is unspecific or uncertain. However, if future action is not considered now, it must be considered and environmentally evaluated before it is actually implemented. 7.18 NOTICE OF COMPLETION OF DRAFT EIR. Upon completion of a Draft EIR, Staff shall file a Notice of Completion (Form "H") with the Office of Planning and Research in a printed hard copy or in electronic form on a diskette or by electronic mail transmission. The City is encouraged to make copies of filed notices available in electronic format on the Internet. Such electronic postings are in addition to the procedures required by the CEQA Guidelines and the Public Resources Code. The Notice shall contain a brief description of the proposed project, the location of the proposed project, current land use, development type and project issues discussed in the EIR. The City shall provide public notice of the completion of a Draft BIR at the same time it sends a Notice of Completion to the Office of Planning and Research. The Notice of Availability of Draft EIR (Form "K") shall specify the period during which comments will be received on the Draft EIR, the date, time and place of any public hearings on the proposed project, a brief description of the project and its location, the significant effects on the environment, if any, anticipated as a result of the project, and the address where copies of the Draft EIR and all documents referenced in the Draft EIR are available for review. (For calculation of the public review period, see Guidelines Section 7.22.) Public agencies are encouraged to make copies of filed Notices of Completion available in electronic format on the Internet. Notice shall be given to the last known name and address of all organizations and individuals who have previously requested it. In addition, notice shall be given by at least one of the following procedures: SACUTB00061CITY122869.3 7-11 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Lveal Guidelines for Implementing the Califvmia Envimnmenlal Ouarty Act !20061 F II Rpgg (a) Publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the proposed project. If more than one area will be affected, the notice shall be published in the newspaper of largest circulation from among the newspapers of general circulation in those areas; (b) Posting of notice on and off site in the area where the project is to be located; or (c) Direct mailing to owners- and occupants of property contiguous to the project, as identified on the latest equalized assessment roll. The Notice shall be posted in the office of the Clerk in each county in which the project is located for at least thirty (30) days. The City may wish to leave the Notice posted until the public review period for the Draft EIR has expired. The Clerk must post the Notice within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt. Notice shall be mailed to any person who has filed a written request with the City. The City may require these requests to be renewed annually and may charge a fee for the reasonable cost of providing this service. A project will not be invalidated due to a failure to send a requested notice provided there has been substantial compliance with these notice provisions. Copies of the Draft EIR shall also be made available at the City office for review by - members of the general public. Any person obtaining a copy of the Draft EIR shall reimburse the City for the actual cost of its reproduction. Copies of the Draft EIR should also be fumished to appropriate public library systems. 7.19 SUBMISSION OF DRAFT EIR TO STATE CLEARINGHOUSE. A Draft EIR must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review by state agencies in the following situations: (a) The Draft EIR is prepared by a Lead Agency which is a state agency. (b) A state agency is a Responsible Agency, Trustee Agency, or otherwise has jurisdiction by law over resources potentially affected by the project. (c) The Draft EIR is for a project identified in State Guidelines Section 15206 as being examples of statewide, regional, or areawide significance. State Guidelines Section 15206 identifies the following types of projects as being examples of projects of statewide, regional, or areawide significance which require submission to the State Clearinghouse for circulation: • General plans, elements, or amendments for which an EIR was prepared. • Projects which have the potential for causing significant environmental effects beyond the city or county where the project would be located, such as: • Residential development of more than 500 units. • Commercial projects employing more than 1,000 persons or covering more than 500,000 square feet of floor space. • Office building projects employing more than 1,000 persons or covering more than 250,000 square feet of floor space. • Hotel or motel development of more than 500 rooms. SACVTRgW6iCIT 2"9.3 7-12 ®Best Bess &Kmla LLP Local Guidelines for lrnpletrenting the Califoaria Exivironnneroat Oadiryn nial Impact Report • Industrial projects housing more than 1,000 persons, occupying more than 40 acres of land, or covering more than 650,000 square feet of floor area. Projects for the cancellation of a Williamson Act contract covering more than 100 acres. Projects in one of the following Environmentally Sensitive Areas: • Lake Tahoe Basin. Santa Monica Mountains Zone. Sacramento -San Joaquin River Delta. Suisun Marsh. • Coastal Zone, as defined by the California Coastal Act. • Areas within one-quarter mile of a river designated as wild and scenic. • Areas within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Projects which would affect sensitive wildlife habitats or the habitats of any rare, threatened, or endangered species. Projects which would interfere with water quality standards. Projects which would provide housing, jobs, or occupancy for 500 or more people within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant. A Draft EIR may be submitted to the State Clearinghouse where a state agency has special expertise with regard to the environmental impacts involved. Where the Draft EIR will be reviewed through the State review process handled by the State Clearinghouse, a Notice of Completion (Form "H") should be used as a cover sheet. If the City uses the State Clearinghouse's online process to submit the Notice of Completion form, the form generated on the Internet site satisfies the State Clearinghouse's requirements. A sufficient number of copies of the documents must be sent to the State Clearinghouse for circulation. Staff should contact the State Clearinghouse to find out the correct number of printed copies required for circulation. In addition to the printed copies, a copy of the documents in electronic format shall be submitted on a diskette or by electronic mail transmission if available. Submission of the Draft EIR to the State Clearinghouse affects the timing of the public review period as set forth in Guidelines Section 7.22. 7.20 SPECIAL NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR WASTE AND FUEL BURNING PROJECTS. For any waste burning project, as defined in Guidelines Section 5.10, Notice of Completion shall be given to all organizations and individuals who have previously requested notice. In addition, Notice shall be given by direct mailing to the owners and occupants of property within one-fourth mile of any parcel or parcels on which such a project is located. 7.21 REVIEW OF DRAFT EIR BY OTHER AGENCIES AND PERSONS. Upon the filing and posting of a Notice of Completion, Staff shall consult with and obtain comments from each Responsible Agency, Trustee Agency, and any other public agency having SA"TB120061CJ" 2869.3 7-13 ®Best BOA &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the I'Act 00 nal Im jurisdiction by law over resources which may be affected by the project including water agencies consulted pursuant to Guidelines Section 7.07. Those public agencies having jurisdiction by law over the project shall include, but are not necessarily limited to: (1) Any city or county bordering the project area; (2) Transportation planning agencies and public agencies with transportation facilities located within the project area; and (3) The State Department of Water Resources, when a project is located within one mile of a facility of the State Water Resources Development System. Staff may also consult with and obtain comments from any person known to have special expertise whose comments relative to the Draft EIR would be desirable. Staff may also consult with any member of the public who has filed a written request for notice with the City Clerk and any person whom the project applicant believes will be concerned with the environmental effects of the project. When a redevelopment agency establishes or amends its redevelopment plan and the project area contains land in agricultural use, the agency shall also send a copy of the Draft EIR to those specific agricultural and farm agencies and organizations as required by Health and Safety Code Section 33333.3. 7.22 TIME FOR REVIEW OF DRAFT EIR, FAILURE TO COMMENT. A period of between thirty (30) and sixty (60) days from the filing of the Notice of Completion of the Draft EIR shall be allowed for review of and comment on the Draft EIR, except in unusual situations. If a state agency is a Responsible Agency, or if the Draft EIR is submitted to the State Clearinghouse, the review period shall be at least forty-five (45) days. The review period begins (day one) on the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the Draft EIR to state agencies. The State Clearinghouse is required to distribute the Draft EIR to state agencies within three working days from the date the State Clearinghouse receives the document, as long as the Draft EIR is complete when submitted to the State Clearinghouse. If the document submitted to the State Clearinghouse is not complete, the State Clearinghouse must notify the Lead Agency. The review period for the public and all other agencies may run concurrently with the state agency review period established by the State Clearinghouse, but when a Draft EIR is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review established by the State Clearinghouse. A shorter review period of the Draft EIR by the State Clearinghouse can be requested by the City; however, a shortened review period shall not be less than thirty (30) days for a Draft EIR. Any request for a shortened review period must be made in writing by the City to the Office of Planning and Research. The City may designate a person to make these requests. A shortened review period is not available for any proposed project of statewide, regional or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to State Guidelines Section 15206. Any approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the SACVTB\20WCITYk22869.3 7-14 ®Hen Ben & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental(Duality Act (20061 Environmental homatR pM public notices In the event a public agency, group, or person whose comments on a Draft EIR are solicited fails to comment within the required time period, it shall be presumed that such agency, group, or person has no comment to make, unless the Lead Agency has received a written request for a specific extension of time for review and comment and a statement of reasons for the request. Continued planning activities concerning the proposed project, short of formal approval, may continue during the period set aside for review and comment on the Draft EIR. 7.23 PUBLIC HEARING ON DRAFT EIR. The Draft EIR should be used as the outline for discussion at the public hearing. If a public hearing is held, it shall be conducted at least fourteen (14) days after the filing of the Notice of Completion, but in no event after the time set for expiration of the comment period. A public hearing on the Draft EIR document is not required by CEQA but may be held by the decision-making body either in separate proceedings or in conjunction with other proceedings of the City. The procedures for the manner of conducting the public hearings shall be described at the time the hearing convenes. Public notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be posted in a conspicuous location at City Hall and published in a newspaper of general circulation within the City at least fourteen (14) days in advance of the hearing. The Notice also shall indicate the locations at which the Draft EIR is available for review. To the extent that the City maintains an Internet web site, notice of all public hearings should be made available in electronic format on that site. 7.24 RESPONSE TO COmM1ENTS ON DRAFT EIR. The City as Lead Agency shall evaluate any comments on environmental issues received during the public review period for the Draft EIR and shall prepare a written response to those comments. As stated below, the City should also consider evaluating and responding to any comments received after.the public review period. The response of the City may take the form of a revision of the Draft EIR, an attachment to the Draft EIR, or some other oral or written response which is adequate under the circumstances of the project. The response must describe the disposition of any significant environmental issues raised in the comment, such as revisions to the proposed project which mitigate anticipated impacts or objections. If the City's position is at variance with specific recommendations or suggestions raised in the comment, the City's response must detail the reasons why such recommendations or suggestions were not accepted. Moreover, the City shall respond to any specific suggestions for project alternatives or mitigation measures for significant impacts, unless such alternatives or mitigation measures are facially infeasible. The response shall contain recommendations, when appropriate, to alter the project as described in the Draft EIR as a result of an analysis of the comments received. Comments submitted via email shall be treated as written comments for all purposes. Comments sent to the public agency via email are deemed received when they actually arrive in an email account of a staff person who has been designated or identified as the point of contact SACJTB120o61CIT 2869.3 7-1$ ®Best Beg &Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the E.n,iro.oneatal OualireR for a particular project. At least ten (10) days prior to certifying a Final FIR, the City shall provide its proposed written response to any public agency which has made comments on the Draft EIR. The City is not required to respond to comments received after the public review period. However, the City should consider responding to all comments if it will not delay action on the Final EIR, since any comment received before final action on the EIR can form the basis of a legal challenge. A written response which refutes the comment or adequately explains the City's action in light of the comment, will assist the City in defending against a legal challenge. 7.25 PREPARATION AND CONTENTS OF FINAL EIR. Following the receipt of any comments on the Draft EIR as required herein, such comments shall be evaluated by Staff and a Final EIR shall be prepared. The Final EIR shall meet all requirements of Guidelines Sections 7.12 and 7.13 and shall consist of the Draft EIR or a revision of the Draft, a section containing either verbatim or in summary the comments and recommendations received through the review and consultation process, a list of persons, organizations and public agencies commenting on the Draft, and a section containing the responses of the City to the significant environmental points raised in the review and consultation process. 7.26 RECIRCULATION WHEN NEW INFORMATION Is ADDED TO EIR. When significant new information is added to the EIR after notice and consultation, but before certification, the City recirculate the Draft EIR for another public review period. The term "information" can include changes in the project or environmental setting as well as additional data or other information. New information is significant only when the FIR is changed in a way that would deprive the public of a meaningful opportunity to comment upon a substantial adverse environmental effect of a project or a feasible way to mitigate or avoid such an effect, including a feasible project alternative, that the project proponents decline to implement. Recirculation is required, for example, when: (1) new information added to an EIR discloses: (a) a new significant environmental impact resulting from the project or from a new mitigation measure proposed to be implemented, (b) a significant increase in the severity of an environmental impact (unless mitigation measures are also adopted that reduce the impact to a level of insignificance), or (c) a feasible project alternative or mitigation measure that clearly would lessen the significant environmental impacts of the project, but which the project proponents decline to adopt; or (2) the Draft EIR is so fundamentally and basically inadequate and conclusory in nature that meaningful public review and comment were precluded. sACUTB0006TITY122869.3 7-16 ®Best Hest & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the CA[salia Env ionmental OuaRv Act (2006) F l lunpaift Kenn" Recirculation is not required when the new information added to the EIR merely clarifies or amplifies or makes insignificant modifications in an adequate EIR. If the revision is limited to a few chapters or portions of the FIR, the City as Lead Agency need only recirculate the chapters or portions that have been modified. A decision to not recirculate an EIR must be supported by substantial evidence in the record. When the City determines to recirculate a Draft EIR, it shall give Notice of Recirculation (Form "M") to every agency, person, or organization that commented on the prior Draft FIR. The Notice of Recirculation must indicate whether new comments must be submitted and whether the City has exercised its discretion to require reviewers to limit their comments to the revised chapters or portions of the recirculated EIR. The City shall also consult again with those persons contacted pursuant to Guidelines Section 7.18 before certifying the EIR. When the EIR is substantially revised and the entire EIR is recirculated, the City may require that reviewers submit new comments and need not respond to those comments received during the earlier circulation period. In those cases, the City should advise reviewers that although their previous comments remain part of the administrative record, the final FIR will not provide a written response to those comments, and new comments on the revised EIR must be submitted. The City need only respond to those comments submitted in response to the revised EIR. When the EIR is revised only in part and the City is recirculating only the revised chapters or portions of the EIR, the City may request that reviewers limit their comments to the revised chapters or portions. The City need only respond to: (1) comments received during the initial circulation period that relate to chapters or portions of the document that were not revised and recirculated, and (2) comments received during the recirculation period that relate to the chapters or portions of the earlier EIR that were revised and recirculated. When recirculating a revised FIR, either in whole or in part, the City must, in the revised EIR or by an attachment to the revised EIR, summarize the revisions made to the previously circulated draft EIR. 7.27 CERTIFICATION OF FINAL EIR Following the preparation of the Final EIR, Staff shall review the Final EIR and make a recommendation to the City Council regarding whether the Final EIR is in order and whether it has been completed in compliance with CEQA, the State Guidelines and the City's Guidelines. The Final EIR and Staff recommendation shall then be presented to the City Council. The City Council shall independently review and analyze the Final EIR and determine whether the Final EIR reflects its independent judgment. The City Council shall certify and find that: (I) the Final EIR has been completed in compliance with CEQA, the State Guidelines and the City's Guidelines; (2) the City Council has reviewed and analyzed the Final EIR before approving the project; and (3) the Final FIR reflects the independent judgment of the City. 7.28 CONSIDERATION OF EIR BEFORE APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF PROJECT. The EIR shall be reviewed and considered by the decision-making body before it approves or disapproves the proposed project for which the FIR was prepared. The decision- making body may then proceed to consider the proposed project for purposes of approval or sACVTB\2006\CIT 2869.3 7-17 ®Hest Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Calif E d OuAw A !20061 EnyiTonareatal1 Revert disapproval. Separately or in conjunction with its action approving or disapproving the project, the decision-making body shall certify that it has reviewed and considered the information contained in the EIR. When the Citv has charged a non -elected body with responsibility for adopting, certifying, or authorizing environmental documents, the City shall have a oroccdure that allows the appeal of the CEOA decisions to the City Council See Guidelines Section 2.03. 7.29 FINDINGS. The decision-making body shall not approve or carry out a project if a completed FIR identifies at least one significant effect of the project unless it makes one or more of the following written findings for each such significant effect, accompanied by a statement of the facts supporting each finding. Findings must be supported by substantial evidence in the record. (a) That changes or alterations have been required in, or incorporated into, the project which mitigate or avoid the significant effects on the environment, and which are fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements, or other measures. These mitigation measures must be expressly adopted or rejected in the EIR. There should be a description of the specific reasons for rejecting identified mitigation measures. Passing references to mitigation measures in other sections of the EIR, or in a Statement of Overriding Considerations, are not sufficient. (b) That such changes or alterations are within the responsibility and jurisdiction of another public agency and not the City. Such changes have been, or can and should be, adopted by that other agency. (c) That specific economic, legal, social, technological or other considerations, including considerations for the provision of employment opportunities for highly trained workers, make infeasible the mitigation measures or alternatives identified in the Final EIR. The decision-making body must make specific written findings stating why it has rejected an alternative to the project as infeasible. If any of the proposed alternatives could avoid or lessen an adverse impact for which no mitigation measures are proposed, the City shall analyze the feasibility of such altemative(s). If the project is to be approved without including such altemative(s), the City shall find that specific economic, legal, social, technological or other considerations, including considerations for the provision of employment opportunities for highly trained workers, make infeasible the alternatives identified in the Final FIR and shall list such considerations before such approval. The decision-making body shall not approve or carry out a project as proposed unless (1) the project as approved will not have a significant effect on the environment or (2) its significant environmental effects have been eliminated or substantially lessened (as determined through one or more of the findings indicated above), and any remaining, unavoidable significant effects have been found acceptable because of facts and circumstances described in a Statement of Overriding Considerations (see Guidelines Section 7.31). Statements in the Draft EIR or comments on the Draft EIR are not determinative of whether the project will have significant effects. When making the findings required by subdivision (a) of this section, the City as Lead Agency shall specify the location and custodian of the documents or other material which constitute the record of proceedings upon which it based its decision. SACVTB\2006\0I 2869.3 7-18 ®Ben Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Oual'ty Act QUO E m ----- 7.30 t I 7.30 SPECIAL FINDINGS REQUIRED FOR FACILITIES WHICH MAY EMIT HA7.ARDODS AIR EMISSIONS NEAR SCHOOLS. Special procedural rules apply to projects involving the construction or alteration of a facility within one-quarter mile of a school when: (1) the facility might reasonably be anticipated to emit hazardous air emissions or to handle an extremely hazardous substance or a mixture containing extremely hazardous substances in a quantity equal to or greater than the threshold specified in Health and Safety Code Section 255320), and (2) the emissions or substances may impose a health or safety hazard to persons who would attend or would be employed at the school. If the project meets both of those criteria, the City may not certify an EIR or approve a Negative Declaration unless both of the following occur: (a) The City, as Lead Agency, consulted with the school district or districts having jurisdiction over the school regarding the potential impact of the project on the school; and (b) The school district was given written notification of the project not less than thirty (30) days prior to the proposed certification of the EIR or approval of the Negative Declaration. 7.31 STATEMENT OF OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS. Whenever a project approved by the decision-making body will cause unmitigated significant environmental effects, the decision-making body must adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations. A Statement of Overriding Considerations allows the decision- making body to approve a project despite one or more unmitigated significant environmental impacts identified in the Final EIR. A Statement of Overriding Considerations can be made only if feasible project alternatives or mitigation measures do not exist to reduce the environmental impact(s) to a level of insignificance and the benefits of the project outweigh the adverse environmental effect(s). The feasibility of project alternatives or mitigation measures is determined by whether the project alternative or mitigation measure can be accomplished within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, social, legal and technological factors. Project benefits which are appropriate to consider include the economic, environmental, technological and social value of the project. Substantial evidence in the entire record must justify the decision-making body's findings and its use of the Statement of Overriding Considerations. If the decision-making body makes a Statement of Overriding Considerations, the statement must be included in the record of the project approval and mentioned in the Notice of Determination. 7.32 MITIGATION MONITORING OR REPORTING PROGRAM FOR EIR. When making the findings required by subdivision (a) of Guidelines Section 7.29, the City must do all of the following: (a) adopt a reporting or monitoring program to assure that mitigation measures which are required to mitigate or avoid significant effects on the environment will be implemented by the project proponent or other responsible party in a timely manner, in accordance with conditions of project approval; SACJTB\200aCITri228693 7-19 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the Calif2alia EnviTonxitc.t.10 Ht A !20061 Fnmr000ntat loote, R000n (b) make sure all conditions and mitigation measures are feasible and fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements, or other measures. Such permit conditions, agreements, and measures must be consistent with applicable constitutional requirements such as the "nexus" and "rough proportionality" standards established by the case; and (c) specify the location and the custodian of the documents which constitute the record of proceedings upon which the City based its decision in the resolution certifying the FIR. There is no requirement that the reporting or monitoring program be circulated for public review; however, the City may choose to circulate it for public comments along with the Draft EIR. The mitigation measures required to mitigate or avoid significant effects on the environment must be adopted as conditions of project approval. The adequacy of a mitigation monitoring program is determined by the "rule of reason." This means that a mitigation monitoring program does not need to provide every imaginable measure. It needs only to provide measures that are reasonably feasible. This reporting or monitoring program shall be designed to assure compliance during the implementation or construction of a project. If a Responsible Agency or Trustee Agency has required that certain conditions be incorporated into the project, the City may request that agency to prepare and submit a proposed reporting or monitoring program. The City shall also require that prior to the close of the public review period for a Draft EIR (see Guidelines Section 7.21), The Responsible or Trustee Agency submit detailed performance objectives for mitigation measures, or refer the City to appropriate, readily available guidelines or reference documents. Any mitigation measures submitted to the City by a Responsible or Trustee Agency shall be limited to measures which mitigate impacts to resources which are within the Responsible or Trustee Agency's authority. Transportation information resulting from the reporting or monitoring program required to be adopted by the City shall be submitted to the regional transportation planning agency where the project is located and to the Department of Transportation for a project of statewide, jcnional_ , or areawide significance as defined by State Guidelines Section 215,06_ _ The transportation_. planning agency and the Department of Transportation are required by law to adopt guidelines for the submittal of these reporting or monitoring programs, so the City may wish to tailor its submittal to such guidelines. Local agencies have the authority to levy fees sufficient to pay for this program. Therefore, the City will charge the project proponent a fee to cover actual costs of program processing and implementation. The City may delegate reporting or monitoring responsibilities to an agency or to a private entity which accepts the delegation; however, until mitigation measures have been completed, the City remains responsible for ensuring that implementation of the mitigation measures occurs in accordance with the program. The City may choose whether its program will monitor mitigation, report on mitigation, or both. "Reporting" is defined as a written compliance review that is presented to the Council or an authorized staff person. A report may be required at various stages during project SACVT812006tCITY22869.3 7-20 ®Bert Rest & Kneger LLP Deleted: regional or - - Deleted: 2 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Ouality Act (20061 Enviroarrental Impact Report implementation or upon completion of the mitigation measure. Reporting is suited to projects which have readily measurable or quantitative mitigation measures or which already involve regular review. "Monitoring" is generally an ongoing or periodic process of project oversight. Monitoring is suited to projects with complex mitigation measures which may exceed the expertise of the City to oversee, are expected to be implemented over a period of time, or require careful implementation to assure compliance. At its discretion, the City may adopt standardized policies and requirements to guide individually adopted programs. Standardized policies or requirements for monitoring and reporting may describe, but are not limited to: (a) The relative responsibilities of various departments within the City for various aspects of the program. (b) The responsibilities of the project proponent. (c) Guidelines adopted by the City to govern preparation of programs. (d) General standards for determining project compliance with the mitigation measures and related conditions of approval. (e) Enforcement procedures for noncompliance, including provisions for administrative appeal. (f) Process for informing the Council and staff of the relative success of mitigation measures and using those results to improve future mitigation measures. When a project is of statewide, regional, or areawide importance, any transportation information generated by a program must be submitted to the transportation planning agency in the region where the project is located, as well as the Department of Transportation. 7.33 NoTtcE OE DETERMINATION. Following consideration and approval of a project for which the City is the Lead Agency, the decision-making body shall order Staff to prepare, certify and file, a Notice of Determination (Form "F") which shall contain the following: (a) An identification of the project by its common name, where possible, and its location. (b) A brief description of the project. (c) The date when the City approved the project. (d) Whether the project in its approved form will have a significant effect on the environment. (e) A statement that an EIR was prepared and certified pursuant to the provisions of CEQA. (f) Whether mitigation measures were made a condition of the approval of the project. (g) Whether findings and/or a Statement of Overriding Considerations was adopted for the project. (h) The address where a copy of the EIR (with comments and responses) and the record of project approval may be examined by the general public. The Notice of Determination shall be filed with the Clerk of each county in which the project will be located within five (5) working days of project approval. The City is encouraged SACJTBUOMCIT 2969.3 7-21 ®Best Rest &Kueger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Cali hernia Envionmerul of HW Act 20061 —. _. Environmental lm to make copies of filed notices available in electronic format on the Internet. Such electronic notices are in addition to the posting requirements of the CEQA Guidelines and the Public Resources Code. - The Clerk must post the Notice of Determination within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt. The Notice must be posted in the office of the Clerk for a minimum of thirty (30) days. Simultaneously with the filing of the Notice of Determination with the Clerk, Staff shall cause a copy of such Notice to be posted at City Hall. If the project requires discretionary approval from a state agency, the Notice of Determination shall also be filed with the Office of Planning and Research, within five (5) working days of project approval, along with proof of payment of the California Department of Fish and Game fee or Certificate of Fee Exemption (see Guidelines Section 7.36). The Clerk must post the Notice of Determination within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt. The Notice must be posted in the office of the Clerk for a minimum of thirty (30) days. Thereafter, the Clerk shall return the notice to the City with a notation of the period it was posted. The City shall retain the notice for not less than twelve (12) months. If the project requires discretionary approval from any State agency, the Notice of Determination shall also be filed with the Office of Planning and Research within five (5) working days of project approval along with proof of payment of the California Department of Fish and Game fee or Certificate of Fee Exemption (see Guidelines Section 6.18). Simultaneously with the filing of the Notice of Determination with the Clerk, Staff shall cause a copy of the Notice of Determination to be posted at City Hall. When a request is made for a copy of the Notice prior to the date on which the City certifies the EIR, the copy must be mailed, first class postage prepaid, within five (5) days of the City's determination. If such a request is made following the City's determination, then the copy should be mailed in the same manner as soon as possible. The recipients of such documents may be charged a fee reasonably related to the cost of providing the service. For projects with more than one phase, Staff shall file a notice of determination for each phase requiring a discretionary approval. The filing and posting of a Notice of Determination with the Clerk, and, if necessary, with the Office of Planning and Research, usually starts a thirty (30) day statute of limitations on court challenges to the approval under CEQA. When separate notices are filed for successive phases of the same overall project, the thirty (30-) day statute of limitation to challenge the subsequent phase begins to run when the second notice is filed. Failure to file the Notice results in a one hundred eighty (180-) day statute of limitations. 7.34 DISPOSITION OFA FINAL EIR. The City shall file a copy of the Final EIR with the appropriate planning agency of any city or county where significant effects on the environment may occur. The City shall also retain one or more copies of the Final EIR as a.public record for a reasonable period of time. Finally, for private projects, the City may require that the project applicant provide a copy of the certified Final EIR to each Responsible Agency. SA=B�2006ACJ 1 2869.3 7-22 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing dre hl'fmia Environmenml Quality Act(2006) Enitiro.ruenul1 R 7.35 PRIVATE PROJECT COSTS. For private projects, the person or entity proposing to carry out the project shall be charged a reasonable fee to recover the estimated costs incurred by the City in preparing, circulating, and filing the Draft and Final EIRs, as well as all publication costs incident thereto. 7.36 FILING FEES FOR PROJECTS WHICH AFFECT WILDLIFE RESOURCES. At the time a Notice of Determination for an EIR is filed with the Clerk, a fee of $850 shall be paid to the Clerk for projects which will adversely affect fish and wildlife resources. These fees are collected by the Clerk on behalf of the California Department of Fish and Game ("DFG"). Only one filing fee is required for each project unless the project is tiered or phased and separate environmental documents are prepared. For projects where a Lead Agency and Responsible Agencies file separate Notices of Determination, only the Lead Agency is required to pay the fee. Note: Most County Clerks customarily charge a documentary handling fee for each project in addition to the filing fee specified above. Refer to the Index in the Staff Summary to help determine the correct amount. For private projects, the City shall pass these costs on to the project applicant. No fees are required for projects with a "de minimis" effect on fish and wildlife resources, or for certain projects undertaken by the DFG and implemented through a contract with a non-profit entity or local government agency. A project with a "de minimis' effect has no potential for adverse effect on fish and wildlife. This is an important exception. DFG considers the following projects as likely to have "de minimis" effects on fish and wildlife, depending on the specific facts of each project: (a) Projects which enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats and result in no accompanying adverse impacts to fish or wildlife; (b) Lot line adjustments; (c) ' Building remodeling; (d) Annexations; (e) Redevelopment on existing urban subdivisions with no wildlife habitat; (f) Infill of undeveloped urban lots; or (g) Adoption of a General Plan, where CEQA requires a subsequent discretionary project approval before any physical change to natural habitat is permitted. If the City believes that a project will have a "de minimis" effect on wildlife resources, it should file the Certificate of Fee Exemption attached as Form "L". This form requires the City to set forth facts in support of the fee exemption. These facts should include: (1) the name and address of the project proponent; (2) a brief description of the project and its location; (3) a statement that an Initial Study has been prepared by the City to evaluate the project's effects on wildlife resources, if any; (4) a declaration that there is no evidence before the City that the project will have any potential for adverse effect on wildlife resources; and (5) a declaration that SACJT8\2006\CITYQ2869.3 7-23 ®Bert Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the CAM, E t l Oubw A (2006) P tal 1,1W R a the City has, on the basis of substantial evidence, rebutted the presumption of adverse effect contained in the regulations. A presumption of adverse effect occurs if the project has the potential for adverse effects on the fish and wildlife resources listed on Form "L". To rebut the presumption of adverse effect, the City should explain in the declaration why the project would not have an adverse impact on fish and wildlife and refer to any supporting evidence. These findings should be made at the time of approval of the EIR and attached to Form "L" when submitted to the County. Two copies of Form "L" must be filed with a Notice of Determination in order to obtain the fee exemption. If the City believes that a project has been undertaken by the DFG, that the project's costs are payable from one or more of the sources indicated in the Fish and Game Code, and that the project is being implemented through a contract with a non-profit entity or a local government agency, the DFG filing fee does not apply. Since the DFG has not yet adopted regulations to govern this exemption, including a new "Certificate of Fee Exemption," the City may wish to use Form "L" and make appropriate modifications to reflect this exemption. SACVTaV006\C1T 2869.3 7-24 ®aen Hen&Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Calif.mia Fay... mental Ouality Act 2006) T fFlk'= 8. TYPES OF EIRS 8.01 PROaECTE1% The most common type of EIR examines the environmental impacts of a specific development project and focuses primarily on the changes in the environment that would result from the development project. This chapter describes a number of examples of various EIRs tailored to different situations. All EIRs must meet the content requirements summarized in Guidelines Section 7.13. 8.02 SUBSEQUENTEIR. A Subsequent EIR is required when a previous EIR has been prepared and certified or a Negative Declaration has been adopted for a project and at least one of the three following situations occur: (a) Substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions of a previous EIR due to the identification of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; (b) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is to be undertaken which will require major revisions of a previous EIR due to the identification of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; or (c) New information, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the previous EIR was certified as complete or the Negative Declaration was adopted, becomes available and shows any of the following: (1) the project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in a previous EIR or Negative Declaration; (2) significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in a previous EIR; (3) mitigation measures or alternatives previously found not to be feasible are in fact feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects, . but the project proponent declines to adopt the mitigation measures or alternatives; or (4) mitigation measures or alternatives which were not considered in a previous EIR would substantially lessen one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponent declines to adopt the mitigation measures or alternatives. A Subsequent EIR must receive the same circulation and review as the previous EIR received. In instances where the City is evaluating a modification or revision to an existing use sxc\M1\20 ClT U69.3 8-1 ®Best Best & KrieSeT LLP 0 • Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Er,immmental Oualty Act (20061 Tvaes ofElKs permit, the City may consider only those environmental impacts related to the changes between what was allowed under the old permit and what is requested under the new permit. Only if these differential impacts fall within the categories described above may the City require additional environmental review. When the City is considering approval of a development project which is consistent with a general plan for which an EIR was completed, another EIR is required only if the project causes environmental effects peculiar to the parcel which were not addressed in the prior EIR, or which substantial new information shows will be more significant than described in the prior EIR. 8.03 SUPPLEMENTAL EIR The City as a Lead or Responsible Agency may choose to prepare a Supplemental EIR, rather than a Subsequent EIR, if any of the conditions described in Guidelines Section 8.02 would require the preparation of a Subsequent EIR and only minor additions or changes would be necessary to make the previous EIR adequately apply to the project in the changed situation. To assist the City in making this determination, the decision-making body should request an Initial Study and/or a recommendation by Staff. The Supplemental EIR need contain only the information necessary to make the previous EIR adequate for the project as revised. A Supplemental EIR shall be given the same kind of notice and public review as is given to a Draft FIR but may be circulated by itself without recirculating the previous BIR. When the decision-making body decides whether to approve the project, it shall consider the previous FIR as revised by the Supplemental EIR. Findings pursuant to Guidelines Section 7.29 shall be made for each significant effect shown in Supplemental EIR. 8.04 ADDENDUM To AN EIR. The City as a Lead or Responsible Agency may choose to prepare an Addendum to an EIR, rather than a Supplement to an FIR, only if none of the conditions described in Guidelines Section 8.02 calling for preparation of a Subsequent EIR have occurred and only minor technical changes or additions to the previous environmental document are necessary. Since significant effects on the environment were addressed by findings in the original EIR, no new findings are required in the Addendum. An Addendum to an FIR need not be circulated for public review but should be included in or attached to the Final EIR. The decision-making body shall consider the Addendum with the Final EIR prior to making a decision on a project. A brief explanation of the decision not to prepare a Subsequent EIR or a Supplemental EIR should be included in the Addendum, the Lead Agency's findings on the project, or elsewhere in the record. This explanation must be supported by substantial evidence. 8.05 TIERED EIR. An Initial Study shall be prepared for the later project and used to determine whether a Tiered EIR may be used and whether new significant effects should be examined. A Tiered EIR SACVTB%20061CITY 22869.3 8-2 ®Best Bal & Krieger LLP 0 • Local Guidelines for Implememing fie California Env'mnmenal Ovalily An (20061 T a f21R'= shall be used for later projects where a prior EIR has been prepared and certified for a program, plan, policy, or ordinance and the City determines that: - "Tiering" refers to using the analysis of general matters contained in a previously certified broader EIR in later EIRs or Negative Declarations prepared for narrower projects. The later EIR or Negative Declaration may incorporate by reference the general discussions from the broader EIR and may concentrate solely on the issues specific to the later project. (a) The later project is consistent with a program, plan, policy or ordinance for which an EIR has been prepared and certified; (b) The later project is consistent with applicable local land use plans and zoning of the city and county in which the later project would be located; and (c) The later project would not require a Subsequent or Supplemental EIR. (See Guidelines Sections 8.02 and 8.03.) Tiering does not excuse the City from adequately analyzing reasonably foreseeable significant environmental effects of a project, nor does it justify deferring analysis to a later tier FIR or Negative Declaration. However, the level of detail contained in a first-tier EIR need not be greater than that of the program, plan, policy, or ordinance being analyzed. when the City is using the tiering process in connection with an EIR for a large-scale planning approval, such as a general plan or component thereof (e.g., an area plan or community plan), the development of detailed, site-specific information may not be feasible. Such site-specific information can be deferred, in many instances, until such time as the City prepares a future environmental document in connection with a project of a more limited geographical scale, as long as deferral does not prevent adequate identification of significant effects of the planning approval at hand. Where a first-tier EIR has been prepared and certified for a program, plan, policy, or ordinance consistent with the requirements of this section, the City should limit the EIR or Negative Declaration on the later project to effects which: (a) were not examined as significant effects on the environment in the prior EIR; or (b) are susceptible to substantial reduction or avoidance by specific revisions in the project, the imposition of conditions or other means. When assessing whether there is a new significant cumulative effect for purposes of a subsequent tier environmental document, the City shall consider whether the incremental effects of the project would be considerable when viewed in the context of past, present, and probable future projects. The City may use only a valid CEQA document as a first-tier document. Accordingly, the City should carefully review the first-tier environmental document to determine whether or not the statute of limitations for challenging the document has run. If the statute of limitations has not expired, the City should use the first-tier document with caution and pay careful attention to the legal status of the document. If the first-tier document is subsequently invalidated by the courts, any later environmental document may also be defective. SACJT13\2006\CITY02869.3 8-3 ®Bert Best & Krieger LLP 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Caliromia Environmental Ooality Act (2006 8.06. STAGED EIR Where a large capital project will require a number of discretionary approvals from governmental agencies and one of the approvals will occur more than two years before construction will begin, a Staged EIR may be prepared. The Staged EIR covers the entire project in a general form or manner. A Staged EIR should evaluate a proposal in light of current and contemplated plans and produce an informed estimate of the environmental consequences of an entire project. The particular aspect of the project before the City for approval shall be discussed with a greater degree of specificity. Where a Staged EIR has been prepared, a Supplement to that EIR shall be prepared when a later approval is required for the project, and the information available at the time of the later approval would permit consideration of additional environmental impacts, mitigation measures, or reasonable alternatives to the project. 8.07 PROGRAM EIR A Program EIR is an EIR which may be prepared on an integrated series of actions that are related either: (a) Geographically; (b) As logical parts in a chain of contemplated actions; (c) In connection with the issuance of rules, regulations, plans or other general criteria to govern the conduct of a continuing program; or (d) As individual projects carried out under the same authorizing statutory or regulatory authority and having generally similar environmental effects which can be mitigated in similar ways. Subsequent activities in the program must be examined in light of the Program EIR to determine whether additional environmental documents must be prepared. Additional environmental review documents must be prepared if the proposed later project may arguably cause significant adverse effects on the environment. 8.08 USE OF A PROGRAM EIR WITH SUBSEQUENT FIRS AND NEGATIVE DECLARATIONS. A Program EIR can be used to simplify the task of preparing environmental documents in later parts of the program. The Program FIR can: (a) Provide the basis for an Initial Study to determine whether the later activity may have any significant effects. (b) Be incorporated by reference to deal with regional influences, secondary effects, cumulative impacts, broad alternatives and other factors that apply to the program as a whole. (c) Focus an EIR on a subsequent project to permit discussion solely of new effects which had not been considered before. sACVTa120061CITYU2869.3 8-4 ®Best Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the Califom a Envimnmmlal Duality Act (2006) Typ = of EIR'a 8.09 USE OF AN FIR FROM AN EARLIER PROJECT. A single FIR may be used to describe more than one project when the projects involve substantially identical environmental impacts. Any environmental impacts peculiar to one of the projects must be separately set forth and explained. 8.10 MASTER EIR. A Master EIR is an EIR which may be prepared for (a) A general plan (including elements and amendments); (b) A specific plan; (c) A project consisting of smaller individual projects to be phased; (d) A regulation to be implemented by subsequent projects; (e) A project to be carried out pursuant to a development agreement; (f) A project pursuant to or furthering a redevelopment plan; (g) - A state highway or mass transit project subject to multiple reviews or approvals; or (h) A regional transportation plan or congestion management plan. A Master FIR must do both of the following: (a) Describe and present sufficient information about anticipated subsequent projects within its scope, including their size, location, intensity, and scheduling; and (b) Preliminarily describe potential impacts of anticipated subsequent projects for which insufficient information is available to support a full impact assessment. The City and Responsible Agencies identified in the Master EIR may use the Master EIR to limit environmental review of subsequent projects. However, the Lead Agency for the subsequent project must prepare an Initial Study to determine whether the subsequent project and its significant environmental effects were included in the Master EIR. If the Lead Agency for the subsequent project finds that the subsequent project will have no additional significant environmental effect and that no new mitigation measures or alternatives may be required, it may prepare written findings to that effect without preparing a new environmental document. When the Lead Agency makes this finding, it must provide public notice of the availability of its proposed finding for public review and comment in the same manner as if it were providing public notice of the availability of a draft EIR. (See Sections 15177(d) and 15087 of the State Guidelines and Section 7.18 of these Guidelines.) The City as Lead Agency must provide Notice of Completion and Notice of Availability of a Master FIR within a period of time prior to final adoption by the public agency, as described in Guidelines Section 7.18. The Master EIR cannot be used to limit review of a subsequent project if it was certified more than five (5) years before the filing of an application for the subsequent project or if the approval of a project that was not described in the Master EIR may affect the adequacy of the environmental review in the Master EIR for any subsequent project. However, the five (5) year limitation does not apply if the City finds that no substantial changes or information related to the Master EIR exist and recertifies the Master FIR, or if it adopts a Negative Declaration or 8-5 ®Beg Best & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implemrnting the n al 006 Mitigated Negative Declaration or certifies a Subsequent or Supplemental EIR that makes appropriate modification to the Master EIR. When the Lead Agency cannot find that the subsequent project will have no additional significant environmental effect and no new mitigation measures or alternatives will be required, it must prepare either a Mitigated Negative Declaration or an EIR for the subsequent project. The City may develop a fee program to fund the costs of a Master FIR. 8.11 FOCUSEDEIR. A Focused EIR is an EIR for a subsequent project identified in a Master FIR. It may be used only if the City finds that the Master EIR's analysis of cumulative, growth -inducing, and irreversible significant environmental effects is adequate for the subsequent project. The Focused EIR must incorporate by reference the Master EIR. The Focused EIR must analyze additional significant environmental effects not addressed in the Master EIR and any new mitigation measures or alternatives not included in the Master EIR. "Additional significant effects on the environment" means those project -specific effects on the environment which- were not addressed as significant effects on the environment in the Master EIR. The Focused EIR must also examine the following: (a) Significant effects discussed in the Master FIR for which substantial new information exists that shows those effects may be more significant than described in the Master EIR; (b) Those mitigation measures found to be infeasible in the Master FIR for which substantial new information exists that shows those effects may be more significant than described in the Master EIR; and (c) Those mitigation measures found to be infeasible in the Master EIR for which substantial new information exists that shows those measures may now be feasible. The Focused EIR need not examine the following effects: (a) Those that were mitigated through Master EIR mitigation measures; and (b) Those that were examined in the Master EIR in sufficient detail to allow project -specific mitigation or for which mitigation was found to be the responsibility of another agency. A Focused EIR may be prepared for a multifamily residential project not exceeding 100 units or a mixed use residential project not exceeding 100,000 square feet even though the project was not identified in a Master FIR, if the following conditions are met: (a) The project is consistent with a general plan, specific plan, community plan, or zoning ordinance for which an BIR was prepared within five (5) years of the Focused EIR's certification; (b) The project does not require the preparation of a Subsequent or Supplemental FIR pursuant to Guidelines Sections 8.02 or 8.03; and SACVTa\NWCI�M%3 8-6 C&A nest & Krieger LLP •. 0 Local Guidelines for Implemenfing the Cali fmi, E 10 liti Au !20061 T FFA (c) The parcel is surrounded by immediately contiguous urban development, was previously developed with urban uses, or is within one-half mile of a rail transit station. A Focused EIR for these projects should be limited to potentially significant effects that are project -specific and/or which substantial new information shows will be more significant than described in the Master EIR. No discussion shall be required of alternatives to the project, cumulative impacts of the project, or the growth -inducing impacts of the project. (See State Guidelines Section 15179.5.) SACVTR120061CIT922M9.3 8-7 M. Res[ & Krieger LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines far Implementing the Califomia Enytronmerfal Oualiot A (2006) C OA Litmatio 9. CEQA LITIGATION 9.01 TIMELINES. When a CEQA lawsuit is filed, there are numerous and complex time requirements that must be met. Pressing deadlines begin to run in the days immediately after a CEQA lawsuit has been filed. For example, within ten (10) business days of the public agency being served with a petition or complaint alleging a violation of CEQA, the Lead Agency must provide the petitioner with a list of Responsible Agencies and public agencies with jurisdiction by law over any natural resource affected by the project at issue. There are a variety of other deadlines that apply in CEQA litigation. If a CEQA lawsuit is filed, CEQA counsel should be contacted immediately in order to ensure that all the applicable deadlines are met. 9.02 ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD. When the Lead Agency's CEQA finding(s) and/or action is challenged in a lawsuit, the Lead Agency must certify the administrative record that formed the basis of the Lead Agency's decision. To the extent the documents listed below exist and are not subject to a privilege that exempts them from disclosure, the following items should be included in the administrative record: (1) All project application materials; (2) All staff reports and related documents prepared by the public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of CEQA and with respect to the action on the project; (3) All staff reports and related documents prepared by the public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the public agency pursuant to this division; any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decision-making body of the public agency heard testimony on or considered any environmental document on the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decision-making body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project; (4) All notices issued by the public agency to comply with CEQA or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project; (5) All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation; SACJTB12006\CIT 28693 9-1 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP 0 • Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Oualiry Act(20061 C OAI (6) All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the public agency with respect to compliance with CEQA or with respect to the project; (7) Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decision-making body of the public agency by its staff or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons, to the extent such documents are subject to public disclosure; (8) The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3) above, cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to CEQA; (9) Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agency's compliance with CEQA or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study; any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that were released for public review; copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the public agency's files on the project; and internal agency communications related to the project or to compliance with CEQA, to the extent such documents are subject to public disclosure; and (10) The full written record before any inferior administrative decision-making body whose decision was appealed prior to the filing of the lawsuit The administrative record can be prepared: (1) by the petitioner, if the petitioner elects to do so, or (2) by the Lead Agency. The petitioner and the Lead Agency can also agree on any alternative method of preparing the record. However, when a third party such as the project applicant prepares or assists with the preparation of the administrative record, the Lead Agency may not be able to recover fees incurred by the third party unless petitioner has agreed to this method of preparation. The administrative record should be organized either chronologically or by topic area. The administrative record should include a master index of documents. The documents generated by the Lead Agency during the CEQA process should be properly labeled for ease of identification. SACVTR\2006\CIT \228693 9-2 ®Bert Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing We 0 • 10. DEFINITIONS Whenever the following terms are used in these Guidelines, they shall have the following meaning unless otherwise expressly defined: 10.01 "Applicant" means a person who proposes to carry out a project which requires a lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use, or requires financial aid from one or more public agencies when applying for governmental approval or assistance. 10.02 "Approval" means a decision by the decision-making body or other authorized body or officer of the City which commits the City to a definite course of action with regard to a particular project. With regard to any project to be undertaken directly by the City, approval shall be deemed to occur on the date when the decision-making body adopts a motion or resolution determining to proceed with the project, which in no event shall be later than the date of adoption of plans and specifications. As to private projects, approval shall be deemed to have occurred upon the earliest commitment to provide service or the issuance by the City of a discretionary contract, subsidy, or other form of financial assistance, lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use of the project. The mere acquisition of land by the City shall not, in and of itself, be deemed to constitute approval of a project. For purposes of these Guidelines, all environmental documents must be completed as of the time of project approval. 10.03 "Baseline" refers to the pre -project environmental conditions. By comparing the project's potential impacts to the baseline, the Lead Agency determines whether the project's impacts are substantial enough to be significant under the relevant thresholds of significance. Generally, the baseline is the environmental conditions existing on the date the environmental analysis begins, such as the date of the Notice of Preparation is published for an EIR or the date of the Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration. However, in certain circumstances, an earlier or later date may provide a more accurate environmental analysis. The City may establish any baseline that is appropriate, including an earlier or later date, as long as the choice of baseline can be supported by substantial evidence. 10.04 "CE A" (the California Environmental Quality Act) means California Public Resources Code Sections 21000, et seq. 10.05 "Cateeorical Exemption" means an exception from the requirement of preparing a Negative Declaration or an EIR, based on a finding by the Secretary of the Resources Agency that the class of projects does not have a significant effect on the environment. Deleted: Client 10.06 "CM" means the City of _ zusaa California _ Formatted: Fanern: near SACVTB02006tCITYC2869.3 10-1 ®Ben Best & Krieger LLP 0 Local Guidelines ter Implementing the California Enyiyonment,l mlitry Aet (20MI Definitions 10.07 "Clerk" means either the "Clerk of the Board" or the "County Clerk" depending upon the county. Please refer to the "Index to Environmental Filing by County" in the Staff Summary to determine which applies. 10.08 "Community -Level Environmental Review" means either (1) or (2) below: (1) A certified Environmental Impact Report for any of the following actions: (a) A general plan, (b) A revision or update to the general plan that includes at least the land use and circulation elements, (c) An applicable community plan, (d) An applicable specific plan, or (e) A housing element of the general plan, if the Environmental Impact Report analyzed the environmental effects of the density of the proposed project; or (2) . A Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration adopted as a subsequent environmental review document, following and based upon an Environmental Impact Report on a general plan, community plan or specific plan. 10.09 "Cumulative Impacts" means two or more individual effects which, when considered together, are considerable or which compound or increase other environmental impacts. The individual effects may be changes resulting from a single project or a number of separate projects, whether past, present or future. The cumulative impact from several projects is the change in the environment which results from the incremental impact of the project when added to other closely related past, present and reasonably foreseeable future projects. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant projects taking place over a period of time. 10.10 "Cumulatively Considerable" means that the incremental effects of an individual project are significant when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, the effects of other current projects, and the effects of probable future projects. 10.11 "Decision-making Bodva' means the body within the City, i.e., City Council or Planning Commission, with final approval authority over the particular project. (See Guidelines Section 10.02.) 10.12 "Developed Open Space" means land that meets each of the following three criteria: (a) Is publicly owned, or financed in whole or in part by public funds, (b) Is generally open to, and available for use by, the public, (c) Is predominantly lacking in structural development other than structures associated with open spaces, including, but not limited SACUTB@006\CIT 2869.3 10-2 ®Bev Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the alif nm 2006 • 0 to, playgrounds, swimming pools, ball fields, enclosed child play areas, and picnic facilities. Developed Open Space includes land that has been designated for acquisition by a public agency for open space purposes, but does not include lands acquired by public funds dedicated to the acquisition of land for housing purposes. 10.13 "Development Proiect" means any project undertaken for the purpose of development, including any project involving the issuance of a permit for construction or reconstruction but not a permit to operate. It does not include any ministerial projects proposed to be carried out or approved by public agencies. (Government Code Section 65928.) 10.14 "Discretionary Project" means a project for which approval requires the exercise of independent judgment, deliberation, or decision-making on the part of the City. 10.15 "Draft EIR" means an EIR containing the information summarized in Guidelines Section 7.13. 10.16 "Emereencv" means a sudden, unexpected occurrence, involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services. Emergency includes such occurrences as fire, flood, earthquake, landslide or other natural disaster, as well as such occurrences as riot, war, terrorist incident, accident or sabotage. 10.17 "Endaneered. Rare or Threatened Species" (a) "Species" as used in this section means a species or subspecies of animal or plant or a variety of plant. (b) A species of animal or plant is: (1) "Endangered" when its survival and reproduction in the wild are in immediate jeopardy from one or more cause, including loss of habitat, change in habitat, overexploitation, predation, competition, disease, or other factors; or (2) "Rare" when either: (A) Although not presently threatened with extinction, the species is existing in such small numbers throughout all or a significant portion of its range that it may become endangered if its environment worsens; or (B) The species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range and many be considered "threatened" as that term is used in the Federal Endangered species Act. SACUM\2006\C11Y%2U69.3 10-3 ®Hen Best& Krieg. LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing she • • (c) A species of animal or plant shall be presumed to be endangered, rare or threatened, as it is listed in: (3) Sections 670.2 or 670.5, Title 14, California Code of Regulations; or (4) Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations Section 17.11 or 17.12 pursuant to the Federal Endangered Species Act as rare, threatened, or endangered. (d) A species not included in any listing identified in subdivision (c) shall nevertheless be considered to be endangered, rare or threatened, if the species can be shown to meet the criteria in subdivision (b). (e) This definition shall not include any species of the Class Insecta which is a pest whose protection under the provisions of CEQA would present an overwhelming and overriding risk to man as determined by: (5) The Director of Food and Agriculture with regard to economic pests; or (6) The Director of Health Services with regard to hearth risks. (Public Resources Code Section 212001(c).) 10.18 "Environment" means the physical conditions which exist in the area which will be affected by a proposed project, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, and objects of historic or aesthetic significance. The area involved shall be the area in which significant effects would occur either directly or indirectly as a result of the project. The "environment' includes both natural and man-made conditions. 10.19 "EIR" (Environmental Impact Report) means a detailed written statement setting forth the environmental effects and considerations pertaining to a project. EIR may mean a Draft or a Final version of an EIR, a Project EIR, a Subsequent EIR, a Supplemental EIR, a Tiered EIR, a Staged EIR, a Program EIR, a Master EIR, or a Focused EIR. 10.20 "Feasible" means capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, social and technological factors. 10.21 "Final EIR" means an EIR containing the information contained in the Draft EIR, comments either verbatim or in summary received in the review process, a list of persons commenting, and the response of the City to the comments received. 10.22 "Historical Resources" shall be determined according to the following: SACVTB\2006\CITY122869.3 10-4 ®Ben Hest & Kncger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the C.16nua E.,mnorctrtal O..Iim AcA 00061nefin" (a) Resources listed in, or eligible for listing in, the California Register of Historical Resources shall be considered historical resources. (b) Resources included in a local register of historical resources, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 5020.1(k), or identified as significant in a historical resource survey, as specified in Public Resources Code Section 5024.1(g), are presumed to be historically or culturally significant, unless a preponderance of evidence demonstrates that they are not historically or culturally significant. Any of the following may be considered historically significant: any object, building, structure, site, area, place, record or manuscript which a Lead Agency determines, based upon substantial evidence in light of the whole record, to be historically significant or significant in the architectural, engineering, scientific,economic, agricultural, educational, social, political, military or cultural annals of California. The Lead Agency is not precluded from determining that a resource is a historical resource, as defined in Public Resources Code Sections 5020.10) or 5024.1, even if it is: (a) not listed in, or determined to be eligible for listing in, the California Register of Historical Resources; (b) not included in a local register of historical resources; or (c) not identified in a historical resources survey. 10.23 "Infill Site" means a site in an urbanized area that meets either of the following criteria: (1) The immediately adjacent parcels are: (a) (i) developed with qualified urban uses, or (ii) at least 75% of the perimeter of the site adjoins parcels that are developed with qualified urban uses and the remaining 25% of the site adjoins parcels that have previously been developed for qualified urban uses, (b) the site has not been developed for urban uses, and (c) no parcel within the site has been created within the past ten (10) years; or (2) The site has been previously developed for qualified urban uses. (Public Resources Code Section 2I061.A,) 10.24 "Initial Studv" means a preliminary analysis conducted by the City to determine whether an EIR or a Negative Declaration must be prepared or to identify the significant environmental effects to be analyzed in an EIR. 10.25 "Jurisdiction by Law" means the authority of any public agency to grant a permit or other entitlement for use, to provide funding for the project in question or to exercise authority over resources which may be affected by the project. The City will have jurisdiction by law over a project when the City, having primary and exclusive jurisdiction over the area involved, is the site of the project, the area in SACVTB@006\CIT 2869.3 10-5 ®Ben Hest&Krieger LLP Deleted: 0.5 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the CMifinmialat all A DefiniuM which the major environmental effects will occur, or the area in which reside those citizens most directly concerned by any such environmental effects. 10.26 "Land Disposal Facilitv" means a hazardous waste facility where hazardous waste is disposed in, on, or under land. (Health and Safety Code Section 25199.1(d).) 10.27 "Large Treatment Facility" means a treatment facility which treats or recycles one thousand (1,000) or more tons of hazardous waste during any one month of the current reporting period commencing on or after July 1, 1991. (Health and Safety Code Section 25205.1(d).) 10.28 "Lead Aeencv" means the public agency which has the principal responsibility for preparing environmental documents and for carrying out or approving a project when more than one public agency is involved with the same underlying activity. 10.29 "Low -Income Households" means households of persons and families of very low and low income. Low-income persons or families are those eligible for financial assistance from governmental agencies for occupants of state -funded housing. Very low income persons are those whose incomes do not exceed the qualifying limits for very low income families as established and amended pursuant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. Such limits are published and updated in the California Code of Regulations. (Public Resources Code Section 21159.20(c).) 10.30 "Low- and Moderate -Income Households" means persons or families whose income does not exceed 120% of area median income, adjusted for family size in accordance with adjustment factors adopted and amended by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. (Public Resources Code Section 21159.20(d).) 10.31 "Malar Transit Stop" means a site containing an existing rail station, a ferry terminal served by either a bus or rail transit service, or the intersection of two or more major bus routes that operate at least every fifteen (15) minutes during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods. (Public Resources Code Section 21064.3.) 10.32 "Ministerial" describes a governmental decision involving little or no personal judgment by the public official as to the wisdom or manner of carrying out the project. The public official merely applies the law to the facts as presented but uses no special discretion or standards or objective measurements, and the public official cannot use personal, subjective judgment in deciding whether or how the project should be carried out. Common examples of ministerial permits include automobile registrations, dog licenses, and marriage licenses. A building permit is ministerial if the ordinance requiring the permit limits the public official to determining whether the zoning allows the structure to be built in the requested locations, the structure would meet the strength requirement sin the Uniform Building Code, and the applicant has paid his fee. (Public Resources Code Section 21080(6)(1).) SACU BUOWCITY12869.3 10-6 ®Best Best &",er LLP 0 0 Local Guidelines for Implementing the Enum.ental OusdiN6 10.33 "Mitisated Neeative Declaration" means a Negative Declaration prepared for a Project when the Initial Study has identified potentially significant effects on the environment, but: (1) revisions in the project plans or proposals made by, or agreed to by, the applicant before the proposed Negative Declaration and Initial Study are released for public review would avoid the effects or mitigate the effects to a point where clearly no significant effect on the environment would occur, and (2) there is no substantial evidence in tight of the whole record before the public agency that the project, as revised, may have a significant effect on the environment. 10.34 "Mitieation" means avoiding the environmental impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action, minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation, rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the impacted environment, reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action, or compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments. 10.35 "Neeative Declaration" means a written statement by the City briefly describing the reasons that a proposed project, not exempt from CEQA, will not have a significant effect on the environment and, therefore, does not require the preparation of an EIR. 10.36 "Notice of Completion" means a brief report filed with the Office of Planning and Research by the City when it is the Lead Agency as soon as it has completed a Draft EIR and is prepared to send out copies for review. 10.37 "Notice of Determination" means a brief notice to be filed by the City when it approves or determines to carry out a project which is subject to the requirements of CEQA. 10.38 "Notice of Exemption" means a brief notice which may be filed by the City when it has approved or determined to carry out a project, and it has determined that the project is exempt from the requirements of CEQA. Such a notice may also be filed by an applicant where such a determination has been made by a public agency which must approve the project. 10.39 "Notice of Preparation" means a brief notice sent by a Lead Agency to notify the Responsible Agencies, Trustee Agencies, the Office of Planning and Research, and involved federal agencies that the Lead Agency plans to prepare an EIR for a project. The purpose of this notice is to solicit guidance from those agencies as to the scope and content of the environmental information to be included in the EIR. Public agencies are free to develop their own formats for this notice. 10.40 "Oak" means a native tree species in the genus Quercus, not designated as Group A or Group B commercial species pursuant to regulations adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to Section 4526 of the Public Resources Code, and that is 5 inches or more in diameter at breast height. (Public Resources Code § 21083.4(a).) SACUFrHQW6ICIT 2869.3 10-7 ®Best Best &Krieger LLP Local Guideline for Implementing the lip Eroa,nalcul.l O.Aw A" (20061i' 10.41 "Oak Woodlands" means an oak stand with a greater than 10 percent canopy cover or that may have historically supported greater than 10 percent canopy cover. (Fish & Game Code § 1361(h).) 10.42 "Offsite Facility I means a facility that serves more than one generator of hazardous waste. (Public Resources Code Section 21151.1(13)(g).) 10.43 "Person" includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, company, city, county, city and county, town, the state, and any of the agencies which may be political subdivisions of such entities, and, to the extent permitted by federal law, the United States, or any of its agencies or political subdivisions. 10.44 "Private Project" means a project which will be carried out by a person other than a governmental agency, but which will need a discretionary approval from the City. Private projects will normally be those listed in subsections (b) and (c) of Guidelines Section 10.45. 10.45 "Proiec[" means the whole of an action or activity which may cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment, and is any of the following: (a) A discretionary activity directly undertaken by the City including but not limited to public works construction and related activities, clearing or grading of land, or improvements to existing public structures. (b) A discretionary activity which involves a public agency's issuance to a person of a lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use, or which is supported, in whole or in part, through contracts, grants, subsidies, loans or other forms of assistance by the City. (c) A discretionary project proposed to be carried out or approved by public agencies, including but not limited to the enactment and amendment of local General Plans or elements thereof, the enactment of zoning ordinances, the issuance of zoning variances, the issuance of conditional use permits and the approval of tentative subdivision maps. The presence of any real degree of control over the manner in which a project is completed makes it a discretionary project. The term project refers to the activity which is being approved and which may be subject to several discretionary approvals by governmental agencies. The term project does not mean each separate governmental approval. 10.46 "Project -Specific Effects" means all the direct or indirect environmental effects of a project other than cumulative effects and growth -inducing effects. (Public Resources Code Section 21065.3.) SACV UOMCJT 2869.3 10-8 ®Best Ben & Brleger LLP Local Guideline for Implementing the Califouli. Env' al Ouality Act0 10.47 "Qualified Urban Use" means any residential, commercial, public institutional, transit or transportation passenger facility, or retail use, or any combination of those uses. (Public Resources Code Section 21072.) 10.48 "Residential" means a use consisting of either residential units only or residential units and primarily neighborhood -serving goods, services, or retail uses that do not exceed 15% of the total floor area of the project. 10.49 "Responsible Aeenev" means a public agency which proposes to carry out or approve a project for which a Lead Agency has prepared the environmental documents. For the purposes of CEQA, the term "Responsible Agency" includes all federal, state, regional and local public agencies other than the Lead Agency which have discretionary approval power over the project. 10.50 "Sienificant Effect" means a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in any of the physical conditions within the area affected by the activity including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, and objects of historic or aesthetic significance. A social or economic change related to a physical change may be considered in determining whether the physical change is significant. 10.51 "Staff' means the City Manager or his or her designee. 10.52 "Standard" means a standard of general application that is all of the following: (a) A quantitative, qualitative or performance requirement found in a statute, ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order, or other standard of general application; (b) Adopted for the purpose of environmental protection; (c) Adopted by a public agency through a public review process; (d) Governs the same environmental effect which the change in the environment is impacting; and (e) Governs the jurisdiction where the project is located. The definition of "standard" includes thresholds of significance adopted by the City which meet the requirements of this Section. If there is a conflict between standards, the City shall determine which standard is appropriate based upon substantial evidence in light of the whole record. 10.53 "State Guidelines" means the Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act as adopted by the Secretary of the California Resources Agency as they now exist or hereafter may be amended. (California Administrative Code, Title 14, Sections 15000, et seq.) 10.54 "Substantial Evidence" means reliable information on which a fair argument can be based to support an inference or conclusion, even though another conclusion could be drawn from that information. "Substantial evidence" includes facts, reasonable assumptions predicated upon facts, and expert opinion supported by facts. SACVT512006\CITYV.28693 10-9 ®nest Best & Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implementing the Ctlifinaii. E,.l Definition, "Substantial evidence" does not include argument, speculation, unsubstantiated opinion or narrative, evidence which is clearly inaccurate or erroneous, or evidence of social or economic impacts which do not contribute to, or are not caused by, physical impacts on the environment. 10.55 "Tierine" means the coverage of general matters in broader EIRs (such as on general plans or policy statements) with subsequent narrower EIRs or ultimately site-specific EIRs incorporating by reference the general discussions and concentrating solely on the issues specific to the EIR subsequently prepared. Tiering is appropriate when the sequence of EIRs is: (a) From a general plan, policy, or program EIR to a program, plan, or policy EIR of lesser scope or to a site-specific EIR; (b) From an EIR on a specific action at an early stage to a subsequent EIR or a supplement to an EIR at a later stage. Tiering in such.cases is appropriate when it helps the Lead Agency to focus on the issues which are ripe for decision and exclude from consideration issues already decided or not yet ripe. (Public Resources Code Sections 21003, 21061 and 21100.) 10.56 "Transportation Facilities" means major local arterials and public.transit within five (5) miles of the project site, and freeways, highways, and rail transit service within ten (10) miles of the project site. 10.57 "Trustee Aeenev" means a State agency having jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by a project which are held in trust for the people of the State of California. Trustee Agencies may include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) The California Department of Fish and Game ("DFG") with regard to the fish and wildlife of the state, designated rare or endangered native plants, and game refuges, ecological reserves, and other areas administered by DFG. (b) The State Lands Commission with regard to state owned "sovereign" lands such as the beds of navigable waters and state school lands. (c) The State Department of Parks and Recreation with regard to units of the State Park System. (d) The University of California with regard to sites within the Natural Land and Water Reserve System. (e) The State Water Resources Control Board with respect to surface waters. 10.58 "Urbanized Area" means any one of the following: _ (1) An incorporated city that has a population of at least one hundred thousand (100,000) persons; SACUTEIMO(AC1 Y 2869.3 10-10 ®Best nen&Krieger LLP Local Guidelines for Implememing the m al' 006) Deftilions (2) An incorporated city that has a population of less than one hundred thousand (100,000) persons if the population of the city and not more than two contiguous incorporated cities combined equals at least one hundred thousand (100,000) persons; or (3) An unincorporated area that meets both of the following requirements: (a) The unincorporated area is either: (i) completely surrounded by one or more incorporated cities, the population of the unincorporated area and the population of the surrounding incorporated city or cities equals not less than one hundred thousand (100,000) persons and the population density of the unincorporated area at least equals the population density of the surrounding city or cities; or (ii) located within an urban growth boundary and has an existing residential population of at least five thousand (5,000) persons per square mile. (b) The board of supervisors with jurisdiction over the unincorporated area has previously issued a finding that the general plan, zoning ordinance, and related policies and programs applicable to the area are consistent with principles that encourage compact development, and the board of supervisors previously submitted a draft of that finding to the Office of Planning and Research for a thirty (30) day comment period prior to issuing a final finding. (Public Resources Code Section 21071.) 10.59 "Urban Growth Boundary" means a provision of a locally adopted general plan that allows urban uses on one side of the boundary and prohibits urban uses on the other side of the boundary. 10.60 "Wetlands" has the same meaning as that term is construed in the regulations issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to the Clean Water Act. Thus, "wetlands" means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. (Public Resources Code Section 21159.21(d), incorporating Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 328.3.) 10.61 "Wildlife Habitat" means the ecological communities upon which wild animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, and invertebrates depend for their conservation and protection. (Public Resources Code Section 21159.21.) 10.62 "Zonine Approval" means any enactment, amendment, or appeal of a zoning ordinance; granting of a conditional use permit or variance; or any other form of land SACUTBUMCITY\22869.3 10-11 ®Besr Ben & Krieger LLP Local Guidelinev for Implementing the CalifiEanionareotal0 1 A !20061 fi ' use, subdivision, tract, or development approval required from the city or county having jurisdiction to permit the particular use of the property. SACViB\2006\CITYt22g693 10-1 2 ®Bea BcA & Krieger LLP Loral Guidelines for Implementing the Cali fEnvirowerml OnI' &I f20061 p 11. FORMS SACUTB120MCITY=869.311-1 ®Hen Ben & Krieger LLP