1. The Implications of CEQA:
You Better Plan For It
Trevor Macenski, Regional Manager
Michael Brandman Associates
Tom Buford, Senior Planner
City of Sacramento
2. Outline
CEQA basics- Trevor
Whos Who of the Process - Tom
CEQA’s “impact” on the planning process- Trevor
Stakeholders- Tom
Example Projects- Trevor/ Tom
4. Rules and Regulations
• The Statute
Public Resources Code §§
21000-21178 (PRC)
• The Guidelines
California Code of Regulations Title
14, §15000 et seq. (CCR)
• The Courts
Ongoing court decisions (Case law)
5. Introduction to CEQA
• 1969: President Nixon signs National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• 1970: Governor Reagan signs California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
• CEQA (the Statute): Established by
Legislature
…and continuously modified by Legislature
…and “interpreted” by the Courts
6. Basic Purposes of CEQA
1. Inform government decision makers and
the public about the potential significant
environmental impacts of proposed
activities
2. Identify ways that environmental
impact(s) can be avoided or significantly
reduced
7. Basic Purposes of CEQA (cont.)
1. Prevent significant avoidable damage to
the environment by requiring changes in
the project through the use of
alternatives and mitigation
3. Disclose to the public the reason that an
agency approved a project
notwithstanding its environmental
impacts
9. Knowing Your Role
1) Lead Agency
2) Responsible Agency
3) Trustee Agency
4) Public Interest Groups
5) Joe the plumber
6) Unions
7) Consultants
10. Who is “in charge” of CEQA?
Lead Agency
CEQA is a “Self-executing Statute”
meaning it is the Lead-Agency’s duty
to determine what is and is not subject
to CEQA, and to follow the process.
Public can go through the legal
process (suing) to challenge decisions
11.
12. CEQA’s Impact on the
Planning Process
Perfect planning often has not so
perfect impacts….
13. CEQA and the Public
CEQA is the bridge between the hard
sciences and the public.
Technical studies will need to cater to
public understanding
Often, site plans, engineering
drawings will need to be simplified for
CEQA purposes
15. Planning Related CEQA
Projects
SOI Amendments
Annexations
Specific Plans
General Plans
Climate Action Plans
Habitat Conservation Plans
Regional Transportation Plans
Anything with a “plan” after it…
16. CEQA and Planning
Master or Program EIR
Environmental Constraints Analysis
Permitting Thresholds
Appendix G Resources
Significant Thresholds
Significant Unavoidable Impacts
Air Quality - Construction Schedules
Traffic Impacts- LOS
17. Checklist topics
Aesthetics Land Use
Agriculture Minerals
Air Quality (GHG) Noise
Biology Population/Housing
Cultural Public
Geology Services/Utilities
Hazards Recreation
Hydrology Transportation/traffic
Urban decay
18. Appendix G Checklist
Question Example
Biological Resources
Would the project:
A) Have a substantial adverse effect, either
directly or through habitat modifications, on
any species identified as a candidate,
sensitive, or special status species in local or
regional plans, policies, or regulations or by
the California Dept of Fish and Game or US
Fish and Wildlife?
20. Scoping Process
Required for EIR’s not for IS/MND’s
Required when:
3) Roadway project
4) Statewide, regional, or areawide
significance
If they comment you must address or
discuss why it wasn’t warranted.
This must be supported by fact!
21. Scoping Process
During these 30 days, a scoping meeting
may be held to identify key
environmental concerns and issues
Identify possible impacts
Encourage inter-agency consultation
Consult with recognized experts
Involve public at an early stage of the
review process (though not required)
22. Public Comment Process
IS/MND
30 Days
EIR
45 Days
All comments have to be considered.
Respond to those only commenting
the EIR not the project.
23. Common CEQA Challenges
Challenging the Process not the
Project
Noticing of hearings
Comment periods
Document dump
Late comment strategy
Disagreement among experts
Fair argument mine field
24. Common CEQA Challenges
Regulatory or Responsible agency
choices not to comment during the
NOP but then demands more analysis
Unwarranted Data Requests
Asserting that an EIR is warranted
because of “controversy”.
26. Elk Grove SOI EIR
SOI Amendment South of City
Almost exclusively AG.
Adjacent to Wildlife Preserve
Adjacent to Flood Zone
South Sac HCP
Incredibly Controversial
27. Concrete Batch Plant- Merced
Openly Non-Union Contractor
Previous Project Challenged and Lost
Out of State Consultant Hired to
Challenge EIR
Five hours of public comments
County to prepare Focused EIR
28. Bell Village IS/MND
Infill Mixed Use Project
Commercial Center
Multi Family Housing
Adjacent to HWY 101
Groundwater Contaminated Site
Roadway and Pedestrian
Improvements
29. Helpful Websites
CEQA Statute and Guidelines
http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/
Land Use Planning Information Network (LUPIN)
http://ceres.ca.gov/planning/index.html
California Association of Environmental
Professionals (AEP)
http://www.califaep.org/
30. Questions?
Contact Information:
Trevor Macenski
Michael Brandman Associates
2000 “O” Street, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95811
916-447-1100
tmacenski@brandman.com
Editor's Notes
STATUTE: Law of California California Public Resources Code §§ 21000-21177 GUIDELINES: First issued 1973 Developed by the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) Establish a road map for implementing CEQA Intended to be certified and adopted every two years Recognized by courts, but do not carry same weight as statutes Watch for changes…
So here’s the basics: what you need to know is that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4327) was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon, it was proposed in 1969 and it was actually tited the Environmental Policy act of 1969, but it wasn’t really signed into law until 1970. So what does this mean…. Well this was important because it represented a fundamental shift in United States federal government policy from a primary focus on economic development toward a more environmentally balanced approach and it set the foundation of environmental regulation. Primarily, the law established policy that required federal government agencies to consider the environmental effects of their decision making. For the purpose of this presentation, that’s all you really need to know. NEPA set the foundation for CEQA. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) which was passed and adopted in 1970 shortly after NEPA, was incorporated into Public Resources Code under §§21000. CEQA’s history comes from what was called the California Assembly Select Committee on Environmental Quality. This group decided well what the heck let’s write a report. … so they did and it was called the Environmental Bill of Rights, what this report did was call for a California counterpart to NEPA. Later that same year, acting on the recommendations of the committee, the legislature passed, and Governor Reagan signed, the CEQA statute. One interesting thing to note is that the report actually called for CEQA as a constitutional amendment, but the legislature decided to go the statue rout. So the Legislature is tasked with the continuous task of modifying the statue as new Laws are enacted. We will get into later how the Courts play into this whole process and how they “interpret” the Law.
So there are four fundamental reasons for CEQA: Informing government decision makers and public about the potential significant environmental impacts- So this is the bridge between science and politics. We as practitioners are taking sound science and presenting it to the public in a way in which they can understand it. Secondly, we must clearly identify way impacts can be avoided or significantly reduced.- This is why in environmental impact assessment documents you will often times see BOLDED statements saying things like SIGNIFICANT IMPACT, LESS THAN SIGNIFICANT IMPACT, ETC.
3) Next once we have identified what will happen as a result of this “project” we must then try and develop a means to avoid this potential damage. By way of mitigation or alternatives. Good example, 4) Finally after we have tried to mitigate the impact we now have to disclose to the public why the “lead agency” has approved the “project” in the event there are significant and unavoidable impacts. We will touch on this later on. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a public disclosure law that applies to projects that require a discretionary approval by a state or local governmental agency.
§ 21067. LEAD AGENCY “Lead agency” means the public agency which has the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a project which may have a significant effect upon the environment. § 21069. RESPONSIBLE AGENCY “Responsible agency” means a public agency, other than the lead agency, which has responsibility for carrying out or approving a project. § 21070. TRUSTEE AGENCY “Trustee agency” means a state agency that has jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by a project, that are held in trust for the people of the State of California.
So now that we have this new LAW the next few years were spent trying to figure out how and what to do with it… one very important thing to mention is that CEQA is a “self-executing statute.” This means that Public agencies are entrusted with compliance with CEQA and all the provisions are to be enforced, as necessary, by the public through the legal process. While the Resources Agency is charged with the adoption of CEQA Guidelines, and may often assist public agencies in the interpretation of CEQA, it is each public agency's duty to determine what is and is not subject to CEQA. So after CEQA became a law, many public agencies did not take this law seriously.
Again, ask your consultant what questions they are trying to clearly answer or show evidence for….
Wastewater treatment expansion projects
Say you’re constructing a pipeline that is travelling through wetlands or sensitive biological habitat…give example of gas pipeline along a nature preserve
§ 21083.9. SCOPING MEETINGS (a) Notwithstanding Section 21080.4, 21104, or 21153, a lead agency shall call at least one scoping meeting for either of the following: (1) A proposed project that may affect highways or other facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation if the meeting is requested by the department. The lead agency shall call the scoping meeting as soon as possible, but not later than 30 days after receiving the request from the Department of Transportation. (2) A project of statewide, regional, or areawide significance. (b) The lead agency shall provide notice of at least one scoping meeting held pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) to all of the following: (1) A county or city that borders on a county or city within which the project is located, unless otherwise designated annually by agreement between the lead agency and the county or city. (2) A responsible agency. (3) A public agency that has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project. (4) An organization or individual who has filed a written request for the notice. (c) For any entity, organization, or individual that is required to be provided notice of a lead agency public meeting, the requirement for notice of a scoping meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) may be met by including the notice of a scoping meeting in the public meeting notice. (d) A scoping meeting that is held in the city or county within which the project is located pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.) and the regulations adopted pursuant to that act shall be deemed to satisfy the requirement that a scoping meeting be held for a project subject to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) if the lead agency meets the notice requirements of subdivision (b) or subdivision (c).
Challenging the process not the project. Challenging the Public Information Act, the Brown Act, any other act that municipal governments have to adhere to. Noticing Requirements and Comment Periods Oh is today when the projects is supposed to be approved…. Well I just found out about it and I want you to review all this information. Late response from public agency commenter to required 10-day distribution of FEIR prior to certification. "Oh, did we only have ten days? Well we still have comments.“ Well I have a PhD in philosophy and I think your project is going to result in significant unavoidable impacts to groundwater. The parade of impossible impacts.
1. Regulatory or significant responsible agency doesn't respond to NOP but then comes in late with huge demand for unique data and analysis. Or, agency simply doesn't participate in review process but subsequently hammers applicant during subsequent permit request. 2. Regulatory agency makes simply whacko request for data. 3. Anyone asserting an EIR is necessary because of "controversy". No!! You still need substantial evidence of an issue(s).
California Land Use Planning Information Network has information grouped by counties or regions, all sorts of tools for answering checklist questions, generals plans, habitat conservation plans, links to fish and game regulations, maps, zoning regulations, etc
