This document provides information about the ESP 179 - Winter 2013 Environmental Impact Assessment course at UC Davis. The instructor is Trevor Macenski and the teaching assistant is Kevin Fang. The class has a capacity of 85 students and those on the waitlist should speak to the instructor after class. Contact information is provided for the student affairs officer. Brief biographies of the instructor and TA are included. The course objectives are outlined as well as an overview of how the class will be structured and graded. Reading assignments and an introduction to environmental impact assessment are discussed.

1. ESP 179- Winter 2013
Environmental Impact Assessment
Instructor: Trevor Macenski
Teaching Assistant: Kevin Fang

2. Waitlisted Students
Capacity for 85 students in class.
Come see me after class to add.
CONTACT: Melissa Whaley for PTA Numbers
Student Affairs Officer
Environmental Science & Policy
2134 Wickson Hall - 530-752-7183

3. Introductions
Trevor Macenski
 B.S. Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning- UC Davis
 M.Sc. Environmental Science- Johns Hopkins University
 Board of Directors- Association of Environmental Professionals
 Education Group: Teach CEQA Basics, Advanced CEQA, Etc
 Immerging Issues Committee
 Ag and Land Use Committee
 Certified Wetland Delineator
 Director of Environmental Services, FirstCarbon Solutions

4. Introductions
Kevin Fang
 B.A. Integrative Biology- UC Berkeley
 M.S. City and Regional Planning- CalPoly
 M.S. Transportation Engineering- CalPoly
 Phd Candidate-Transportation Technology
and Policy- UC Davis

5. Course Objectives
 Develop an understanding of Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA)
 Provide practical skill set for preparing CEQA
documents
 Introduce EIA Methodologies related to
CEQA/NEPA
 Teach you skills that will help you get a job.
“The objective of the course is for students to
acquire a understanding of the California
Environmental Quality Act and the Environmental
Impact Assessment methodologies that are used
with respect to law, policy, and practice.”

6. How it will work ?
The quarter divided into two parts:
1) Introduction to theories, concepts, and
methods
2) Development of practical skills and
impact assessment methodologies with
CEQA.

7. Rules of the game…
 Facebook Page:
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/UC-Davis-ESP-179-Winter-2013/30
 Questions will be posted for discussion
 Articles and websites
 Assumptions:
 Land Use and Planning Concepts
 General Environmental Understanding
 Strong writing skills
 Syllabus:
 Read the websites and articles
 Yes you have to read the course reader
 Class and Discussion:
 Take notes or not your call
 I will provide the lectures usually 2-3 days after the class
 Ask questions and get involved

8. Assignments and Grading
 The approximate breakdown of the
grading evaluation is as follows:
 EIR/EIS Analysis Paper 10%
 Threshold Identification Matrix 5%
 Mid-Term Exam 20%
 CEQA Document/Presentation 30%
 Final Exam 30%
 Class Participation 5%
 Small extra credit assignments will be
provided during the lectures….

9. Questions

10. Introduction to
Environmental Impact
Assessment

11. Environmental Impact Assessment
 EIA- An environmental impact
assessment is an assessment of the
possible positive or negative impacts that
a proposed project may have on the
environment, together consisting of
the natural, social and economic aspects.

12. EIA Purpose
 Ensure that decision makers consider the
potential environmental impacts when
deciding whether to proceed with a
project.
 Requires decision makers to account for
environmental values.

13. Origins of EIA
 Public Health
 Policy had long been concerned with cause-
effect relationships, but, other than sanitary
protection from infectious disease, medical
diagnosis tended to regard the environment
as largely neutral.
 Going to War
 After World War II, direct and indirect
consequences of new and unfamiliar industrial
and biomedical technologies stimulated
research into their impacts upon individuals,
societies, and nature.

14. Origins of EIA
 Cost-benefit Analysis
 Cost-benefit analysis had been used to
establish an appropriate balance between the
monetary costs of a project and its alleged
benefits.
 Technique has frequently fallen short of real
impact analysis. Costs and benefits have often
been narrowly construed and monetized—
whatever couldn’t be measured and priced
being omitted from the calculations.
It has been relatively easy to skew the inputs and
outputs to obtain a “politically preferred” ratio.

15. Origins of EIA
 Blame it all on NEPA
 The development of environmental impact analysis and
assessment pursuant to NEPA greatly expanded the
scope and content of cause-effect analysis.
 Other analytic techniques such as technology assessment
and risk assessment were developed to inform—but not
necessarily to determine—policy.
 Environmental impact assessment mandated by NEPA
was specifically intended to influence policy and to force
action on the principles enumerated under Title I of the
Act. It was intended to bring ecological rationality to the
policy process

16. EIA in the US at the Federal Level
 1960- Environmental Enlightenment
 Resulted in the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969.
 NEPA’s purpose: "To declare a national policy which will
encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between
man and his environment; to promote efforts which will
prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and
biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man;
to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems
and natural resources important to the Nation; and to
establish a Council on Environmental Quality."

17. NEPA
 First national statute to mandate an assessment of the
environmental impact of proposals for legislation and other
major governmental action significantly affecting the
quality of the human environment.
 Provisions:
 The environmental impact of the proposed action
 Any adverse effects which could not be avoided should the
project be implemented.
 Alternatives to the proposed action
 The relationship between local short-term uses of man’s
environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-
term productivity, and
 Any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources
which would be involved in the proposed action should it be
implemented.

18. NEPA
 In addition to the impact statement, NEPA
(PL 91-190 §102 2[a]), required the
federal agencies to:
 “utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach
which will insure the integrated use of the
natural and social sciences, and the
environmental design arts in planning and in
decision making which may have an impact on
man’s environment.”
 The agencies were also required to give
appropriate consideration to unquantified
environmental amenities and values.

19. CEQA
 NEPA passed shortly after the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) passed in 1970
 CEQA’s Purpose: “To institute a statewide policy of
environmental protection. CEQA does not directly regulate
land uses, but instead requires state and local agencies
within California to follow a protocol of analysis and public
disclosure of environmental impacts of proposed projects
and adopt all feasible measures to mitigate those
impacts. Because CEQA makes environmental protection a
mandatory part of every California state and local agency's
decision making process, it has become a model for
environmental protection laws in other states. It has also
become the basis for numerous lawsuits concerning public
and private projects”

20. CEQA
 Inform government decision makers and
the public about the potential significant
environmental impacts of proposed
activities
 Identify ways that environmental
impact(s) can be avoided or significantly
reduced

21. CEQA
 Prevent significant avoidable damage to
the environment by requiring changes in
the project through the use of feasible
alternatives and mitigation
 Disclose to the public the reason that an
agency approved a project
notwithstanding its unavoidable,
significant environmental impacts
[Decisions made in the light of day]

22. Overview: CEQA & Entitlement
 CEQA- 1970
 Checks and balances for land-use development and
management.
 Revolves around a EIA document called and Environmental
Impact Report or EIR.
 Other laws matter
 Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Permit Streamlining Act,
ETC.
 Cities and Counties
 Regulate by planning, zoning, and subdivision controls.
 State Agencies
 Regulate the private use of state land, resources, and certain
activities
 Federal Agencies
 Have authority over activities on federal lands and over certain
resources

23. A Global Perspective
 Australia
 Environment Protection Act 1974 which was superceded
by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act of 1999
 Canada
 Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 1995
 China
 Environmental Impact Assessment Law since 1972 but
adopted in 2006
 Egypt
 Law 4/1994 for the Protection of Environment, the
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency 1982

24. A Global Perspective
 European Union
 European Uniuon Directive (85/337/EEC) on
Environmental Impact Assessments of 1987
 The Netherlands
 Wet mileubeheer, Dutch legislation 1987
 Hong Kong
 Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance 1997
 India
 Resouce Specific Laws (Water Act, Wildlife, etc.)
 Malaysia
 Section 34A Environmental Quality Act 1974

25. Sample Flowcharts
 City of Woodland Example:
 http://www.ci.woodland.ca.us/civica/filebank/b
=2540

26. Reading Assignments
 http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/guidelines/intro.html
 http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_a

27. Questions?
Thank You