New Reading Material -
Substantial Evidence and Significant Impact (click HERE)
The California Environmental Quality Act requires local and state
governments to consider the potential environmental effects of a
project before making a decision on it. CEQA's purpose is to
disclose the potential impacts of a project, suggest methods to
minimize those impacts, and discuss project alternatives so that
decision-makers will have full information upon which to base their
decision. A project, as defined by CEQA, is any action that has the
potential for a direct or indirect impact on the environment. A
project can be any of the following: 1) an activity of a public
agency, 2) an activity of someone who receives assistance, such as
grants or loans, from a public agency, 3) an activity that involves
receiving a lease, permit, or other permission for use that is
issued by a public agency.
The agency with the principal responsibility for issuing permits to
a project, or for carrying out the project, is called the lead
agency. As such, this agency is responsible for determining whether
or not a project will significantly impact the environment and, when
necessary, for analyzing the project's possible environmental
impacts (or contracting for this work to be done under its
direction). The planning department is usually the lead agency in
local planning matters.
Analyzing a project's potential environmental impacts is a
multi-step process. Many minor projects, such as single-family
homes, remodeling, and accessory structures are exempt from the CEQA
requirements. Exempt projects require no environmental review.
When a project is not exempt, and therefore, subject to review, the
lead agency prepares an initial study to assess the potential
adverse environmental impacts. If the project will not cause any
significant impacts on the environment or if it has been redesigned
to eliminate any significant impacts, a negative declaration is
written. If significant environmental impacts are identified, then
an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) must be written before the
project can be considered by decision makers. Upon approval of a
project for which a negative declaration is adopted or an EIR
certified, the city or county must also adopt a monitoring program
to ensure that the mitigation measures will be completed as
required.
Both negative declarations and EIRs are objective, informational
documents. They neither approve nor deny a project. Environmental
analysis must be done as early as possible in the process of
considering a project and must address the entire project. The CEQA
Guidelines describes the different types of EIRs that may be
prepared.
In the future, this website will be expanded to publish current
environmental documents under review by the County.