![]() ![]() ![]() THE CEQA PROCESS FOR THE DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECTĬurrently, the Delta Conveyance project is at the first step of preparing the environmental documents and has issued the Notice of Preparation to start the scoping process. Ultimately, the decision remains with the agency on whether or not to permit a project CEQA ensures that the agency understands the full impacts of the project and has mandated mitigation where feasible.Īt the end of the process, the public agency needs to show that they’ve documented the potential impacts, studied whether the alternatives are feasible, the mitigation measures are feasible, adopted all of those feasible measures, and only then can the agency decide if they will approve the project or not. Finally, there are hearings, sometimes during and always after the public comment period. Next, there is a formal comment period after the initial environmental document is circulated. Public involvement starts during the scoping process, which is used to determine what environmental impacts will be studied and what type of environmental document will be needed. The public is involved in CEQA at many stages. Otherwise, the agency is preparing the environmental impact report. If there are potential significant impacts, but the agency can adopt mitigation to address all of those issues that have been raised as part of the record, they can prepare what’s called a mitigated negative declaration. If there are no significant impacts, the agency prepares a negative declaration. They typically do this by preparing an initial study, although an agency can determine at the outset that an EIR is required. If there are no exemptions that would apply to the project, the agency needs to determine if there’s a potential for a significant environmental impact. There are statutory exemptions written into the law for specific activities that do not need CEQA compliance there are also categorical exemptions for certain classes of activities. If the agency decides it’s a project as defined by CEQA, then the agency looks to see if an exemption applies. CEQA defines a project as an action which has the potential to result in significant physical change in the environment, directly or ultimately. The agency must then decide if action is a project subject to CEQA. The CEQA process, in general, has multiple steps.įirst, an action proposed. The four Trustee agencies are: California Department of Fish and Game, State Lands Commission, California Department of Parks and Recreation and the University of California (Natural Reserve System). For the purposes of CEQA, the term “responsible agency” includes all public agencies other than the lead agency which have discretionary approval power over the project.Ī trustee agency is a state agency that has jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by a project which are held in trust for the people of the State of California. In this case, the Department of Water Resources is the lead agency.Ī responsible agency is a public agency which proposes to carry out or approve a project for which a lead agency is preparing or has prepared an environmental document. The lead agency decides whether an Environmental Impact Report or Negative Declaration is required for a project, and prepares the appropriate document. ![]() The lead agency is the public agency which has the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a project. “ This is done in a process that requires an agency to give notice and reach out to other agencies who have expertise, as well as the public who might be interested in certain issues that could be affected by the project.” AGENCY ROLES IN THE CEQA PROCESSĪll state and local public agencies are required to comply with CEQA. “ The idea is that the public agency needs to disclose potential environmental impacts of a project, determine if there are significant impacts and if there are ways to avoid or reduce those impacts and as a part of the approval process, and where those alternatives or mitigation features are feasible, the agency has to adopt them,” said Mr. ![]()
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