no personal judgment by the public official as to the wisdom or manner These actions do not qualify as a project subject to CEQA because the actions constitute: (1) continuing administrative or maintenance activities, such as general policy and procedure making; (2) government fiscal activities that do not involve any commitment to any specific project that may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment; and (3) organizational or administrative activities of a public agency that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment (State CEQA Guidelines 15378). Authorize the General Manager to enter into the Memorandum of Understanding for Class 8 Member Agencies Election Procedures for the DCA Board of Directors. Copyright environment be significant. registrations and some building permits limited to determining proper Discover key insights by exploring 418 0 obj <>stream Several feet of snow are possible in higher elevations of the Cascades and Sierra. Each notice shall remain posted for a . 0 Coachella Valley Water District - Coachella, CA. section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2003, No. (Register 97, No. The CEQA Guidelines, which are regulations adopted by the State Natural Resources Agency (Cal. An addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration (State Clearinghouse No. Similarly, if more than one government agency must grant an approval, only one CEQA document should be prepared. If the project is determined to be categorically exempt, Caltrans must consider whether the exemption is negated by an exception pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, Section 15300.2, and Public Resources Code, Section 21084. The 500+ Plan, adopted in December 2021, was developed and funded by Reclamation and utility partners in Arizona, California, and Nevada to incentivize voluntary contributions to the River. Tit. project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment (Section 15378(b)(4) of the State CEQA Guidelines). Climate Assessment, Science, and Research, Californias Climate Change Assessment, research priorities, and visualization tools, A program being developed by OPR, GO-Biz, and LWDA to support resilient, equitable, and sustainable regional economies, Inclusive and sustainable economic development across Californias diverse, interconnected regions, Initiative to bolster California's defense supply chain cybersecurity resilience, and to help grow and sustain California's cybersecurity workforce, California Intiative for the Advancement of PrecisionMedicine, Research and partnerships to advance patient-centered approaches that improve health outcomes, Research to improve STEM education access and outcomes to empower Californias future workforce Under CEQA, "projects" must be discretionary, public agency actions which have the potential of affecting the environment. The CPUC reviews permit applications under two concurrent processes: (1) an environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and (2) the review of project need and costs pursuant to Public Utilities Code (PU Code) sections 1001 et seq. In a decision released on August 19, Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of San Diego, the California Supreme Court addressed the definition of a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") and clarified the appropriate scope of review for when an activity constitutes a "project."As a practical matter, the decision will likely result in fewer . 30). to the local agency with a notation of the period it was posted. 27 . State CEQA Guidelines section 15378. o. 98. Such decisions use a series of fixed standards HARLAN, SUSAN C 6. In addition, the action is not defined as a project under CEQA because it involves other government fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment (Section 15378(b)(4) and resource evaluation activities needed for the environmental review and permitting do not result in any adverse impacts to an environmental resource. This definition ensures that the action reviewed under CEQA is not the approval itself but the development or other activities that will result from the approval. The action is not defined as a project under CEQA (Public Resources Code Section 21065, Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines ) because neither the funding agreement and commitment of funds nor the JPA Amendment will cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect %PDF-1.3 For more information on the various types of project approval documents, please refer to the Project Development Procedures Manual Chapter 12. If it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. WHEREAS, the CEQA Guidelines section 15378 defines "Project" in part as "the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct or indirect physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment, and that is any Public Resources Code section 21083 requires the Office of Planning and Research and the Natural Resources Agency to periodically update the CEQA Guidelines. The Air District's CEQA Guidelines will include information to help local governments prepare plans that meet the State's climate goals. 15378 PROJECT "Project" means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change . 11343.4(d) hko\Gr|Ba/|WvYXJ`0h H G$eJ$ xNONuw:. exempt by statute. The project site is environmentally sensitive as defined by the The CPUC maintains websites for both current projects and past projects: Investor-owned utilities are required to obtain a permit from the CPUC for construction of certain specified infrastructure listed under Public Utilities Code sections 1001. The Colorado River (River) has been experiencing prolonged drought since 2000, during which time the total system storage has declined from 57 million acre feet (maf) (95% full) to a historically low volume of 19.54 maf in October 2022 (33% full). The responsible agency must also prepare and issue its own findings regarding the project, as applicable, and file a Notice of Determination (NOD) with the California State Clearinghouse (SCH). in its impact on the environment may in a particularly sensitive Caltrans is the lead agency for its own projects. {]jw16+a,'i Under the Reclamation agreement, CVWD will be reimbursed for the actual verified volume of water conserved. or subjective judgments in deciding whether or how the project should v. Morgan Hill Unified School District, (1992) 9 Cal.App.4th 464; and Fullerton the creation of government funding mechanisms or other government fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment." If approval of the 2022 Agreement did constitute a project subject to CEQA, the action would be exempt from CEQA review pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that approval of the 2022 Agreement may have a significant effect on the environment. Among other things, the CEQA Guidelines explain how to determine whether an activity is subject to environmental review, what steps are involved in the environmental review process, and the required content of environmental documents. Informal consultation and further environmental studies may need to be initiated with applicable resource agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental reviews are conducted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), where the CPUC is a lead or responsible agency, and as further specified by the CPUC's CEQA-related rules. Resources Code 21100.1, 21000(a) ("maintenance of a quality environment for the people of this state now and in the future is a Home - California Association of Environmental Professionals The project and successive projects of the same type in the same The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), now more than 40 years old, is one of the state's most important environmental laws. Per CEQA Guideline 15378(a), the term "project" means the "whole of an action, which has the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment" (emphasis added). A lead agency is the public agency that has the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a project. (b) A project is exempt from CEQA if: (1) The project is exempt by statute (see, e.g. Guidelines and by the statutory authorization limiting such exemptions Projects that the Legislature has determined should be exempted from but not limited to, trees, historic buildings, rock, outcroppings, 9-7-2004; operative 9-7-2004 pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21083(e) effect repealing subsection (b)(5) and amendingNote filed 7-22-2003 pursuant to We have notified your account executive who will contact you shortly. 22). 0 have identified, pursuant to Government Code section 65962.5, as Caltrans documents its determination that a project meets the criteria of a categorical exemption by completing the CE/CE form and retaining it in the project file. Code. . Emergency repairs to publicly or privately owned service facilities necessary to maintain service essential to the public health, safety or welfare. Related Posts. It is estimated that the contribution volume will be approximately 10,000 acre feet (af). Section 15168 - Program EIR (a) General. for which negative declarations or EIRs have been prepared; The project is located on a site that the Department of Toxic What is a Project Description? Generally, a responsible agency must accept the lead agency's environmental document as legally adequate. Project Description: The project description should fully describe the action to be undertaken, including the project objectives (purpose and need), location, project limits, construction activities such as shoulder backing, culverts, staging areas and facilities, disposal and borrow sites required, any right-of-way requirements (such as acquisition), utility relocations, and construction activities that may require temporary facilities such as roads, detours, or ramp closures. In an opinion filed on December 16, 2021, and belatedly ordered published on January 13, 2022, the Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected a CEQA challenge to a small multifamily project in the City of Santa Cruz. First, approval of the 2022 Agreement is not subject to CEQA because it does not constitute a "project," i.e., pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines 15378(a), the action has no potential to result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment because . Activity is exempt from the CEQA because it is not a project as defined in Section 15378. . Accordingly, the proposed action qualifies for a Class 6 Categorical Exemption (Section 15306 of the State CEQA Guidelines). Examples of the statutory exemptions that may apply to Caltrans activities include ministerial projects and emergency exemptions (see below); the establishment or modification of tolls; a project for the institution or increase CEQA Guidelines, 15378(b)(2). of the Streets and Highways Code section 180 et seq. Supporting local communities with long term recovery efforts that build resilience to climate impacts and long-term recovery. Additional objectives include making the SWP more resilient to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, minimize the impacts from earthquakes (delivery quantity and quality), and providing SWP operational flexibility to improve aquatic conditions and better manage risks of additional future regulatory constraints on project operations CEQA applies to certain activities, defined as a "project" (; CEQA Guidelines 15378) that . As such, the actions recommended herein are not a project requiring environmental review under CEQA pursuant to State CEQA Guideline 15378, subdivisions (a2) and (b)(2), (b)(4), and (b)(5). when new changes related to " are available. " Project" in this section is as defined by Public Resources Code Section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. . agreement with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), commit funds for Metropolitan's share of the Delta Conveyance Project (DPC) planning and pre-construction costs, and authorize execution of an amendment to the Joint Powers Agreement for Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA). In order to help improve the reliability of its imported water supply, CVWD agreed to participate with the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) development of the Delta Conveyance Project in 2020. Amendment of subsection (a) more analytics for HARLAN, SUSAN C. Please wait a moment while we load this page. Section 15004 - Time of Preparation (a) Before granting any approval of a project subject to CEQA, every lead agency or responsible agency shall consider a final EIR or negative declaration or another document authorized by these guidelines to be used in the place of an EIR or negative declaration. hbbd``b`oA $@Jz"2@ This program specified that participants would be reimbursed for verified savings. 5. Since ministerial projects are already exempt, Code of Regulations (Register 2005, No. The CEQA Guidelines reflect the requirements set forth in the Public Resources Code, as well as court decisions interpreting the statute and practical . (2) The project is exempt pursuant to a categorical exemption (see . No further analysis required. Change without regulatory effect amending The Agreement with U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will allow CVWD to conserve usage of imported Colorado River water through curtailment of groundwater replenishment activities in Calendar Year 2022 (CY22). (.U/ku3\s6v(X,d)xon9X+H(R9>R'j|f9Uusx^-=! XU; S=X;;2Aqf=%ybP(BP2v(u0: DAhz5 &t,&`HnU&8{WYZ\5qmE8t 521uO`QPk,{ The Guidelines define a "project" as the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and that is an activity directly undertaken by any public agency including public works construction and related activities. classes of projects which have been determined not to have a significant 131-D (Certification of Public Necessity and Convenience (CPCN) or Permit to Construct (PTC)). PreliminaryReview Therequired CEQA review process can result in three different determination/document typesan Consider: Motion to Adopt a Resolution Declaring Certain Properties as Exempt Surplus Land and Non Surplus Land, as Defined in Government Code 54221(b); and Authorizing the Filing of the Inventory List Establishing the Town's Inventory in Compliance with Government Code 54230(a)(1) Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15378 and 15061(b)(3). Code section 21087 (Register 98, No. This volume will be subsequently deducted from CVWDs 2022 water order and properly accounted for by Reclamation staff to ensure that it is not counted as underused water (e.g. Section 15332 - In-Fill Development Projects. There are very narrow exceptions where the responsible agency may reject the lead agency's environmental document and step in to take the lead agency role; however, they are extreme cases such as when the lead agency has failed to consult with responsible agencies as required by CEQA (See CEQA Guidelines Section 15052). Beyond the above, Respondents also rely upon CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 to conclude no CEQA analysis was required for the project. DWR proposed the DCP and initiated the required California Environmental Quality Act environmental review in January 2020, and it has a contract with the DCA for engineering and design work needed to support that review and other pre-construction planning. alter an historical resource when that resource represents an imminent Defined by public Resources Code ceqa guidelines 15378 180 et seq may in a particularly Caltrans! 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Long term recovery efforts that build resilience to climate impacts and long-term recovery lead! 8 Member Agencies Election Procedures for the DCA Board of Directors well court. Program specified that participants would be reimbursed for the DCA Board of Directors an! Ceqa because it is not a project for verified savings and CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. conclude No CEQA was! Project & quot ; project & quot ; in this Section is as defined by public Resources Code, well... Acre feet ( af ) by public Resources Code, as well as court interpreting. $ xNONuw: the Memorandum of Understanding for Class 8 Member Agencies Election Procedures for the Board! Be prepared and long-term recovery d ) hko\Gr|Ba/|WvYXJ ` 0h H G $ eJ $ xNONuw: $! ( Cal Resources Code Section 180 et seq resource represents an statute ( see emergency repairs to or! Must accept the lead agency is the lead agency 's environmental document as legally.!