California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Summary
California regulates new developments under the most elaborate and lengthy process in our Nation,
known as CEQA. The goals are to ensure protection of the environment,
prevent reckless projects, such as the current Goyal Gorge LLC proposal, and let
opponents voice their objections.
Below is a brief overview of the CEQA process.
Overall Philosophy
Significant environmental impacts caused by developments must be mitigated or avoided.
If an agency (i.e. Placer County) approves a project with significant impacts overriding factors
must be stated indicating impacts that cannot be avoided or mitigated.
Steps in the CEQA Process:
Initial study
ID environmental effects
Assess those effects
What will significant environmental effects be?
Focuses the subsequent EIR
Notice of Preparation of EIR
Public - 30 days to give advice
re: scope of EIR impacts, mitigations, changes
Describe and explain impacts not found to be significant.
Discuss cumulative impacts.
Discussion of social/ economic impacts not required unless they cause secondary impacts.
The public may request public hearing of draft EIR in writing.
Notice of completion is filed
Public has 30 days to react to the draft EIR
Final EIR produced
Must take listed impacts into account
Must take public responses into account
Final approval of mitigation measures/changes.
Statement of overriding considerations by Placer County if they approve
Include changes that have been made in the project
Infeasible mitigations must be based on "substantial" evidence.
Other Rules:
Agencies cannot approve projects unless significant environmental effects have been eliminated or reduced or the agency has said that effects are unavoidable and acceptable due to overriding considerations.
Appeals may only be made by applicant, or by persons, organizations, or public agencies that submitted written comments or supplied oral testimony at a public hearings.
Appeals require non-refundable fees.
CEQA is enforced by local agencies.
If there are problems, then the public's only recourse is the courts.
A. Mandatory Findings of Significance. A project may be found to have a significant effect on the environment if any of the following findings are made by the ERC (see CEQA Guidelines Code Section 15065):
1. The project has the potential to substantially degrade the quality of the environment, substantially reduce the habitat of a fish or wildlife species, cause a fish or wildlife population to drop below self-sustaining levels, threaten to eliminate a plant or animal community, reduce the number or restrict the range of a rare or endangered plant or animal, or eliminate important examples of the major periods of California history or prehistory.
2. The project has the potential to achieve short-term environmental goals to the disadvantage of long-term environmental goals.
3. The project has possible environmental effects which are individually limited but cumulatively considerable. “Cumulatively considerable” means that the incremental effects of an individual project are considerable when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, the effects of other current projects, and the effects of probable future projects, as defined in CEQA Guidelines, Section 15130.
4. The environmental effects of a project will cause substantial adverse effects on human beings, either directly or indirectly.
B Environmental Thresholds. The county may establish quantitative or qualitative thresholds for determining impact significance.
C. Baseline for Threshold Decision. In assessing whether the effects of changes in land use designations (e.g., general plan amendments or rezonings) are significant, impacts shall be determined by comparing the proposed land uses to existing preproject environmental conditions. Future environmental conditions under the existing (adopted) land use designations shall not be used as a baseline. (Ord. 5470-B § 1, 2007: Ord. 5119-B (part), 2001)
