2019-050 -Adopting Local CEQA Guidelines

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Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (2019) GENERAL PROVISIONS, PURPOSE AND POLICY. proposed activity constitutes a project that is subject to CEQA review, or whether the activity is exempt from CEQA. 1.04 R EDUCING D ELAY AND P APERWORK. The State CEQA Guidelines encourage local governmental agencies to reduce delay and paperwork by, among other things: (a) Integrating the CEQA process into early planning review; to this end, the project approval process and these procedures, to the maximum extent feasible, are to run concurrently, not consecutively; (b) Identifying projects which fit within categorical or other exemptions and are therefore exempt from CEQA processing; (c) Using initial studies to identify significant environmental issues and to narrow the scope of Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs); (d) Using a Negative Declaration when a project, not otherwise exempt, will not have a significant effect on the environment; (e) Consulting with state and local responsible agencies before and during the preparation of an EIR so that the document will meet the needs of all the agencies which will use it; (f) Allowing applicants to revise projects to eliminate possible significant effects on the environment, thereby enabling the project to qualify for a Negative Declaration rather than an EIR; (g) Integrating CEQA requirements with other environmental review and consultation requirements; (h) Emphasizing consultation before an EIR is prepared, rather than submitting adverse comments on a completed document; (i) Combining environmental documents with other documents, such as general plans; (j) Eliminating repetitive discussions of the same issues by using EIRs on programs, policies or plans and tiering from statements of broad scope to those of narrower scope; (k) Reducing the length of EIRs by means such as setting appropriate page limits; (l) Preparing analytic, rather than encyclopedic EIRs; (m) Mentioning insignificant issues only briefly; (n) Writing EIRs in plain language; (o) Following a clear format for EIRs; (p) Emphasizing the portions of the EIR that are useful to decision-makers and the public and reducing emphasis on background material; (q) Incorporating information by reference; and (r) Making comments on EIRs as specific as possible. 1.05 C OMPLIANCE W ITH S TATE L AW. These Local Guidelines are intended to implement the provisions of CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines, and the provisions of CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines shall be fully complied with even though they may not be set forth or referred to herein. 2019 City of Santa Ana Local Guidelines 1-2 ©Best Best & Krieger LLP