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Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (2019) ACTIVITIES EXEMPT FROM CEQA 2019 City of Santa Ana Local Guidelines 3-3 ©Best Best & Krieger LLP The filing of a Notice of Exemption, when appropriate, is recommended for City actions because it starts a 35-day statute of limitations on legal challenges to the City’s determination that the activity is exempt from CEQA. The City is encouraged to make postings of all filed notices available in electronic format on the Internet. These electronic postings are in addition to the procedures required by the State CEQA Guidelines and the Public Resources Code. If a Notice of Exemption is not filed, a 180-day statute of limitations will apply. Please see Local Guidelines Sections 3.13 and 3.17 for certain circumstances in which the Lead Agency is required to file a Notice of Exemption. The thirty-day posting requirement excludes the first day of posting and includes the last day of posting. On the 30th day, the Notice of Exemption must be posted for the entire day. When a request is made for a copy of the Notice prior to the date on which the City determines the project is exempt, the Notice must be mailed, first class postage prepaid, within five (5) days after the City’s determination. If such a request is made following the City’s determination, then the copy should be mailed in the same manner as soon as possible. 3.06 DISAPPROVED PROJECTS. Projects that the Lead Agency rejects or disapproves are exempt from CEQA. An applicant shall not be relieved of paying the costs for an EIR, Negative Declaration, or Mitigated Negative Declaration prepared for a project prior to the Lead Agency’s disapproval of the project. 3.07 PROJECTS WITH NO POSSIBILITY OF SIGNIFICANT EFFECT. Where it can be seen with absolute certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is exempt from CEQA. 3.08 EMERGENCY PROJECTS. The following types of emergency projects are exempt from CEQA (the term “emergency” is defined in Local Guidelines Section 11.20): (a) Work in a disaster-stricken area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to Section 8550 of the Government Code. This includes projects that will remove, destroy, or significantly alter a historical resource when that resource represents an imminent threat to the public of bodily harm or of damage to adjacent property or when the project has received a determination by the State Office of Historic Preservation pursuant to Section 5028(b) of the Public Resources Code. (b) Emergency repairs to publicly or privately owned service facilities necessary to maintain service essential to the public health, safety or welfare. Emergency repairs include those that require a reasonable amount of planning to address an anticipated emergency. (c) Projects necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency. This does not include long-term projects undertaken for the purpose of preventing or mitigating a situation that has a low probability of occurrence in the short-term, but this exclusion does not apply (i) if the anticipated period of time to conduct an environmental review of such a long-term project would create a risk to public health, safety or welfare, or (ii) if activities (such as fire or catastrophic risk mitigation or modifications to improve facility integrity) are proposed for existing facilities in response to an emergency at a similar existing facility.