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The Bowery Mixed -Use Project <br />CEQA Comment <br />May 11, 2020 <br />Page 4 <br />participation, thereby thwarting the statutory goals of the EIR process." (San <br />Joaquin Raptor/Wildlife Rescue Center v. County of Stanislaus (1994) 27 <br />Cal.App.4th 713, 722; Galante Vineyards v. Monterey Peninsula Water <br />Management Dist. (1997) 60 Cal. App. 4th 1109, 1117; County ofAmador v. El <br />Dorado County Water Agency (1999) 76 Cal. App. 4th 931, 946.) <br />More recently, the California Supreme Court has emphasized that: <br />When reviewing whether a discussion is sufficient to satisfy CEQA, a court must <br />be satisfied that the EIR (1) includes sufficient detail to enable those who did not <br />participate in its preparation to understand and to consider meaningfully the issues <br />the proposed project raises [citation omitted].... <br />(Sierra Club v. Cty. ofFresno (2018) 6 Cal.5th 502, 510 (2018), citing Laurel Heights <br />Improvement Assn. v. Regents of University of California (1988) 47 Cal.3d 376, 405.) The Court <br />in Sierra Club v. Cty. ofFresno also emphasized at another primary consideration of sufficiency <br />is whether the EIR "makes a reasonable effort to substantively connect a project's air quality <br />impacts to likely health consequences." (6 Cal.5th at 510.) "Whether or not the alleged <br />inadequacy is the complete omission of a required discussion or a patently inadequate one - <br />paragraph discussion devoid of analysis, the reviewing court must decide whether the EIR serves <br />its purpose as an informational document." (Id. at 516.) Although an agency has discretion to <br />decide the manner of discussing potentially significant effects in an EIR, "a reviewing court must <br />determine whether the discussion of a potentially significant effect is sufficient or insufficient, <br />i.e., whether the EIR comports with its intended function of including `detail sufficient to enable <br />those who did not participate in its preparation to understand and to consider meaningfully the <br />issues raised by the proposed project. "' (6 Cal.5th at 516, citing Bakersfield Citizens for Local <br />Control v. City of Bakersfield (2004) 124 Cal.AppAth 1184, 1197.) "The determination whether <br />a discussion is sufficient is not solely a matter of discerning whether there is substantial evidence <br />to support the agency's factual conclusions." (6 Cal.5th at 516.) As the Court emphasized <br />(Sierra Club v. Cty. ofFresno, 6 Cal.5th at 514.): <br />[W]hether a description of an environmental impact is insufficient because it <br />lacks analysis or omits the magnitude of the impact is not a substantial evidence <br />question. A conclusory discussion of an environmental impact that an EIR deems <br />significant can be determined by a court to be inadequate as an informational <br />document without reference to substantial evidence. <br />In general, mitigation measures must be designed to minimize, reduce or avoid an <br />identified environmental impact or to rectify or compensate for that impact. (CEQA Guidelines <br />§ 15370.) Where several mitigation measures are available to mitigate an impact, each should be <br />discussed and the basis for selecting a particular measure should be identified. (Id. at § <br />15126.4(a)(1)(B).) A lead agency may not make the required CEQA findings unless the <br />administrative record clearly shows that all uncertainties regarding the mitigation of significant <br />environmental impacts have been resolved. <br />