Item 15 - On-Call Environmental Review Services for Federally Funded Programs

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RFP #21-017: On-Call Environmental Review Services for the Housing Division City of Santa Ana Community Development Agency 5 63675 the economy and return Americans to work, while providing appropriate protection for public health and safety, natural resources, and the environment, as required by law. The leaders of all agencies are directed to use, to the fullest extent possible and consistent with applicable law, emergency procedures, statutory exemptions, categorical exclusions, analyses that have already been completed, and concise and focused analyses, consistent with NEPA, the Council for Environmental Quality’s NEPA regulations, and agencies’ NEPA procedures. With this knowledge, Chambers Group staff will pursue streamlined NEPA processes and push project timelines to the greatest extent possible to take full advantage of the allowances under EO 13927. Council on Environmental Quality Revisions to NEPA Rules On July 16, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published their final rule to update the regulations for Federal agencies to implement NEPA for the first time in 40 years. The final rule revises, modernizes, and clarifies the regulations with the intention to facilitate more efficient, effective, and timely NEPA reviews by Federal agencies in connection with proposals for agency action. Some key changes to NEPA involve the use of CEs, as well as cumulative impacts and GHG analyses. The final rule provides that agencies may use CEs to define actions that normally do not have a significant effect and may adopt another agency’s CE determination or portions thereof if the two actions subject to the determinations are substantially similar. Additionally, the cumulative impacts analysis is no longer required as part of a NEPA review. With respect to GHG, CEQ explains in the preamble to the final rule that “the analysis of the impacts on climate change will depend on the specific circumstances of the proposed action” and that agencies “will consider predictable trends in the area in the baseline analysis of the affected environment.” Although cumulative impact analyses are not required, CEQ clarified that consideration of the cumulative and indirect effects of climate change are not precluded by the final rule. NEPA Literature Review and Scoping Meeting(s) After receiving a NTP from the City, Chambers Group will be prepared to meet with the City and project Applicant(s), when applicable, at a Project Initiation/Kick-off Meeting to discuss the project. Chambers Group will receive project plans, and other project related information and studies. This information will be reviewed in order to determine the appropriate NEPA documentation to be prepared. Chambers Group will assist City Staff in developing scoping meetings and identify the appropriate responsible/trustee agencies and other relevant stakeholders should the project require these meetings (such as during the preparation of an EIS. While it is not necessary to conduct scoping meetings during the preparation of Environmental Assessment, this could be helpful in data collection for a project. NEPA Documents Categorical Exclusion (CE) There are certain conditions under which NEPA does not apply to an action. These conditions include, but are not limited to statutory exemptions, emergencies, and classified information. Any of these, and some additional exempted actions, may involve the City to some degree, by way of location of the action within the City. Thus, the City may have a role in the NEPA process as a Review Agency, or as a Lead or Co-Lead Agency. As such, the City may be responsible for preparation of some type of record of environmental consideration, documenting the applicability of the NEPA CE. Environmental Assessment / Findings of No Significant Impact (EA/FONSI) An EA is to be a concise public document that focuses on those environmental areas where potential adverse impacts are anticipated. It will provide sufficient evidence and analysis to determine whether or not an EIS is required. The EA would be limited to an analysis of potential significant environmental issues which area identified through a scoping process with the public and review agencies. The EA will include brief descriptions of the need for the proposed project, alternatives to the proposed project, the environmental impacts of the proposed project and its alternatives, and a listing of agencies and persons consulted. Based on the Final EA, Chambers Group will prepare the FONSI that outlines the reasons why the federal agency has concluded that no significant environmental impacts would result from implementation of the proposed action. The FONSI will inform the decision record for the federal agency. EAs and Compliance Findings - 24 CFR Part 580 Chambers Group will prepare an EA in accordance with HUD’s format for EA Determinations and Compliance Findings for HUD-assisted Projects (24 CFR Part 58). EXHIBIT 2