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RFQ #20-100: Environmental and Planning Services CHAMBERS City of Santa Ana GROUP Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Preparation of an EIR is a more detailed process and requires more effort than the preparation of a MIND. An EIR would be prepared if there is a potential for significant impacts which cannot be mitigated to a level less than significant or if significant public controversy or scrutiny exists. In which case, an EIR would be the more legally defensible document. Preparing an EIR will require completion of several important steps, from study initiation through development of the project description and Draft EIR, to attendance at public hearings and Final EIR preparation. The process for a more complex EIR would likely include additional scoping meetings (if the project is deemed to be controversial), complexity of technical issues, number of alternatives assessed, possibility of extra internal review cycles, more complexity in responding to public comments for the final document, a more in-depth mitigation monitoring plan, and additional public meetings. NEPA We assume that a majority of the environmental documents for the City will be required to also comply with CEQA; however, we have prepared an overview below focusing on compliance with NEPA, should the projects have federal funding or permitting. NEPA Approach The NEPA climate is quickly changing under the current administration, with NEPA regulations being updated more in the past few years than they have since enaction in 1970. Chambers Group staff work hard to stay up to date on the changing regulatory environment surrounding NEPA in order to utilize streamlining opportunities to deliver more concise documents, faster timelines, and lower costs than their competitors. Below is a brief summary of the recent updates to the NEPA regulations and how Chambers Group has adapted. Executive Order 13807 Executive Order (ED) 13807 was signed on August 15, 2017 with the purpose of streamlining environmental review and authorization decisions for major infrastructure projects to two years. Following EO 13807, the Department of the Interior signed Secretarial Order (SO) 3355 on August 31, 2017 to streamline the NEPA process for all projects in all Interior Departments, followed by many other Secretaries. In a series of memorandums on implementation of SO 3355, page numbers and timelines of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Assessment (EA) documents were limited. EIS documents are required to be 150 pages or less for a standard project and 300 pages or less for unusually complex projects. Additionally, EIS documents must be completed within one year from the issuance of a Notice of Intent. EA documents are required to be 75 pages or less, excluding appendices, and review of the document is required to be concluded within 180 calendar days from commencement. Chambers Group will actively coordinate with the City and other reviewing agencies to create a detailed schedule including submittal deadlines and review periods in order to maintain compliance with SO 3355 time limits. Further, Chambers Group has internal processes in place to budget page limits in accordance with SO 3355. Executive Order 13927 On June 4, 2020, an EO was signed to provide federal agencies the foundation, under the National Emergencies Act, to speed up environmental permitting in response to the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak. The EO allows agencies to take all reasonable measures to accelerate actions that will strengthen 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 Est 5 �"n 1979 "5S7 www.chainbersgroupinc.com