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CEQA Peer Review Services City of Santa Ana Exhibit A to Side Letter dated 2/12/2024 Fernanda Arias, Assistant Planner City of Santa Ana — Planning and Building Agency (M-20) 20 Civic Center Plaza I P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 CHAMBERS GROUP August 23, 2023 Subject: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Peer Review Services for the Vista Charter School Change of Use Dear Fernanda Arias, We would like to thank you for reaching out to Chambers Group to provide this proposal to peer review the Vista Charter School Change of Use Project (Proposed Project / Project) documents. The Project consists of changing the zoning designation of the property from M-1 to SD-82 and changing the use of an existing building from auto repair to administrative office use. As proposed, the Project requires approval of an amendment application (zone change) for a specific plan. We understand that Michael Baker is preparing a Categorical Exemption Memorandum for the Project. The memorandum will evaluate the Project's potential impact on the resource areas identified under CEQA. The memorandum will include a qualitative analysis of these resources with exception to air quality, greenhouse gas (GHG), and noise which will involve quantitative analyses. The purpose of conducting this peer review is to provide a legally adequate, unbiased, qualified, and objective 'Third Party' review of the Notice of Exemption (NOE) and Draft Memorandum and associated air quality, greenhouse gas and noise studies. The results of the peer review will serve as an informational document for the Proposed Project proponent, the public, the City staff, the Planning Commission, and the City Council. Technical review of the air quality, energy, GHG and noise reports will be reviewed by the following subconsultants: • Vista Environmental - Air Quality, GHG, and Noise Scope of Work Should further detailed technical reviews be necessary, a revised scope will be provided. Chambers Group can commence work on this project as soon as we receive written notice to proceed (NTP). We will accomplish the scope of work as described below. Scope of Work The Third -Party peer review, which will include review of technical studies for the Proposed Project, will be conducted to meet the statutory requirements of CEQA. Chambers Group's team is divided into two primary components: overall CEQA adequacy review and Subject Matter Expert (SME) review. The Chambers Group team consisting of environmental planners, biologists and cultural resources specialists will provide a CEQA adequacy review of the documents' respective sections, including overall CEOA management and supervision of the SMEs'review, and examine the document from the aspect of overall policy considerations, analysis, and CEQA compliance. SMEs will perform an adequacy review of their corresponding sections of the document and associated technical reports to confirm the legal adequacy of the analysis and provide recommendations and suggested edits to the documents. This includes consistency with regional requirements and databases including but not limited to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB), the California Native Plant Society's Electronic Inventory (CNPSEI), and the United States Fish and Wildlife (USFWS). The peer review will consist of analysis of all pertinent resources related technical document needed. Chambers Group will prepare a comment matrix and will indicate deficiencies or questions where necessary within the matrix to clarify or bring a particular document into conformance with CEQA. Our scope assumes one single round of review, and two rounds of comments. Should additional rounds be required, a separate scope and cost will be prepared. =in`� 1979 CGI Proposal 964296 www.chambersgroupinc.com