Item 24 - On-Call Environmental Review Services for Federally Funded Programs

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EXHIBIT 1 City of Santa Ana On -call Environmental Review Services for Housing Division Our work products will meet the requirements of the CEQA Guidelines, City -specific thresholds of significance, State and local planning and zoning law, NEPA, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Vanessa Villanueva, as Project Manager, and Deanna Hansen, as Principal -in -Charge, have been involved in numerous projects in the City of Santa Ana from inception to implementation; making our Rincon team exceptionally qualified to prepare environmental review documents for your development projects expeditiously and efficiently. Preparing CEQA and NEPA documentation commonly involves reviewing documents, attending meetings with the lead agency and project applicant, interacting with regulatory agencies, preparing reports, and attending public meetings and hearings. For the CEQA process, this task typically starts with a review of the CEQA Guidelines to assess whether a project is exempt from more detailed environmental review. Categorical Exemptions are well defined in the CEQA Guidelines and include the categories of projects that would not likely result in significant environmental effects (e.g., repairs or replacements of existing facilities, infill development). In non-exempt cases, we would complete an IS checklist to determine the appropriate environmental clearance document under CEQA. For projects where all impacts can clearly be mitigated and where there is not a strong base of public controversy, an ND or MND is prepared. For projects that may result in a significant environmental impact, an EIR is typicallythe appropriate CEQA document. When an EIR is required, we utilize the IS and scoping process to focus the document on impacts that can potentially result in significant impacts. For NEPA, appropriate federal agency consultation will be required. Documentation may involve Categorical Exclusions (Subject to or Not Subject to Section 58.5), EAs, or EISs. In some cases, CEQA and NEPA apply to a project, and a joint CEQA/NEPA document may be appropriate. In other cases, federal lead agencies prefer to process final review documentation after the CEQA environmental review is finalized. In addition to assisting our clients, including the City of Santa Ana, with the CEQA/NEPA processes, our environmental planning group has regularly prepared a broad range of technical studies (e.g., quality, biology, cultural resources, greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions, hazards, noise) to help design teams develop projects that avoid or minimize significant environmental effects. Moreover, as described in "Technical Studies" in our proposal, our team members have prepared many of these studies in the Orange County area, and therefore, we are highly familiar with both local and broader agency requirements. Our environmental planning team also supports developing and implementing MMRPs, including biological monitoring, revegetation and habitat restoration, or archaeological monitoring, which may be required through the environmental planning process. The scope of work for any environmental document or specialized technical study will depend upon the nature of the project being analyzed and will vary from project to project. We have assumed that most documentation will involve NEPA review, a lesser number will involve CEQA review, and that a range of specialized studies will also be requested. The following briefly describes our approach to preparing typical CEQA/NEPA documents. Approach to CEQA Document Preparation Upon receiving an inquiry from the City on a particular project, an early step will be determining what level of CEQA review will be required. Rincon's Project Manager, Vanessa Villanueva, will obtain a detailed project description from the City staff members and consider the location, scale, and implementation timeframe. Preliminary site research will be conducted, and CEQA Guidelines for all technical studies and environmental documentation will be consulted. We are familiar with the City's certified program -level EIRs, such as the 2010 EIR for the Transit Zoning Code, which can be used for streamlining options, such as addenda or compliance under Section 15183 of the CEQA Guidelines. Notably, Rincon has previously used the 2010 EIR for the Transit Zoning Code to complete two separate EIR addendums for the First American Mixed -Use Project and 4th and Mortimer Project between 2019 and 2021. As such, under this contract, we will consider all streamlining options during our preliminary review of each project. For projects that cannot be streamlined, the following are the typical procedures for an IS-MND and EIR. For tasks involving City review, Rincon estimates a period of 15 days for the City to complete a round of review. IS-MND Process • Task 1 - Kickoff Meeting. A kickoff meeting will typically be held with one week of notice -to -proceed with City staff to confirm study objectives and approaches, communication protocol, and schedule. • Task 2 - Project Description. The project description will be submitted within approximately two weeks of the kickoff meeting and receipt of information regarding the project. • Task 3 - Administrative Draft IS-MND. The Administrative Draft IS-MND will be typically prepared between four to six weeks, depending on the complexity of the project and technical studies required.