CEQA

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process, established by state law, requires the review of proposed projects in order to identify and address potential environmental effects. According to the state CEQA guidelines [Sec. 15389(a)] a project is defined as the whole of an action which has the potential to physically change the environment, directly or ultimately, that is subject to discretionary governmental approval. Once it is determined that a project requires discretionary approval, it must then be determined whether or not the project is exempt from CEQA.

Projects which are not exempt from CEQA require a Negative Declaration or an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). When a project does not result in any significant effects on the environment, or project modification and/or mitigation measures reduce these impacts to a less than significant level, a Negative Declaration is prepared. An EIR must be prepared if a proposed project may have one or more potentially significant effects on the environment that cannot be mitigated to a less than significant level