Environmental Impact Reports 101
The San Diego County Water Authority is responsible for ensuring a safe and
reliable water supply to support the region's $126 billion economy and the quality
of life for nearly three million residents. The Water Authority invests in a
range of projects that ensures the safety and maintenance of its pipes, increases
water storage and delivery capabilities and provides alternative water supply
sources. Often these projects require environmental analysis in the form of
an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The following information is intended
to answer questions about the EIR process, define frequently used acronyms and
explain EIR terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CEQA?
CEQA is an acronym for the California Environmental Quality Act, a state law
that requires California agencies to identify the significant environmental
impacts of their actions and describe measures which can be taken to avoid or
mitigate those impacts, if feasible. An agency's action can be to approve its
own project or to permit another proponent's project.
What is an EIR and why is it prepared?
EIR is an acronym for Environmental Impact Report, a document required by CEQA
when an agency determines that a project may have a significant effect on the
environment. An EIR evaluates a proposed project's impacts on the environment,
and recommends mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts. Decision-makers
use information in an EIR to help determine whether or not to approve a project.
What kind of information does an EIR contain?
An EIR describes the need for a project, the location of a project and how
it will be constructed. It evaluates the how the existing environments would
be changed if the project were approved and provides feasible mitigation measures
to avoid or reduce significant changes to existing conditions. An EIR inventories
the existing environment in different categories called the environmental setting,
including:
· aesthetics
· agricultural resources
· air quality
· biological resources
· cultural resources
· geology/soils
· hazards and hazardous materials
· hydrology/water quality
· land use planning
· mineral resources
· noise
· population/housing
· public services
· recreation
· transportation/traffic
· utilities/service systems
How does the public participate in the creation of an EIR?
The public and other potentially interested government agencies participate
in several ways. A Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an EIR is sent to public agencies
as part of the CEQA process. A lead agency (preparing the EIR) may hold scoping
meetings to receive comments on what information the EIR should contain. The
agencies and general public can provide written suggestions at this time. When
the draft EIR is released for review, typically for 45-days, a Notice of Completion
(NOC) is provided to the public and public agencies. The draft EIR is placed
in local libraries to make it available for review, and written comments may
be submitted from the public and public agencies during this period. Sometimes
the lead agency will hold a public hearing to receive oral and written public
comments.
What happens to the public and agency comments that are received?
The CEQA process requires a lead agency to respond to each written comment
received during the draft review period. Each individual comment is assigned
an identification number and receives a response. The collection of comments
and responses to the comments together with the draft EIR constitute what is
called the Final EIR (FEIR). The FEIR must then be certified by the lead agency
as adequate and in compliance with CEQA before a project can be approved.
What is a Subsequent EIR and how is it different from a regular EIR?
A subsequent EIR (sometimes called an SEIR) is a follow-up document to a previously
certified EIR. When a project has been included in an earlier EIR, but the project
or environmental conditions change substantially before the project is constructed,
CEQA requires the changes to be re-analyzed to determine if any new significant
environmental impacts may occur. A good example of this process is the San Diego
County Water Authority's Emergency Storage Project (ESP) that was reviewed in
a previous CEQA document certified in 1997. Since then, the San Vicente Pipeline
portion of the Emergency Storage Project has undergone changes in design, location
and type of construction. In 2002, the SDCWA decided to prepare a SEIR to analyze
these project changes.
Frequently Used Acronyms
EIR - Environmental Impact Report
CEQA - California Environmental Quality Act
DEIR - Draft Environmental Impact Report
FEIR - Final Environmental Impact Report
SEIR - Subsequent or Supplemental Environmental Impact Report
NOP - Notice of Preparation [of an EIR] to be prepared.
NOC - Notice of Completion [of a DEIR] and availability for public review.
Glossary -California Environmental Quality Act Terms
Certification - A decision by the lead agency that the FEIR has been
completed in compliance with CEQA and that the information contained therein
reflects the lead agency's independent judgment and analyses. The lead agency
must consider the information in the FEIR prior to taking an action.
Environmental Impact - The direct and indirect physical changes that
are caused by the project. Impacts can be classified in four general categories:
1) beneficial impact; 2) less than significant impact; 3) less than significant
impact with incorporation of mitigation measures; or 4) significant and unavoidable
impact.
Environmental Setting - The existing physical conditions that may be
affected by a proposed project, including both natural and man-made conditions.
Findings - For a certified FEIR containing one or more significant impacts,
the public agency must make one or more written findings for each of those significant
effects, accompanied by a brief explanation of the rational for each finding.
Lead Agency - Where a project is to be carried out or approved by more
than one public agency, one public agency shall be responsible for preparing
an EIR or Negative Declaration for the project. This agency is called the lead
agency.
Mitigation Measure - Feasible measures which could minimize or eliminate
significant adverse impacts; mitigation is not necessary for impacts that are
not significant.
Mitigation Monitoring or Mitigation Reporting Plan - A written document,
adopted when the lead agency decides to take an action, to ensure that mitigation
measures or other project revisions identified in the FEIR are implemented.
Inspectors/monitors may be placed on-site during construction to record implementation
of mitigation measures. The plan remains active until all mitigation measure
have been completed.
Project Alternatives - A reasonable range of options to the proposed
project whereby most of the basic project objectives can be feasibly attained
and significant environmental impacts can be avoided or substantially lessened.
At least two are required: 1) no project alternative; and 2) environmentally
superior alternative. The range of alternatives is developed by considering
the economic, social, environmental, legal and technical merits of various project
options.
Project Description - A project description is an essential element
of EIR under CEQA. It should minimally include the location of a project with
maps, a description of the facility to be built, construction techniques, the
location of any additional work and staging areas as well as any access roads.
It would also include a description of the long-term operation and maintenance
of the faculty.
Statement of Overriding Considerations - A written statement by the
lead agency to support a decision to take an action even though it results in
significant and unavoidable impacts to the environment. The statement contains
the specific reasons why the benefits of the action outweigh the environmental
detriments.
Link to the CEQA website
http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/
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