The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is regarded as the foundation of environmental law and policy in California. The main objectives of CEQA are to disclose to decision makers and the public, prior to decision making, any significant environmental effects of proposed projects and to require public agencies to avoid or reduce significant adverse environmental effects by implementing feasible alternatives or mitigation measures. Other CEQA objectives are enhancement of public participation in the planning process, fostering of intergovernmental coordination in the review of projects, and public disclosure regarding reasons for agency approval of projects with significant environmental effects.

CEQA which is set forth in Public Resources Code section 21000, et. seq. authorizes the Secretary of the California Resources Agency to adopt "Guidelines" to implement CEQA. The Guidelines are published in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.

Public Resources Code section 21082 requires that all public agencies adopt by ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation, the objectives, criteria and procedures for the evaluation of projects and the preparation of environmental impact reports and negative declarations. Section 15022(d) of the Guidelines allows public agencies to adopt the CEQA Guidelines through incorporation by reference and to adopt procedures or provisions that are necessary to tailor the general provisions of the CEQA Guidelines to the specific operations of the public agency.

The City of Dos Palos hereby adopts the following provisions to implement CEQA and the Guidelines. These regulations and procedures are intended to adopt the CEQA Guidelines by reference and to supplement and define the CEQA review process of Dos Palos City thereby clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the decision-making bodies and various City departments within that process.

SUPPLEMENTAL DEFINITIONS

The list of defined terms in the Guidelines is expanded to include definitions unique to Dos Palos City environmental review:

• "Council" shall mean the City Council of Dos Palos;

• "City" shall mean the City of Dos Palos;

• "Department" means the Community Development Department;

• "Director" shall mean the Director of Community Development;

• "Decision-Making Body" shall mean the City Council, Planning Commission, or individual
  authorized to approve or render an advisory decision on a project or activity.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Community Development

CEQA requires environmental evaluations to be conducted prior to initiating a public project or activity or prior to granting discretionary approval of a private project. Under City policy, the Community Development Department ("Department"), is responsible for the preparation of environmental documents required for compliance with CEQA.

The Department has responsibility to first determine if an activity is a project, as defined in the
Guidelines. If a proposed activity is not determined be a project, it is not subject to CEQA.
If an activity is a project, the Department shall determine if it has exempt status. The Guidelines
contain certain activities that have been exempted from CEQA:

• Statutory Exemptions are granted by the State Legislature and include activities that are ministerial in nature. Ministerial decisions are those that require little or no judgment but are based on established and/or objective standards, such as a building permit.

• Categorical Exemptions are classes of projects that have been determined by the California
  Resources Agency to not have a significant effect on the environment.

• CEQA also contains a general rule that where it can be seen with certainty that a project will not have a significant effect on the environment, the project is not subject to CEQA.

The Department shall conduct an environmental review to determine possible exemption for all
discretionary projects.

If a project is determined not to have exempt status the Department has the responsibility to prepare an Initial Study ("IS") in order to determine whether the project may have a significant effect on the
environment.

If the IS shows that there is no substantial evidence that the project may have a significant effect, a
negative declaration shall be prepared by the Department. If potentially significant effects are identified but revisions made by or agreed to by the applicant would avoid the effects or mitigate the effects to a point where clearly no significant effects would occur, a mitigated negative declaration shall be prepared by the Department.

If the IS shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, the Department is
responsible for the preparation of an environmental impact report ("EIR").

Decision-Making Body

The decision-making body has the responsibility to determine if a project will have a significant environmental effect and accordingly, shall determine whether a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or EIR is appropriate.

Other City Departments

Directors of other City Departments may request the Director of the Community Development ("Director") to complete environmental reviews to determine whether certain types of projects/activities are exempt from CEQA.