October 27, 2009
The California Natural Resources Agency, following a public comment period that ended August 20, has issued several proposed revisions to the draft CEQA Guidelines amendments. These revisions clarify the requirements of an adequate global warming analysis.
The latest revisions state that any greenhouse gas mitigation measures imposed must be supported by substantial evidence and be subject to monitoring. Furthermore, the new set of revisions state that environmental impact reports (EIRs) should evaluate the risks of locating a project in an area subject to hazardous conditions such as those that may be attributed to global warming, including flooding, rising sea levels and wildfires. Under the revisions, public agencies would also be able to use regional or statewide benefits, such as greenhouse gas emission reductions, as project benefits for the purposes of supporting a Statement of Overriding Considerations.
Separate and apart from the issue of global warming impacts, the threshold of significance in Appendix G of the Guidelines dealing with a project’s traffic impacts would be revised to shift the focus of analysis from whether capacity would be exceeded to whether the project would be consistent with measures of effectiveness established in a plan, policy or ordinance. We believe that this reflects an emphasis on the discretion of the public agency to determine what levels of service constitute a significant impact in that jurisdiction, rather than focusing solely on the capacity of the transportation system.
The public review period for these revisions began on October 23 and the Agency will accept written comments until 5:00 p.m. on November 10. After the comment period closes, the Agency will prepare a response to public comments before finalizing and adopting the text for the Guidelines. The Guidelines are scheduled to be adopted by January 1, 2010.
