Laserfiche WebLink
8 <br /> <br />1. CEQA Includes Several Guidelines Which Guide the Determination of <br />Whether a Project Requires a New EIR to Be Prepared or Limit the <br />Scope of Further Environmental Review Including (1) CEQA <br />Guidelines Section 15168, (2) CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and <br />15163, (3) CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, and (4) CEQA Guidelines <br />Section 15183.3 <br /> <br />After a city approves an EIR for a comprehensive land use plan like the DTPP or the <br />General Plan, the city shall consider whether further environmental review is required <br />with respect to subsequent discretionary decisions on particular projects that implement <br />the underlying plan. Whether a supplemental EIR or other environmental document <br />must be prepared depends upon the analysis of the subsequent activity in light of the <br />existing EIR. The City performed this analysis, which ultimately shows that further <br />environmental review is not required. Three sets of interrelated provisions of the CEQA <br />Guidelines demonstrate why the project does not require further environmental review. <br /> <br />First, CEQA Guidelines section 15168(c) provides that if the City has already prepared <br />an EIR for a comprehensive land use plan such as the DTPP and General Plan, unless <br />the subsequent activities would create new significant impacts or require new mitigation <br />measures, as analyzed under CEQA Guidelines section 15162, the City may find that <br />the project is within the scope of the EIR. <br /> <br />Second, CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 and 15163 provide that the City shall not <br />prepare another EIR unless the City determines, on the basis of substantial evidence, <br />that certain conditions exist that will lead to a new significant impact or substantial <br />increase in the severity of a previously identified impact, or that a new or previously <br />rejected mitigation measure or alternative would substantially reduce significant effects. <br /> <br />Third, CEQA Guidelines section 15183 provides that if the City has prepared an EIR for <br />a zoning plan (like the DTPP), the City shall not prepare another EIR “except as may be <br />necessary to examine whether there are project-specific significant impacts which are <br />peculiar to the project or its siteR.” <br /> <br />Fourth, CEQA Guidelines section 15183.3 provides that if specified criteria are met, <br />then the scope of further environmental review is limited. Specifically, effects addressed <br />as significant in a prior EIR need not be addressed even if the EIR does not mitigate <br />those impacts to a less then significant level. This is analyzed further in the Initial Study. <br /> <br />2. The City Followed CEQA with Respect to Determining Whether an EIR <br />Is Required for the Project, including Pursuant to (1) CEQA Guidelines <br />Section 15168, (2) CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15163, and <br />(3) CEQA Guidelines Section 15183 <br /> <br />The City followed these three sets of provisions. The City prepared a written checklist <br />(i.e., the Initial Study) to evaluate the site-specific project in light of the DTPP EIR. The <br />City analyzed whether the project would create new significant impacts or substantial <br />8.A. - Page 8