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7.A Page 9 conjunction with the Draft EIR, they constitute the Final EIR which was presented to the Planning Commission for recommendation. The City Council must now consider the Planning Commission's recommendations regarding the Final EIR, the MMRP, and the proposed New General Plan. Statement of Overriding Considerations The City, as Lead Agency, must certify the Final EIR (which also includes the Draft EIR) before taking any action on the project. When certifying a Final EIR, a Lead Agency must make certain findings required by the CEQA. According to CEQA, a Lead Agency cannot approve a project that will have a significant effect on the environment unless the Lead Agency finds that the benefits of the project outweigh the significant environmental effects, and adopts a Statement of Overriding Considerations explaining how the benefits of the project outweigh the impacts. The City's EIR consultant has concluded that certain impacts of the New General Plan may be significant and unavoidable; therefore, a Statement of Overriding Considerations is required for adoption. The Statement of Overriding Considerations is included as part of the Resolution for certification of the EIR. (Please refer back to Attachment 1.) The significant unavoidable impacts associated with the New General Plan are attributed to four impact areas: Climate Change (sea level rise); Circulation (traffic volumes on certain roadways); Air Quality (New General Plan growth projections are not accounted for the in Bay Area Air Quality Management District's Clean Air Plan); and Utilities (adequacy of water supply over the life of the New General Plan). Refer to the EIR and the Statement of Overriding Considerations for complete detail. Public Outreach/Notification The Draft EIR and New General Plan received extensive public review and comment. Presented below is a summary of the public outreach and notification related to the EIR since May 2010: Draft EIR • On May 7, 2010 a news release announcing release of the Draft EIR was issued to . all media contacts and to others who subscribe to the City's news release e-mail list. Notice was published on web-site. • On May 10, 2010 public hearing notices were sent to the City's General Plan e-mail list and other interested parties. • On May 10, 2010 Draft EIR posted on the City's web site. • On May 11, 2010 the City published a pubic hearing notice in the local newspaper. • On May 11, 2010 an e-mail was sent to the City's Boards, Commissions, and Committees (BCC's), neighborhood associations and others (total over 2,700 recipients). This was repeated on June 10. • May 11, 2010 through June 24, 2010 was the 45-day public review period of the Draft EIR. The Planning Commission also held a study session on the Draft EIR on May 18, 2010 and a public hearing on June 15, 2010. • On May 14, 2010 and June 10, 2010 the City newspaper display ads were published (different than a public hearing notice). Final EIR • August 23, 2010: Notice for Final EIR published in newspaper.