Agmt13 Environmental Science Associates

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The Environmental Setting,lmpacts, and Mitigation Measures chapter of the Draft EIR will describe the following for each environmental topic: • Environmental Setting(see above) • Impact Analysis. This will disclose the potential impacts of the adoption of, and development or other changes under the Specific Plan. The analysis will address impacts that could occur in the following instances: onsite and offsite, direct and secondary, plan-specific and cumulative (discussed below), and short-term and long-term. The analysis will also address any proposed amendments to the General Plan and/or zoning code, and any other discretionary actions required for adoption of and development or other changes under the Specific Plan. • Cumulative Analysis. Within each environmental topic section of the Draft EIR, the analysis will address the potential for adoption of and development or other changes under the Specific Plan to contribute to cumulative impacts. This work will consider the Specific Plan's effects combined with the potential effects of past, present, approved, and other reasonably foreseeable projects and plans. This scope assumes all cumulative projects and plans are included in the transportation model, except as specified by the City and/or identified by other consultants (also see Travel Demand Forecast under Task 5.14 in Section II.B of this scope). Any additional plans or projects will be factored into the cumulative baseline as appropriate. The cumulative analysis will clearly describe the geographic context and methodology used for each topic. • Mitigation Measures. Measures will be identified for any significant impacts identified. Mitigation measures will consider that future specific projects located in the Specific Plan area will be required to demonstrate consistency with the Specific Plan and all requirements identified in the EIR. ESA anticipates that policies identified in the Specific Plan will largely reduce or avoid significant environmental impacts, thus minimizing the number and extent of mitigation measures required(if any). The analysis will consider a11 policies and development standards and guidelines in the Specific Plan and will appropriate�y indicate where these Specific Plan components contribute to reducing environmental effects. Mitigating elements of the Specific Plan will be clearly distinguished from CEQA-required mitigation measures identified to reduce or avoid a significant CEQA impact. • The Alternatives Analysis will describe and evaluate up to two (2) no project alternatives and two (2) alternative land use scenarios. The two alternative land use scenarios will be those not selected as the preferred alternative(the CEQA Project analyzed in the EIR)through the Specific Plan process. This Task 5 assumes at least one of the two alternative land use scenarios will reduce or avoid significant impacts identified with the preferred alternative.This task assumes the Specific Plan Team will provide for each alternative an illustrative land use diagrams, development programs, and any substantive differences in proposed policies compared to the preferred scenario. The CEQA-required no project alternative will consider development that would likely occur in the Specific Plan Area pursuant to the natural course of growth under the existing General Plan (2010). The zoning in the Specific Plan Area has not yet been updated to be consistent with the 2010 General Plan, however the proposed Inner Harbor Specific Plan will incorporate comprehensive zoning amendments to the area.Thus,the no project alternative is not the same as the CEQA baseline conditions against which the effects of the Specific Plan will be measured. Moreover, the City may deternune that the EIR shall assess an additional no project alternative, potentially one that limits an assumed natural course of growth to that permitted under the existing zoning,to the extent that it is within allowances permitted by the 2010 General Plan. REV:09-27-13 VR Page 5 of 9