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What is an Environmental Impact Report?
The City prepares environmental impact reports (EIRs) when a project may have a significant effect on our surroundings, such as toxic materials or possible air pollution. This report, required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), evaluates a proposed project's impacts on the environment. The report also recommends steps to avoid or minimize those impacts, called mitigation measures. Possible alternatives to the project are considered as well, including the option of not doing the project.
List of Current Environmental Impact Reports
General Concepts
The information within an EIR allows the decision-makers (the Planning Commission and/or the City Council) to make an informed decision when considering whether or not to approve a project. The report also assists with deciding if approval conditions (entitlements) are necessary. The ultimate decision to approve a project, however, remains with the decision-makers. When the Planning Commmission or City Council approves an EIR, it is simply an acknowledgement that the EIR is true and accurate. It is only a step towards project approval, not a guarantee. The Planning Commmission or City Council may decide to instead decide to approve or deny the project based on overriding condsiderations. For example, the Planning Commission may find that a proposed project may provide economic benefits to a community that outweigh a problem identified in the EIR, such as unavoidable worsening traffic conditions.
The term “environment” includes natural and man-made elements of our surroundings. This includes land, air, water, minerals, plants, animals and noise. It also includes things like historic buildings. (See the Standards of Rehabilitation within Historic Preservation for more information.)
Decision-Making Process
The public has an opportunity to review and provide comments on a draft of an EIR by contacting, in writing, the planner listed on the EIR. Public input is then included in the EIR, and considered by the decision-makers along with other aspects of the report.
There may also be one or more meetings about the report, either as a separate meeting or as an item in a Planning Commission agenda.
Note that approval of the environmental impact report does not mean that the project is approved. Once the report is approved, decision-makers review the project, taking into account the information in the report and other considerations.
To Learn More
- State of California website on California Environmental Quality Act: http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/
- The Planning Commissioner’s Handbook, League of California Cities, 2005, Chapter 4: The Planning Framework (www.ca-ilg.org/sites/ilgbackup.org/files/resources/PCH_sec4.pdf)
- California Public Resources Code Section 21000 and following (accessible from www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html)
- Solano Press (www.solano.com) has a number of land use-related publications, available for purchase, including one on the California Environmental Quality Act
