VIII. - Environmental Impact Report

An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is a detailed statement prepared under CEQA describing and analyzing the significant environmental effects of a project and discussing ways to mitigate or avoid the effects.

A.

Decision to Prepare an EIR (15081). The EIR process starts with the decision to prepare an EIR. This decision may be made (1) at the staff level if an EIR will clearly be required (15060), or (2) at the option of the applicant or by the decision-making body. (15064)

It should be emphasized that it is the County's intent in accordance with CEQA (15070) that in order to provide efficiencies whereby an applicant can discover environmental problems with a project after submitting the application if the applicant can modify the project to avoid significant effects he can avoid the time and costs involved in preparing an EIR and qualify for a negative declaration instead. However, if the County determines that the project may have a significant adverse effect on the environment, then it is required to prepare an EIR for the project.

B.

Meetings. In order to expedite consultation, the County, a responsible agency, a trustee agency, or a project applicant may request one or more meetings between representatives of the agencies involved to assist the County in determining the scope and content of the environmental information which the responsible agency may require. Such meetings shall be convened by the lead agency as soon as possible, but no later than thirty (30) days after the meetings were requested. On request, the State Office of Planning and Research will assist in convening meetings which involve State agencies.

C.

Early Public Consultation (15083). The County may consult directly with any person or organization it believes will be concerned with the environmental effects of the project prior to completing the Draft EIR. Early consultation may solve potential problems that would arise in more serious forms later in the review process. This early consultation is called scoping. Scoping will be necessary when preparing an EIR/EIS jointly with a federal agency.

D.

Review of Environmental Documents Prepared by Other Agencies. Environmental documents received by the County for review should be referred to the environmental staff section of the County Department of Planning. The County Department of Planning will act as the clearinghouse for County review of environmental documents prepared by other agencies. The Department of Planning may request additional copies of a document if other departments will need to make comments directly to the lead agency. In most cases, comment by the County will come from the Department of Planning.

E.

Preparing the Draft EIR (15084).

1.

Process. The environmental staff will assemble a set of instructions, called a Scope of Work, for completion of the preliminary Draft EIR in accordance with CEQA Guidelines, Section 15120. The instructions will be forwarded to the applicant for completion of the preliminary Draft EIR. Responses received to the Notice of Preparation will also be forwarded.

The Department shall review the "Screen Check" Draft EIR and shall be responsible for determining if it is acceptable for distribution. The applicant will be notified of the acceptance and requested to provide a sufficient number of copies of the Draft EIR to satisfy review and distribution requirements.

2.

Ways to Prepare the EIR. The Department at its discretion, may choose one of the following arrangements or a combination of them for preparing a Draft EIR:

a.

Preparing the Draft EIR with its own staff;

b.

Executing a third party contract to govern the preparation of an EIR, whereby the County would select the environmental consultant. The EIR would than be prepared under the direct supervision of County environmental staff;

c.

Using a previously prepared EIR.

3.

Preparers of EIR. It is the County's policy to independently contract for and manage all environmental impact reports. With the exception of projects where the EIR contract cost will be $16,250.00 or less, as estimated by staff, independent consultants must be hired through a competitive evaluation procedure (RFP). Applicants for private projects fund the EIR work by submitting the full not-to-exceed cost to the County and the County enters into each contract with the private EIR consulting firm. County staff shall notify the applicant of the actual or estimated consultant's services which are to be rendered. The applicant shall bear the costs of all consultant fees and charges as well as the normal costs associated with processing an EIR. In the case of public projects, either County staff or a consultant hired by the County will prepare the EIR.

Since the County itself is responsible for the accuracy of all EIR's, the process involves verification of all applicant-submitted studies and reports by independent consultants hired by the County at applicant expense. In order to reduce potential duplication of effort, the applicant should contact the Planning Department before producing such studies. Often the material can be generated within the scope of work of the EIR, therefore eliminating duplication and insuring objectivity.

4.

EIR Consultant Process.

a.

Applicant places initial EIR deposit on file with the Planning Department;

b.

Environmental staff focuses EIR issues and prepares RFP (if required) for consultant proposals;

c.

Staff and the applicant review proposals, time and cost estimates with final selection at the discretion of environmental staff;

d.

Applicant is subsequently requested to place on deposit with the Planning Department a sum equal to the not-to-exceed cost estimate of the selected consultant to complete an EIR under contract less any monies paid for the initial EIR deposit;

e.

Staff prepares EIR contract for selected consultant and forwards to County Counsel and County Administrative Officer for processing. Contracts of sixteen thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($16,250.00) or more require Board approval;

f.

Consultant meets with applicant and County;

g.

Consultant prepares preliminary "Screen Check" Draft EIR;

h.

Staff reviews preliminary "Screen Check" Draft EIR and submits comments to the consultant;

i.

Consultant revises and prints Draft EIR;

j.

Distribution and public review of Draft EIR (normally forty-five (45) days);

k.

Public review period closes. Comments are forwarded to consultant for response;

l.

Consultant prints Final EIR, following final review and approval by environmental staff and distributes copies as directed;

m.

Project goes before Land Development Technical Advisory Committee (LDTAC) for review of project and establishment of conditions;

n.

Project and EIR go before decision-makers to accomplish completion of permit processing.

5.

Selection and use of EIR Consultants.

a.

Consulting firms interested in preparing EIR's for the County must send a letter of interest/statement of qualifications to the County Planning Office.

b.

Qualified consultants are placed on a County list of EIR consultants. The criteria used in the selection process include, but are not limited to, the following factors:

1.

Knowledge, skills and relevant educational background to analyze specific areas of impact cited in EIR's,

2.

EIR experience,

3.

The recommended list of EIR consultants changes through time as a result of consultant business closures or new consulting firms entering the Mono County consulting market area.

c.

Preference shall be given to those local firms (or consultants) who have demonstrated previous and competent environmental documentation within Mono County.

d.

After a decision is made by the Planning Department that an EIR should be prepared for a specific project, staff will select three prospective consultants from the County list of EIR consultants to prepare proposals for the EIR related to the project. The final selection will normally be on a competitive basis unless special circumstances warrant selection of a specific firm or the project is small in nature (i.e., EIR of estimated cost not to exceed sixteen thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($16,250.00)).

While this procedure is the County's operational policy, the County, however, is not legally obligated to utilize only those consulting firms that are specified on the approved list. Certain projects may require the use of consulting firms having expertise in specialized areas.

e.

Technically, an EIR consultant under contract to the County is a supplement to environmental staff. Failure to follow instructions, unethical business practices such as conflict of interest, noncompliance with contract conditions, substandard quality of work or noncooperation with staff, represent a basis for suspension or removal of the consultant from the list of qualified consultants. Consultants removed from the list must present two (2) certified EIR documents completed in other California jurisdictions prior to being considered for return to the list of qualified consultants.

6.

Adoption of Final EIR and Approval or Disapproval of Project. The final EIR shall be presented to the Planning Commission for its consideration and adoption. If the Planning Commission finds the final EIR to be in order, it shall certify its completion and that the Planning Commission has reviewed and considered its contents prior to the approval of the project. When an EIR is prepared by a lead agency other than the County, the Planning Commission shall comply with Sections 15050, 15052 and 15096 of the Guidelines, and shall certify that it has reviewed and considered the information contained therein prior to acting upon or approve the project. If the Planning Commission has prepared and completed a final EIR for a project which project thereafter requires the Board's final approval, the Board shall review and consider the final EIR and certify that it has done so prior to acting upon or approving the project. Members of the public may appear before the Planning Commission or the Board and present their views prior to the Planning Commission's or the Board's determination to approve or disapprove the project.

7.

Findings. If the completed EIR finds the project to have one or more significant effects, the Planning Commission shall make one or more of the findings required by Sections 15091 and 15093 of the Guidelines prior to approving or carrying out the project. Such findings shall be supported by substantial evidence in the record.