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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4326 RESOLUTION NO. 4326 A RESOLUTION ,OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA ADOPTING REGULATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORTS PURSUANT TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT OF 1970. WHEREAS, the Environmental Quality Act of 1970 as amended by the Knox bill, Assembly Bill 889 effective December 5, 1972, provides that all public agencies shall adopt objectives, criteria and:procedures for the evaluation of projects and the preparation of environmental impact reports. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA DETERMINES AND RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. That the objectives, criteria and procedures hereafterset'forth'shall regulate the evaluation of projects and the prepar~tiondf' environmental impact reports. I Objectives and Criteria " All discretionary actions of the City of Arcadia and its City Council, boards and commissions, officers and employees, which may have a significant effect on the environment shall be subject to the policies, objectives, criteria and rules established by (1) the Environmental Quality Act of 1970, (2) the Guidelines for Implementation of, the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (California Administrative Code, Division'6, Title 14, Chapter 3) adopted by the California Resources Agency, hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines, ", and (3) the provisions of this resolution. II Definitions The definitions used in the Environmental Quality Act of 1970 and the Guidelines shall be applicable to the terms used in this resolution. -1- 4326 III Environmental Impact Reports A. No project shall be approved or commenced until an environmental impact report (EIR) has been' completed and approved unless: 1. The project is ministerial and, therefore, does not require discretionary approval. 2. The'project~ an emergency project. 3. The project is categorically exempt from the provi- sions of the Environmental Quality Act of 1970, provided that certain exempt projects may, under certain circumstances, require an EIR as set forth "hereafter under "Categoxical Exemptions." 4.' A Negative Declaration is duly prepared and filed which states that the project will have no significant impact on the environment. Ministerial-Discretionary A project is ministerial if the only determination to be made is whether it conforms to applicable regulations, for example, issuance of a building permit for a p~oject which complies with the building regulations and requires no other prior approval such as a conditional use permit. Approval of a final subd:lyision,map is ministerial because the only criterion for,approval is compliance with the terms of the approved tentative, subdivision map. ,Approval of a tentative subdivision map requires . " " the ~xerciBe' of judgment and is, therefore, a dis- cretionary act, as are,'for example, approval of conditional use permits, zori~ variance~, lot splits, General Plan'amendments, Z~ning,Ordinance,amehdments and public projects. -2- 4326 Emergency Projects Emergency projects are those undertaken as immediate action to prevent or mitigate an emergency. (Guidelines, Section 1507l) Categorical Exemptions Article 8, Section 15100 of the Guidelines lists classes and types of projects which are exempt, from the provisions of the Environmental Quality Act of 19700 In accordance with the Guidelines, it is determined that modification permits under the Zoning Ordinance and weed abatement projects do not have a significant effect on the environment, are consistent with classes of exemptions in the Guidelines, and are therefore also exempt, subject to the next paragraph. A project in any exempt class listed in the Guidelines shall be evaluated to determine whether the cumulative impact of successive projects creates a significant.impact. (Guidelines, Section 15114) Negative Declaration If there is a possibility that a project may have a significant effect on the environment, an initial study shall be made to determine if the project may have a significant effect on the environment. The study and determination shall be made in accordance with the Guidelines, Sections 15081 and 15082 and shall take into consideration all other relevant considerations. If the determination is that the project will have no significant impact, a Negative -~ 4326 Declaration shall be prepared, otherwise an EIR shall be prepared. Bo Preparation of an EIR for a City project shall \ commence at the time the initial decision is made to proceed with a project and preliminary plans are authorized; for other projects, preparation shall commence at the time a formal application for the project is made to the City. A draft EIR shall be completed at least ten days before a public hearing thereon. If a p~blic hearing is scheduled and the draft EIR is not completed ten days before the hearing, the hearing shall be continued or rescheduled, unless ,the draft EIR is completed by the time of the hearing and the body before whom the hearing is scheduled determines, after public comment relating to such determination, that the public interest will be served by proce~ding with the hearing 0 C. Comments on the draft EIR shall be sought from the public, particularly from persons with special expertise on environmental aspects of the project, and from public agencies which have jurisdiction with respect to the project or some aspect thereof, i08., the school districts, flood control district, etc. A list of such agencies shall be maintained and a draft EIR shall be distributed to the appropriate agencies with a request for comments and a notice that if within ten days the agency does not respond, or indicates that it will respond at some later time, it will be assumed that the agency has no comment to make. Copies of the draft EIR shall be available to the public upon request. The City Manager is authorized to establish a price for copies based on reproduction costs. The final EIR shall consist of the draft EIR, an addendum containing comments received on the EIR, either verbatim -4- 4326 or in summary, and the City's response to the significant environ- mental points raised in the comments. IV Public Hearing Each EIR shall be set for a public hearing before the body authorized to approve or authorize commencement of the project. The hearing may be combined with any other hearing on the project, i.e., conditional use permit hearing. V Notices A. When a determination is made that a project will have no significant effect on the environment a Ne~ative Declaration shall be prepared and filed with the County Clerk and posted on the bulletin board outside the City Council Chambers in the City Hall. Approval to proceed with the project shall not be effective until after seven days from the posting and filing of the Negative Declaration. Until such approval is given, anyone may file a written protest which shall be reviewed and a redetermination made. If it then appears that a significant environmental impact may' result, the original determination shall be set aside and an EIR prepared; otherwise, the.project may proceed. B. When the draft EIR is completed a Notice of Completion in accordance with Appendix C of the Guidelines shall be filed with the Secretary of the Resources Agency; at the same time, a similar notice stating that copies of the report are available and that comments are invited from the public shall be posted on said bulletin board and sent to the editors of the local newspapers. If a public hearing has been scheduled, tentatively or otherwise, such date shall be stated in the notice. -5- 4326 C. EIR Public HearinR notice shall be published in the official newspaper and mailed to any applicant at least ten days before the hearing, The notice of EIR Public Hearing may be com- bined with the notice of a public hearing relating to a conditional use permit, zone change, etc., relating to the project. D. When a final decision is made relative to approval of a project a Notice of Determination shall thereupon be prepared and filed with the County Clerk. (Public Resources Code, Section 21152) VI Fees A. After being notified that an EIR will be prepared, the applicant shall deposit with the City a sum sufficient to cover and meet all City expenses for the preparation and processing of the EIR, including notices of hearings; the amount to be deposited shall be estimated by the City official responsible for preparing the report. B. Any balance remaining in such fund over and above actual City expenses after completion and processing of the report by the City, shall be refunded to the applicant making the deposit. Should the City's expenses exceed the amount deIlosited, the applicant shall pay that additional sum before final action is taken by the City on the project, C, In addition, the applicant shall provide, at his cost, such information as is requested by the City to assist in the preparation of the,report. SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution. -6- 4326 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Arcadia held on the 3rd day of April , 1973, by the affirmative vote of at least three Councilmen, to wit: AYES: Councilmen Arth, Butterworth, Scott and Hage NOES: ' None ABSENT: Councilman Helms ~40~ City Clerk of the City of Arcadia SIGNED AND APPROVED this 3rd day of April , 1973, ~~'/f;< . Mayor of the Cit Arcadia ATTEST: ~p;~S~ City Clerk (SEAL) -7- 4326