ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The University of California is required to
comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The scope of University activities that may be subject to
CEQA is very broad. The following description pertains to
CEQA compliance for capital projects.
Purpose (from UC CEQA Handbook)
"CEQA was conceived as a means to
require public agencies to consider and disclose to the public
the environmental implications of their actions….CEQA
imposes an obligation to implement mitigation measures or
project alternatives to mitigate adverse environmental effects,
if these measures or alternatives are feasible. Thus,
CEQA establishes both a procedural obligation to analyze and
make public adverse physical environmental effects, as well as
a substantive obligation to mitigate impacts."
Environmental Impact Report (from UC CEQA
Handbook)
"Probably the best known element of
CEQA is its requirement that public agencies must prepare an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) whenever a proposed project
may cause significant effects on the environment. As
stated in CEQA Section 21002:1: The purpose of an EIR is
to identify the significant effects of a project on the
environment, to identify alternatives to the project, and to
indicate the manner in which those significant effects can be
mitigated or avoided."
"In a practical sense, EIRs serve
other important functions in addition to meeting the legal
requirements of CEQA. EIRs, although largely technical
documents focusing on the physical environment, are intended to
provide an opportunity for the public to participate in the
decision-making process for proposed projects, and to provide
the public and decision makers with full information about the
impacts of a project. Thus, the EIR process serves as a
framework for public dialogue about the adverse impacts, as
well as the merits, of proposed projects. "
However, a full EIR is not always required,
even for major capital projects. For example, if a project
conforms to the 2020 Long Range Development Plan, and if the
potential impacts of the project were fully anticipated and
analyzed in the master or ‘program’ EIR prepared
for the 2020 LRDP as a whole, the CEQA process for such a
project can often be more focused and less extensive. The
required CEQA process for each project is determined by PEP in
phase 3 of the project approval process.
CEQA Process and Milestones
The CEQA process is prescribed by state law
and shaped by regulatory time periods: the schedule cannot be
compressed and is often lengthened in response to complexity or
controversy. The timeframe for completion and
certification of a full EIR is typically 12-15 months, although
as noted above, projects in conformance with the 2020 LRDP can
sometimes qualify for a less extensive process.
Full EIRs are prepared by consultants under
the direction of PEP staff; less extensive CEQA documents are
often prepared by PEP staff. The cost of both staff and
consultant time spent on CEQA documents is borne by the project
budget.
The relationship of the CEQA process to the
project approval process is shown in the Milestones table: the
CEQA process depends on information about the project which is
generated as the project develops, so the two must occur
simultaneously.
CEQA documents for projects over $10
million must be certified by the Regents; projects $5 to $10
million are certified by UCOP, and those under $5 million by
the campus. It is the campus practice to obtain certification
of the CEQA documents before starting Working Drawings. Working
Drawings are the most costly design phase, and there is
significant risk to authorizing this work before the CEQA
process is complete.
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