PURPOSE
This procedure provides a guideline for engaging in a preliminary environmental review of the project. All capital projects must have some form of environmental clearance. A necessary step for each of the Bureau’s projects is to ensure that it meets the required standards of environmental review pursuant to federal and state law. In some cases, additional environmental regulations apply, as in the case of projects that lie within the coastal zone. For the Bureau, responsibility for determining compliance with environmental review laws lies with the Environmental Management Group (EMG) of the Architectural/Engineering (A/E) Consulting Services Program.
REFERENCES
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RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Manager (PM): It is the responsibility of each PM to diligently execute all actions required to complete the assigned project. The completion of an appropriate environmental document is one of these actions. The PM is responsible to contact the EMG by filling out a Request for Environmental Review Services form for the project. This will initiate a project review by the EMG.
Project Engineer (PE): On complex projects the PM may bring in a PE to assist the PM with his/her responsibilities.
Environmental Management Group (EMG): It is the responsibility of the Environmental Management Group to determine what type of environmental clearance will be necessary to comply with the environmental laws and to work with the PM in preparing the appropriate documents.
PROCEDURE
The PM or PE should request assistance from the EMG in the early stages of pre-design (Attachment 7.4-1). Due to the length of time required to obtain the various environmental documents, the process of producing the environmental documents should be started as soon as the project scope is defined.
At this stage, enough details about the project should be available to enable the EMG to determine, with some certainty, the type of environmental documentation to be prepared. Funding sources should also be determined at this stage to enable the EMG to indicate if compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is required. The scope of the project should be communicated to the EMG via the Technical Memo (Attachment 7.1-1) in Procedure 7.1. The following timeframes are generalized estimates for the EMG’s preparation of each type of environmental document.
Projects Without Federal Funding and Special Considerations
For projects not involving federal funding, and for projects that do not require special considerations because of controversy, location, or other complications, the following guidelines should be used in estimating timeframes for the EMG’s preparation of the specified environmental documents:
| Categorical Exemption | 1-2 weeks | Normal |
| 8 hours | Rush |
Categorical exemption is an exemption from CEQA for a class of projects based on a finding by the Secretary for Resources that the class of projects does not have a significant effect on the environment.
| Negative Declaration | 6 months | Normal |
| 3 months | Rush |
Negative declaration is a written statement briefly describing the reasons that a proposed project will not have a significant effect on the environment and does not require the preparation of an environmental impact report. Mitigated negative declaration is a negative declaration prepared for a project when the initial study has identified potentially significant effects on the environment, but (1) revisions in the project plans or proposals made or agreed to by the applicant, before the proposed negative declaration and initial study are released for public review, would avoid or mitigate the effects to a point where clearly no significant effect on the environment would occur, and (2) there is no substantial evidence, in light of the whole record before the public agency, that the project as revised, may have a significant effect on the environment.
| Environmental Impact Reports | 1-2 years | Normal |
| 8 months | Rush |
An environmental impact report is an informational document which provides public agencies and the public, in general, with detailed information about the environmental effects of a proposed project; lists ways in which the significant effects of such a project might be minimized or mitigated; and indicates alternatives to such a project.
Projects with Federal Funding or Special Considerations
For projects that involve federal funding or require special considerations because of controversy or location, a different timeframe will be determined by the EMG on a case-by-case basis.
Environmental Site Assessments
It may become necessary to conduct an environmental assessment of a site proposed for use for a particular project. An example would be a site proposed for purchase by the city in order to construct a project. In such a case, an environmental site assessment would be required. There can be three phases to such assessments, each depending on the results of the previous assessment.
Phase I - Environmental Site Assessment: The process by which a person or entity seeks to determine if a particular parcel of real property (including improvements) is subject to the presence or likely presence of any hazardous substance or petroleum products on a property under conditions that indicate an existing release, a past release, or a material threat of a release of any hazardous substances or petroleum products into structures on the property or into the ground, groundwater, or surface water of the property. A Phase I assessment may require 2 to 3 months to conduct.
Phase II - Environmental Site Assessment: A subsurface assessment to determine the presence and/or extent of a release of hazardous substances and/or petroleum products to the soil and/or groundwater.
Phase III - Environmental Site Assessment: Remediation of a property found to contain hazardous substances and/or petroleum products exceeding regulatory limits.
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