Chapter 7.05
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
7.05.030 State law and guidelines controlling.
7.05.010 Policy and purpose.
It is the policy of the Seaside County Sanitation District to develop, preserve and protect the urban and natural environment in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 as amended.
These guidelines are adopted pursuant to the provisions of Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21082 and are for the purpose of establishing objectives, criteria and procedures for the evaluation of projects and the preparation of environmental impact reports under CEQA in a manner consistent with state CEQA guidelines contained in Cal. Code Regs. Chapter 3, Division 6, of Title 14 (commencing with § 15000). (Ord. 8 Art. 1 §§ 1, 2, 1977)
7.05.020 Definitions.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall govern these guidelines:
“Applicant” means a person who proposes to carry out a project.
“Approval” of a project means the decision, either by the district or by administrative action, which commits the district to a definite course of action in regard to the project.
“Categorical exemption” means an exception from the requirements of CEQA for a class of projects based on a finding by the district engineer that the class of projects does not have a significant effect on the environment.
“CEQA” means the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, and amendments thereto, as set forth in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21000 et seq.
“Cumulative impacts” refers to two or more individual effects which, when considered together, are considerable or which compound or increase other environmental impacts. The individual effects may be changes resulting from a single project or a number of separate projects.
“Discretionary project” means an activity defined as a project which requires the exercise of judgment, deliberation, or decision on the part of the district board or on the part of the district engineer in the process of approving or disapproving a particular activity, as distinguished from situations where it is only necessary to determine whether there has been conformity with applicable statutes, ordinances or regulations.
“District” means the Seaside County Sanitation District.
“District board” means the board of directors of the Seaside County Sanitation District.
“District engineer” means the engineer of the Seaside County Sanitation District.
“Emergency” means a sudden, unexpected occurrence, involving a clear and imminent danger, demanding action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services. Emergency includes such occurrences as fire, flood, earthquake, or other soil or geologic movements, as well as such occurrences as riot, accident, or sabotage.
“Environment” means the physical conditions which exist within the area which will be affected by a proposed project, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, objects of historic or aesthetic significance.
“Environmental documents” means draft and final EIRs, initial studies, negative declarations, notices of completion and notices of determination.
“Environmental impact report” or “EIR” means a detailed statement setting forth the environmental effects and considerations pertaining to a project as specified in Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21000 et seq., and may mean either a draft EIR or a final EIR. “Draft EIR” means an EIR containing the information in Cal. Code Regs. §§ 15141, 15142, 15143, and 15144. “Final EIR” means an EIR containing the information contained in the draft EIR, comments either verbatim or in summary received in the review process, a list of persons commenting, and the district’s response to the comments received.
“Environmental impact statement” or “EIS” means an environmental impact document prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“Feasible” means capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, social, and technological factors.
“Initial study” means a preliminary analysis prepared by the district engineer to determine if the project may have a significant effect on the environment.
“Ministerial project” as a general rule includes those activities defined as projects which are undertaken or approved by a governmental decision which the district engineer having jurisdiction makes upon a given set of facts in a prescribed manner in obedience to the mandate of legal authority. With these projects, the district engineer must act upon the given facts without regard to his own judgment or opinion concerning the propriety or wisdom of the act although the statute, ordinance, or regulation may require, to some degree, a construction of its language by the officer. In summary, a ministerial decision involves only the use of fixed standards or objective measurements without personal judgment.
“Negative declaration” means a written statement prepared by the district engineer and adopted by the board briefly describing the reasons that a proposed project, although not otherwise exempt, will not have a significant effect on the environment and therefore does not require the preparation of an EIR.
“Notice of completion” means a brief notice to be filed by the city with the Secretary for Resources of the State of California as soon as it has completed a draft EIR and is prepared to send out copies for review.
“Notice of determination” means a brief notice to be filed by district with the clerk of Monterey County after the decision of district to approve or disapprove a project has been made.
“Person” includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, company, or public agency.
“Preliminary evaluation” means a written report prepared by the lead agency to determine whether an application, plan or public works expenditure is a project, ministerially exempt, categorically exempt or exempt for emergency reasons or whether an initial study or EIR must be prepared.
“Preliminary finding” means a written report based on or part of the preliminary evaluation that states whether a project is exempt or an initial study or EIR must be prepared.
“Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in a physical change in the environment, directly or ultimately, that is any of the following:
1. An activity directly undertaken by the district or any public agency, including but not limited to public works construction and related activities, clearing or grading of land, and the improvements to existing public structures.
2. An activity undertaken by a person which is supported in whole or in part through contracts, grants, subsidies, loans, or other forms of assistance from the district.
The term “project” refers to the underlying activity and not to the governmental approval process. It does not include anything specifically exempted by state law, or emergency repairs to public service facilities necessary to maintain service.
“Significant effect on the environment” means a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in any of the physical conditions within the area affected by the activity, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, and objects of historic or aesthetic significance.
“State guidelines” means the regulations adopted by the California Resources Agency set forth in Cal. Code Regs. Chapter 3, Division 6, Title 14 (commencing with § 15000) as amended. (Ord. 8 Art. 2 § 1, 1977)
7.05.030 State law and guidelines controlling.
These guidelines are intended to conform to, and shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with, the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as amended, and the state guidelines adopted pursuant thereto. In the event of any conflict between these guidelines and the state statutes and guidelines, the state statutes and guidelines shall control. (Ord. 8 Art. 14 § 1, 1977)