SECTIONS 21100-21108 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 21100-21108

21100. (a) All lead agencies shall prepare, or cause to be prepared
by contract, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact
report on any project which they propose to carry out or approve that
may have a significant effect on the environment. Whenever feasible,
a standard format shall be used for environmental impact reports.
(b) The environmental impact report shall include a detailed
statement setting forth all of the following:
(1) All significant effects on the environment of the proposed
project.
(2) In a separate section:
(A) Any significant effect on the environment that cannot be
avoided if the project is implemented.
(B) Any significant effect on the environment that would be
irreversible if the project is implemented.
(3) Mitigation measures proposed to minimize significant effects
on the environment, including, but not limited to, measures to reduce
the wasteful, inefficient, and unnecessary consumption of energy.
(4) Alternatives to the proposed project.
(5) The growth-inducing impact of the proposed project.
(c) The report shall also contain a statement briefly indicating
the reasons for determining that various effects on the environment
of a project are not significant and consequently have not been
discussed in detail in the environmental impact report.
(d) For purposes of this section, any significant effect on the
environment shall be limited to substantial, or potentially
substantial, adverse changes in physical conditions which exist
within the area as defined in Section 21060.5.
(e) Previously approved land use documents, including, but not
limited to, general plans, specific plans, and local coastal plans,
may be used in cumulative impact analysis.

21100.1. The information described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 21100 shall be required only in
environmental impact reports prepared in connection with the
following:
(a) The adoption, amendment, or enactment of a plan, policy, or
ordinance of a public agency.
(b) The adoption by a local agency formation commission of a
resolution making determinations.
(c) A project which will be subject to the requirement for
preparing an environmental impact statement pursuant to the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

21100.2. (a) (1) For projects described in subdivision (c) of
Section 21065, each state agency shall establish, by resolution or
order, time limits that do not exceed the following:
(A) One year for completing and certifying environmental impact
reports.
(B) One hundred eighty days for completing and adopting negative
declarations.
(2) The time limits specified in paragraph (1) shall apply only to
those circumstances in which the state agency is the lead agency for
a project. These resolutions or orders may establish different time
limits for different types or classes of projects, but all limits
shall be measured from the date on which an application requesting
approval of the project is received and accepted as complete by the
state agency.
(3) No application for a project may be deemed incomplete for lack
of a waiver of time periods prescribed in state regulations.
(4) The resolutions or orders required by this section may provide
for a reasonable extension of the time period in the event that
compelling circumstances justify additional time and the project
applicant consents thereto.
(b) If a draft environmental impact report, environmental impact
report, or focused environmental impact report is prepared under a
contract to a state agency, the contract shall be executed within 45
days from the date on which the state agency sends a notice of
preparation pursuant to Section 21080.4. The state agency may take
longer to execute the contract if the project applicant and the state
agency mutually agree to an extension of the time limit provided by
this subdivision.

21101. In regard to any proposed federal project in this state
which may have a significant effect on the environment and on which
the state officially comments, the state officials responsible for
such comments shall include in their report a detailed statement
setting forth the matters specified in Section 21100 prior to
transmitting the comments of the state to the federal government. No
report shall be transmitted to the federal government unless it
includes such a detailed statement as to the matters specified in
Section 21100.

21102. No state agency, board, or commission shall request funds,
nor shall any state agency, board, or commission which authorizes
expenditures of funds, other than funds appropriated in the Budget
Act, authorize funds for expenditure for any project, other than a
project involving only feasibility or planning studies for possible
future actions which the agency, board, or commission has not
approved, adopted or funded, which may have a significant effect on
the environment unless such request or authorization is accompanied
by an environmental impact report.
Feasibility and planning studies exempted by this section from the
preparation of an environmental impact report shall nevertheless
include consideration of environmental factors.

21104. (a) Prior to completing an environmental impact report, the
state lead agency shall consult with, and obtain comments from, each
responsible agency, trustee agency, any public agency that has
jurisdiction by law with respect to the project, and any city or
county that borders on a city or county within which the project is
located unless otherwise designated annually by agreement between the
state lead agency and the city or county, and may consult with any
person who has special expertise with respect to any environmental
impact involved. In the case of a project described in subdivision
(c) of Section 21065, the state lead agency shall, upon the request
of the applicant, provide for early consultation to identify the
range of actions, alternatives, mitigation measures, and significant
effects to be analyzed in depth in the environmental impact report.
The state lead agency may consult with persons identified by the
applicant who the applicant believes will be concerned with the
environmental effects of the project and may consult with members of
the public who have made a written request to be consulted on the
project. A request by the applicant for early consultation shall be
made not later than 30 days after the determination required by
Section 21080.1 with respect to the project.
(b) The state lead agency shall consult with, and obtain comments
from, the State Air Resources Board in preparing an environmental
impact report on a highway or freeway project, as to the air
pollution impact of the potential vehicular use of the highway or
freeway.
(c) A responsible agency or other public agency shall only make
substantive comments regarding those activities involved in a project
that are within an area of expertise of the agency or that are
required to be carried out or approved by the agency. Those comments
shall be supported by specific documentation.

21104.2. The state lead agency shall consult with, and obtain
written findings from, the Department of Fish and Game in preparing
an environmental impact report on a project, as to the impact of the
project on the continued existence of any endangered species or
threatened species pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section
2090) of Chapter 1.5 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code.

21105. The state lead agency shall include the environmental impact
report as a part of the regular project report used in the existing
review and budgetary process. It shall be available to the
Legislature. It shall also be available for inspection by any member
of the general public, who may secure a copy thereof by paying for
the actual cost of such a copy. It shall be filed by the state lead
agency with the appropriate local planning agency of any city,
county, or city and county which will be affected by the project.

21106. All state agencies, boards, and commissions shall request in
their budgets the funds necessary to protect the environment in
relation to problems caused by their activities.

21108. (a) Whenever a state agency approves or determines to carry
out a project that is subject to this division, the state agency
shall file notice of that approval or that determination with the
Office of Planning and Research. The notice shall indicate the
determination of the state agency whether the project will, or will
not, have a significant effect on the environment and shall indicate
whether an environmental impact report has been prepared pursuant to
this division.
(b) Whenever a state agency determines that a project is not
subject to this division pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 21080
or Section 21172, and the state agency approves or determines to
carry out the project, the state agency or the person specified in
subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21065 may file notice of the
determination with the Office of Planning and Research. Any notice
filed pursuant to this subdivision by a person specified in
subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21065 shall have a certificate of
determination attached to it issued by the state agency responsible
for making the determination that the project is not subject to this
division pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 21080 or pursuant to
Section 21172. The certificate of determination may be in the form of
a certified copy of an existing document or record of the state
agency.
(c) All notices filed pursuant to this section shall be available
for public inspection, and a list of these notices shall be posted on
a weekly basis in the Office of Planning and Research. Each list
shall remain posted for a period of 30 days. The Office of Planning
and Research shall retain each notice for not less than 12 months.