Resolution - 2020-14�YI]�ly� [I]ri�Cl��ly�l3C!
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST
COVINA, CALIFORNIA ADOPTING PROCEDURES NECESSARY TO
IMPLEMENT THE CALIFIORNIA ENVIRONMNETAL QUALITY ACT
(CEQA) AND THE CEQA GUIDELINES BY INCORPORATING THE
CEQA GUIDELINES INTO THE OPERATIONS OF THE CITY OF WEST
COVINA AND REPEALING RESOLUTION NO.2016-26
WHEREAS, on May 2, 2000 the City Council adopted City Council Resolution No. 2000-
35 that adopted procedures for the implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act;
WHEREAS, on April 5, 2016 the City Council adopted City Council Resolution No. 2016-
26 revising the City's procedures for the implementation of the California Environmental Quality
Act;
NOW THEREFORE, The City Council of the City of West Covina does resolve as
follows:
Section 1. Reneal of Resolution No. 2016-26
The procedures for implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act adopted by
Resolution No. 2016-26 are repealed in their entirety and replaced with the procedures set forth
herein.
Section 2. Authori
These procedures are adopted to implement the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"),
Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq., and the State CEQA Guidelines ("State
Guidelines"), Title 14 California Administrative Code Section 15000 et seq., pursuant to State
Guidelines Section 15022 (d).
Section 3. Incorporation of State Guidelines by Reference
The City Council hereby incorporates the State Guidelines, as they now exist or may be amended
hereafter, by this reference as though fully set forth herein. The procedures established by this
resolution implement and tailor the general provisions of the State Guidelines to the specific
operations of the City of West Covina. This resolution is not intended to replace the State
Guidelines. If any section of this resolution is in conflict with or contrary to any provisions of the
State Guidelines as they now exist or may be amended hereafter, the State Guidelines shall control.
Section 4. Delegation of Responsibility to the Community Development Director
The Community Development Director shall be responsible for the following CEQA functions to
the extent permitted by law:
(a) Determining whether a proposal constitutes a "project' as defined in Section 15378 of the
State Guidelines;
(b) Determining whether a project is exempt;
(c) Preparing or directing the preparation of an Initial Study and deciding whether to prepare a
Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative Declaration or Environmental Impact Report
(EIR);
(d) Preparing or directing the preparation of a Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative
Declaration or FIR;
(e) Determining that a Negative Declaration has been completed within a period of 105 days or
an EIR within a period of one year from the date an application has been accepted as
complete;
(I) Preparing or directing the preparation of responses to comments on environmental notices
and documents;
(g) Filing or directing the filing of notices required or authorized by the National Environmental
Protection Act ("NEPA"), CEQA, the State Guidelines, or as otherwise required by law;
(h) Consulting with and obtaining comments from other public agencies and the public as
required by CEQA;
(i) Assuring adequate opportunity and time for public review and commentary as required by
CEQA; and
0) Developing procedures for monitoring, reporting and enforcing mitigation conditions.
Section 5. Procedures for Contracting for the Preparation of Environmental
Reports and Studies Required by the State Guidelines
The following procedures shall be used for the selection of environmental consulting firms to
prepare those Initial Studies, Negative Declarations, Mitigated Negative Declarations, and EIRs
(collectively, "Environmental Reports") as may be required by CEQA.
(a) Consultant Selection. The City shall select and maintain a resource list of qualified
environmental consulting firms to prepare the environmental review and analysis. The resource list
should be compiled based on qualifications submitted by individual firms as part of a Request for
Qualifications.
(b) The applicant may only use a firm listed on the qualified environmental consulting firms
list to prepare the environmental review and analysis for a project.
(c) Reports. Environmental review and analysis shall be prepared by a qualified consultant
under the supervision and direction of the City as specified in the Delegation of Responsibility to
the Community Development Director in Section 4 above. Following a determination that some
type of Environmental Report is required by the City, the applicant may contract with one of the
consultants on the list selected by the City to prepare an appropriate technical report. Upon
selection the applicant and consultant shall sign the policy document that they understand these
procedures.
(d) Costs. Cost associated with the preparation, printing, and distribution of Environmental
Reports and addenda and supplements for projects shall be borne by the applicant. The applicant
shall also be required to pay the actual time and materials cost incurred by the City for the
additional staff time required to administrate the preparation of the document at the hourly rate
adopted in the City's Fee Schedule. This cost will be in addition to processing the development
application for which the Environmental Reports is being prepared.
(e) Selection of Consultant. An applicant must select a prequalified consultant listed on
Attachment 2 and notify the City. The selected consultant shall schedule a kickoff meeting with
City staff, which the applicant may attend. The following items shall be discussed at the kickoff
meeting:
• Completion of the Initial Study Checklist,
• The project description, project goals and objectives,
• Potential types of technical studies to be conducted,
• The environmental baseline
• The thresholds of review
During the preparation of the relevant environmental documents, the consultant is allowed free
access to the applicant, provided that the Community Development Director is notified ahead of
time of any meeting between the applicant and the consultant, and that no meeting be held without
Planning staff s prior knowledge and consent. For instance, it may be advisable that the applicant
review and comment on the draft project description for accuracy and to ensure no project
components are excluded. All information shall be provided concurrently to City staff and the
applicant. The City shall be copied on all email correspondence to and from the applicant related to
the environmental review process.
City staff shall agree to all the following before preparation of any environmental documents:
1. The project description,
2. Project goals and objectives,
3. The types of technical studies,
4. The appropriate environmental baseline, and
5. Thresholds of review.
(f) Review of Draft and Final Documents. When the consultant completes draft documents, the
City and the applicant shall both receive copies. The consultant shall work with the City to develop
all mitigation measures. Any revisions requested by the applicant shall be approved by the City.
The selected consultant shall attend all public hearings.
(g) Submittal of Documents to Recorders Office. All documents required to be filed with the
County Recorders office shall be the prepared, submitted and paid for by the consultant including,
but not limited to, the NOP, NOE, NOD, and De Minimis finding.
(h) Compliance with Procedures. Selected consultants shall comply with these procedures.
Noncompliance with the procedures will be cause to remove the consultant from the list of
qualified environmental consulting firms.
(i) Within thirty (30) days of adoption of this resolution, the Community Development
Director shall prepare administrative guidelines for the consultant and applicant. The consultant
and applicant shall sign the administrative policy document that they understand the procedures.
Section 6. Severability
If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or portion of this
resolution, or the application thereof to any person, is for any reason held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not
affect the validity of the remaining portion of this resolution or its application to other persons.
The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this resolution and each section,
subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact
that any one or more subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions of the
application thereof to any person, be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 7. City Discretion
For large projects that might entail the preparation of an EIR, the City, at its sole discretion, may
use other methods in the selection of a consultant. The absence of any of the above noted data from
the resource list, or the choosing of an alternative qualified consultant not on the resource list to
prepare an Environmental Report or other technical document, shall not invalidate the consultant
selection.
Section 8. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall enter the
same in the book of original resolutions and it shall become effective immediately.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED on this 311 day of March 2020.
APPROVEJD AS TO FORM
Thom s P. e
ATTES
5
L' a h crick
s stant City Clerk
I, LISA SHERRICK, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK of the City of West Covina, California, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. 2020-14 was duly adopted by the City Council of
the City of West Covina, California, at a regular meeting thereof held on the 3rd day of March,
2020, by the following vote of the City Council:
AYES: Castellanos, Johnson, Shewmaker, Lopez-Viado, Wu
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Lis heirick
A stant City Clerk