Resolution - 2016-26RESOLUTION NO. 2016-26
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST
COVINA REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 2000-35, INCORPORATING
THE STATE CEQA GUIDELINES BY REFERENCE AND ADOPTING
SPECIFIC PROCEDURES NECESSARY TO TAILOR THE CEQA
GUIDELINES TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE CITY OF WEST
COVINA
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, the City Council desires to repeal the procedures adopted by Resolution
2000-35 in their entirety, and desires instead to incorporate the State CEQA Guidelines, Title 14
California Administrative Code Section 15000 et seq., by reference and desires to adopt only
those specific procedures necessary to tailor the CEQA Guidelines to the operations of the City
of West Covina.
NOW THEREFORE, The City Council of the City of West Covina does resolve as
follows:
Section 1. Repeal of Resolution No. 2000-35
The procedures for implementation of the Califonria Environmental Quality Act adopted by
Resolution No. 2000-335 are repealed in their entirety and replaced with the procedures set forth
herein.
Section 2. Authority
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 Referenc
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 PlanninlZ Directo
The Planning 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 EIR;
(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;
(f) 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 Contractin14 for the Preparation of Environmental
Report 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 maintain a resource list of qualified environmental
consulting firms and may use that list as well as other available sources from which to select a
consultant, if any, to prepare the Environmental Reports. The resource list should be complied
based on qualifications submitted by individual firms and should consist of:
1) Names and resumes of principals and employees of the firm who will be involved in the
preparation of Environmental Reports.
2) A listing of any relevant environmental documents prepared by the firm for which the
firm was the lead consultant. Additional projects for which the firm was a sub -
consultant may also be listed. The name of the project manager should be included, as
well as the scope of work and a list of references.
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.
(b) Reports. Environmental Reports shall be prepared by a qualified consultant under
contract to the City. Following a determination that some type of Environmental Report is
required, the Planning Director shall prepare a Request For Proposal (RFP) to prepare an
appropriate technical report.
(c) Request for Proposal. The RFP should include a detailed project description, project
information, the Notice of Preparation and initial study (if one was prepared), and the scope of
work. Except where a sole source contract with a consultant who has prepared prior
environmental documentation for a particular project is appropriate, an RFP should be sent to at
least three consulting firms included on the City' Environmental Reports consultant resource
list, and/or may be sent to additional qualified firms as determined to be appropriate by the
Planning Director or his/her designee. The RFP should include a time line for responses to the
City. The proposal shall be required to discuss the work to be done, the time required to
complete the work, and the maximum cost for time and materials based on the stated scope of
work.
(d) Recommendation. The Planning Director shall submit his/her recommendation of a
consultant to the City Council or City Manager, as applicable, for approval of the consultant.
(e) Costs. Cost associated with the preparation, printing, and distribution of Environmental
Reports and addenda and supplements for private projects shall be borne by the applicant. Prior
to the City signing the consultant contract to prepare the Environmental Reports, the applicant
shall deposit funds sufficient to pay for the required Environmental Reports in a City fund or
account dedicated to that purpose. These funds shall be released by the City to the
Environmental Reports consultant according the terms of the contract.
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.
During the preparation of the environmental report, the City's consultant should be allowed free
access to the applicant, provided that the Planning Staff 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
cornment on the Draft EIRs project description for accuracy and to ensure no project
components are excluded. No infori-nation or conclusions should be released by the consultant
to the applicant prior to notification to the City of such information.
Section 6. SeverabilitV
If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or portion of this
resolution, or the application thereo ' f 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.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED on this 5�'day of April, 2016.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
11 Barlow
City Attorney
Toma
J 'Is
a or
ATTEST:
Nickolas S. Lewis
City Clerk
I, HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the City Council of the
City of West Covina, California, at a regular meeting thereof on the 5th day of April, 2016, by the
following vote of City Council:
AYES: Johnson, Spence, Warshaw, Wu, Toma
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Nickolas S.-Lewis�
City Clerk,