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Planning and Building Agency <br />santa-ana.org/departments/planning-and-building/ <br />Item # 22 <br />or City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Staff Report <br />August 1, 2023 <br />TOPIC: Resolution Adopting Local CEQA Guidelines Resolution <br />AGENDA TITLE <br />Adoption of 2023 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental <br />Quality Act ("CEQA") <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />Adopt a resolution adopting the 2023 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California <br />Environmental Quality Act for the City of Santa Ana. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), codified at Public Resources Code <br />section 21000, et seq., is California's most comprehensive environmental law. It <br />generally requires public agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of their actions <br />before they are taken. CEQA also aims to disclose significant environmental effects of <br />projects and prevent significant environmental effects from occurring as a result of <br />agency actions by requiring agencies to avoid or reduce, when feasible, the significant <br />environmental impacts of their decisions. <br />Local CEQA Guidelines <br />CEQA requires public agencies to adopt specific objectives, criteria, and procedures for <br />evaluating public and private projects that are undertaken or approved by such <br />agencies. As in prior years, Best, Best and Krieger (BB&K) assisted the City of Santa <br />Ana in preparing a set of Local CEQA Guidelines that are in compliance with CEQA's <br />requirements. The Local Guidelines provide step-by-step procedures for evaluating <br />projects prior to approval including: <br />• General Provisions & Definitions <br />• Time Limits <br />• Initial Study <br />• Exemptions <br />• Negative Declarations/Mitigated Negative Declarations <br />City Council 22 — 1 8/1/2023 <br />