California Natural Resources Agency Issues NPRM re: Proposed Amendments and Additions to Its CEQA Guidelines

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Today, our colleagues Kevin Ashe, and Eric Moorman posted their Alert titled Natural Resources Agency Launches CEQA Guidelines RulemakingThe Alert  discusses the California Natural Resources Agency’s issuances of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on January 26, 2018. The NPRM proposes a comprehensive update to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations, to reflect recent legislative changes to CEQA, clarify certain portions of the existing CEQA Guidelines, and update the CEQA Guidelines consistent with recent court decisions.” Key takeaways include:

  • The proposed CEQA Guidelines amendments are the most comprehensive update since 1998.
  • The proposal would also adopt the Vehicle-Miles-Traveled (VMT) methodology for transportation impact analysis.
  • Comments on the proposed CEQA Guidelines are due to the Natural Resources Agency by March 15, 2018.