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1.
SUBSEQUENT REVIEW FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF A PROJECT EIR
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Ordinarily, only one EIR is prepared for a proposed project.
Once an EIR has been completed, an agency may not require a
further EIR in order to reevaluate environmental issues that
have already been studied. An EIR that has been certified by
the lead agency is presumed to be legally adequate and cannot
be reopened unless one of the events that can trigger the need
for further environmental review occurs:
i. the proposed project is modified
ii. surrounding circumstances change or
iii. new information comes to light.
In addition, further environmental review to consider changes
to the project or surrounding circumstances may only be required
if new or more severe significant impacts that were not considered
in the prior EIR will occur. The new information trigger for
further environmental review is also narrowly defined. Further
environmental review may only be required if:
i. the new information could not have been known
when the EIR was certified, and
ii. the new information shows new or more severe
environmental impacts will occur, or
iii. that new feasible mitigation measures
or alternatives that will reduce significant impacts have become
available. CEQA Guidelines § 15162.
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2.
SUBSEQUENT REVIEW FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF A FIRST LEVEL EIR
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CEQA provides
a wide variety of procedures for conducting environmental review
in stages. The standards that apply when an agency relies on an
EIR which anticipates a second phase of environmental review are
somewhat different than the standards that apply after a project
EIR has been completed, although they involve similar concepts.
The first level EIRs that can be prepared include the following:
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A.
First Tier EIR.
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"Tiering"
refers to using the analysis of general matters contained in a
broad EIR on a policy level action with later EIRs concentrating
solely on the issues specific to a later, narrower project. CEQA
Guidelines § 15152. A Second Tier EIR may follow a First
Tier EIR, but its scope is limited to significant environmental
effects that were either not examined previously, or may be avoided
or substantially reduced through project revisions, mitigation
measures, or otherwise. CEQA Guidelines § 15152. The agency
must prepare an initial study to determine whether a Second Tier
EIR is necessary and to define the issues to be discussed in a
Second Tier EIR. CEQA Guidelines § 15063(b)(1)(C).
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B.
A Staged EIR.
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Staged EIRs
can be used when a large capital project will require a series
of discretionary approvals, and one of the approvals will occur
more than two years before construction. CEQA Guidelines § 15167.
A Second Stage EIR can be used to consider additional environmental
impacts, mitigation measures, or project alternatives that become
known after a First Stage EIR was completed. CEQA Guidelines § 15167(b).
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C.
A Program EIR.
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A Program
EIR can be prepared to evaluate a series of related actions that
contemplate several later individual development projects at a
general level. A Program EIR is especially useful for analyzing
broad environmental aspects of a series of actions at an early
stage of the planning process. After preparation of a Program
EIR, an agency determines whether the project under consideration
is within the scope of the program examined previously, whether
any new, unexamined significant impacts could occur, whether significant
changes have occurred to the project or its circumstances, and
whether significant new information has come to light. If the
current project is within the scope of the program, and if there
are no new significant impacts, changes in circumstances or significant
new information, then no additional environmental analysis is
required. CEQA Guidelines § 15168.
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D.
A Master EIR.
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A Master EIR
can be used to evaluate the general environmental impacts of certain
planning actions, such as adoption of a General Plan, regional
transportation plan, or mass transit project. A Master EIR should
define the minimum and maximum intensity of development contemplated,
and indicate what type of review will be required for subsequent
approvals. A Master EIR is presumed valid for five years, after
which the agency must evaluate whether it is still adequate. A
Master EIR may be followed by a Project EIR or a Focused EIR.
If the current project is within the scope of the Master EIR,
and the current project will not cause any unexamined significant
effect on the environment, then no further EIR is necessary. CEQA
Guidelines §§ 15175-15179.
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E.
A Planning or Zoning EIR.
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When a proposed
project is consistent with the development density established
by a general plan, community plan, or existing zoning for which
an EIR was prepared, further, environmental review is limited
to: project-specific significant effects which are peculiar to
the parcel or its site and which were not examined in the prior
EIR; potentially significant off-site impacts and cumulative impacts
not discussed in the prior EIR; and significant effects which
were previously examined which new information demonstrates are
more severe than they were shown to be in the prior EIR. Any project
EIR that is prepared focuses on the new issues that were not previously
examined, and need not extend to matters addressed in the prior
EIR. CEQA Guidelines § 15183.
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