CITY OF FRESNO
CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
THE PROJECT DESCRIBED HEREIN IS DETEMINED TO BE CATEGORICALLY
EXEMPT FROM THE PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS
PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 19 OF THE STATE CEQA GUIDELINES.
CONTACT: Patricia Diep, Project Manager
City of Fresno – Capital Projects Department
747 R Street, 2nd Floor
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: 559-621-8836
Email: [email protected]
PROJECT TITLE: Replacement of Fiber Optic Cabling at Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility
PROJECT LOCATIONS: Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility 5607 W. Jensen Ave.
Fresno, CA 93706
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Upgrading network communication infrastructure by replacing 27 year old multi-mode fiber optic cabling with single mode cable which runs throughout the wastewater
facility. This work includes installation of fiber optic cables, rack and wall mount housing, and pigtail
cassettes to terminate the fiber.
The Project is exempt under Section 1530 1/Class 1 and 15302/Class 2 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Under Section 15301/Class 1 for Existing Facilities, projects are exempt from CEQA when they consist of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use .
Examples include but are not limited to existing facilities of both investor and publicly owned utilities used to provide electric power, natural gas, sewerage, or other public utility services.
Under Section 15302/Class 2 for Replacement or Reconstruction, projects are exempt from CEQA when they consist of replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced, including, but not limited to replacement or reconstruction of existing utility systems and/or facilities involving negligible or no expansion of capacity.
The Project described herein represents the recommended replacement of the existing multi-mode fiber optic cabl es to single -mode fiber optic ca ble which are required by today’s standards for compatibility and reliability to transport network data t hroughout wastewater facility at the Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility (RWRF). The Project will not expand the use of the existing facility, nor will it relocate any existing facilities or structures. The Project consists of removing old multi-mode fiber optic cable with the new single mode fiber optic cable to adequately support transport data for the network and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system at RWRF.
As such, the replacement work of the existing fiber optic cables is exempt under Section 15301/Class 1 and 15302/Class 2 of the CEQA Guidelines.
None of the exceptions to Categorical Exemptions set forth in the CEQA Guidelines, Section 15300.2, apply:
(a) Location The Project is not located in a sensitive environment or an environmental resource of hazardous or critical
concern as designated by federal, state, or local
agencies. The work is entirely located at the RWRF.
(b) Cumulative Impact The Project will not have a cumulative negative impact over time that is significant from successive
projects of the same type in the same place. The
Project merely entails replacement work at an
existing facility.
(c) Significant Effect The Project will not have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. All work
will be limited to repairing and replacing components
of existing facility at the RWRF. There are no unusual
circumstances present for this project.
(d) Scenic Highways The Project will not result in damage to scenic resources, including but not limited to, trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources,
within a highway officially designated as a state
scenic highway. The Project is not located near
scenic highways.
(e) Hazardous Waste Sites The Project is not located on a hazardous waste site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to
Section 65962.5 of the Government Code.
(f) Historical Resources The Project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource.
The existing facilities at the RWRF are not
considered historical resources.
F
urthermore, the proposed project is not expected to have a significant effect on the environment. Accordingly, a categorical exemption, as noted above, has been prepared for the project.
Date: June 6, 2024
Prepared by: Patricia Diep