CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 6/17/2025
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
SUBJECT:
2025 CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES UPDATE
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Adopt a Resolution Entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF LAKE FOREST, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING AND ADOPTING LOCAL
GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (PUB. RESOURCES CODE §§ 21000 ET SEQ.)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The State regularly adopts new California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Implementation Guidelines (“State CEQA Guidelines”). These updates are based on changes due to recent legislation and case law. Under State law, local agencies are required to adopt guidelines for implementing CEQA (“Local CEQA Guidelines”). These Local CEQA Guidelines are required to be updated to maintain consistency with the State’s CEQA Guidelines.
In response to the State’s recent updates, the City Attorney’s Office has prepared the 2025 Local CEQA Guidelines (Attachment 2). The updates proposed under the 2025 Local CEQA Guidelines include: (1) changes to reflect the name of the Office of Planning and Research (“OPR”) changing to the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (“LCI”); (2) updated web links to the CEQA filing portal hosted by LCI; (3) increased Department of Fish and Wildlife CEQA document filing fees; and, (4) additional exemptions for housing, mixed-use, transportation, and stormwater maintenance projects.
Staff recommend the City Council adopt the attached resolution approving the updates to the City’s Local CEQA Guidelines to remain in conformance with State law (Attachment 1). Attachment 2, prepared by the City Attorney’s office, is the City’s 2025 Local Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”).
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BACKGROUND:
CEQA sets forth policies and procedures for determining, analyzing, and mitigating potential environmental impacts associated with discretionary projects.
Discretionary projects are those that require a decision-maker to exercise judgment or deliberation, as opposed to ministerial projects, which only require the decision-maker to verify compliance with specific regulations.
The State Natural Resources Agency and the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation prepares and updates State CEQA Guidelines, which serve as the official interpretation to explain and implement CEQA. State law requires the State CEQA Guidelines be certified, adopted, and amended by the State Natural Resources Agency at least once every two years. However, the State Natural Resources Agency commonly updates the State CEQA Guidelines annually to keep pace with recent legislation and case law. In addition, the California Code of Regulations (“CCR”) Section 15022 requires local agencies to adopt Local CEQA Guidelines and procedures that serve to implement State CEQA Guidelines and function as a local stand-alone guide to the CEQA process. Therefore, the City’s Local CEQA Guidelines must be consistent and within the parameters of the State CEQA Guidelines which, in turn, must be consistent with CEQA itself. This relationship between CEQA, the State CEQA Guidelines, and the Local CEQA Guidelines is illustrated by the diagram below, Figure 1.
Figure 1: CEQA Guidelines
In 1991, the City of Lake Forest adopted Resolution No. 91-28, which set forth the City’s Local CEQA Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act. Over the years, the City has regularly adopted updated versions of Local CEQA Guidelines. The last update occurred in May 2024.
California
Environmental Quality
Act
(CEQA)
State CEQA Guidelines
Prepared by the
California Natural
Resources Agency
Local CEQA Guidelines
Prepared by the City
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DISCUSSION:
The Local CEQA Guidelines are updated by the City Attorney and are intended as an internal guidance document for staff to use in the review of projects and in the preparation of environmental documents subject to CEQA. The proposed 2025 Local CEQA Guidelines are consistent with revisions to CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines made in response to changes in legislation and case law (interpretations of the law through the legal system). Also recommended with this update is a slight increase in Department of Fish and Wildlife filing fees as further described in this report. The proposed 2025 Local CEQA Guidelines are included as Attachment 2.
The most notable update to the Local CEQA Guidelines pertains to the name of the Office of Planning and Research (“OPR”), changing to the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (“LCI”). Any reference to OPR has been updated to reflect the new LCI naming. In addition, the Local CEQA Guidelines have been updated to include the new website URL for “CEQASubmit,” the online portal hosted by LCI for filing environmental documents and notices. Some fees for filing environmental documents and notices have also been increased by the Department of Fish and Wildlife effective January 1, 2025, as follows:
1. Filing fees for Negative Declarations or Mitigated Negative Declarations were increased from $2,916.75 to $2,968.75.
2. Filing fees for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) were increased from $4,051.25 to $4,123.50.
3. For an environmental document pursuant to a Certified Regulatory Program, the filing fee has been increased from $1,377.25 to $1,401.75.
The Local CEQA Guidelines have been updated to reflect the new Department of Fish and Wildlife filing fees.
Additional updates include changes that, while may not be directly applicable to the City, are intended to maintain consistency between the Local CEQA Guidelines and State law. These changes are summarized below:
1.Public Resources Code Section 21159.25 Exemption for Residential or Mixed-Use Housing Projects
Public Resources Code Section 21159.25 has been amended to reflect Assembly Bill 2199. This exemption only applies to residential or mixed- 3 5
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use housing projects located in unincorporated areas of a county that meet specific development criteria.
Section 3(o) has been added to the Local CEQA Guidelines to account for this exemption.
2.Public Resources Code Section 21080.25 Transit Prioritization Projects Public Resources Code Section 21080.25 has been amended as a result of Assembly Bill 2503 to add an exemption for public projects which institute or increase passenger rail service which will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains.
Subsection 6 has been added to Section 3(r) of the Local CEQA Guidelines to account for this exemption.
3.Public Resources Code Section 21080.61 Routing Maintenance of Stormwater Facilities
Public Resources Code Section 21080.61 has been amended to reflect Assembly Bill 3227 to add an exemption for the routine maintenance of public stormwater facilities that are fully concrete or have a conveyance capacity of less than a 100-year storm event if certain conditions are met.
Section 3(u) has been added to the Local CEQA Guidelines to account for this exemption.
4.Government Code Section 65914.900 Other Development Approvals Pursuant to Assembly Bill 2085, Government Code Section 65914.900 was amended to provide that CEQA does not apply to community clinics providing reproductive health clinics that meet objective standards established in Government Code.
Section 3(z) has been added to the Local CEQA Guidelines to account for this exemption.
5.Public Resources Code Section 21080.10
Public Resources Code Section 21080.10 has been amended as a result of Senate Bill 1361 clarifying that CEQA does not apply to a local agency’s approval of contracts for providing services for people experiencing homelessness.
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Section 10(j) of the Local CEQA Guidelines has been amended to account for this exemption.
The proposed update to the Local CEQA Guidelines reflects changes to the State CEQA Guidelines. Therefore, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the Resolution in Attachment 1.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is minimal fiscal impact associated with the recommended action.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. City Council Resolution
2. 2025 Local CEQA Guidelines
Initiated By: Connor Musler, Associate Planner
Submitted By: Gayle Ackerman, AICP, Director of Community Development Approved By: Debra Rose, City Manager