City Council Staff Report Page 1 of 3 May 12, 2026
Staff Report
Agenda Item No. 4.5
DATE: May 12, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Joan Malloy, City Manager
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Approving a Pre-qualified List of Environmental Consultants for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Services
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution (Attachment 1) approving a pre-qualified list of qualified environmental consulting firms to provide services related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
While this agenda item does not align with a specific Strategic Plan goal, approval of the qualified list of CEQA consultants will streamline future procurement, reduce project timelines, and support high-quality environmental review for development projects.
BACKGROUND
The City is required to comply with CEQA when evaluating discretionary projects, including preparation of environmental documents such as Initial Studies, Mitigated Negative Declarations (MNDs), and Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs). Due to the technical nature of CEQA analysis, the City relies on on-call environmental consultants to assist with document preparation and technical studies.
To improve efficiency and ensure consistency in consultant selection, the City issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to establish a pre-qualified list of firms with expertise in CEQA and related disciplines. The proposed pre-qualified list will allow the City to efficiently retain firms with demonstrated expertise in CEQA compliance, environmental analysis, and document preparation.
DISCUSSION
The City released an RFQ on April 1, inviting qualified firms to submit statements of qualifications for CEQA consulting services. See Attachment 2 for the “CEQA Request for Qualifications” document. Submittals were evaluated based on:
Agenda Item No. 4.5
City Council Staff Report Page 2 of 3 May 12, 2026
• Experience with CEQA compliance and documentation
• Technical expertise across environmental resource areas • Demonstrated ability to meet schedules and budgets
• Qualifications of key personnel
• Familiarity with local and regional regulatory context Following the evaluation, staff identified a group of highly qualified firms to be included on the pre-qualified list, most of which the City has worked with in the past. The pre-qualified list of these firms is labeled Exhibit A and attached to the draft Resolution. A link to the pre-qualified CEQA consultant submittals can be located here.
The pre-qualified list will be used to:
• Assign work on a project-specific basis
• Solicit proposals among the pre-qualified firms for current planning and longrange projects • Ensure rapid consultant procurement for time-sensitive projects Consultants may be retained for services including, but not limited to:
• Preparation of CEQA documents (Initial Studies, Mitigated Negative Declarations, EIRs (Including Focused, Subsequent, and Supplemental), Addenda)
• Technical studies (traffic, air quality, noise, biological resources, etc.) • Peer review of applicant-prepared environmental documents The list will be valid for five years or until superseded.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct fiscal impact from approving the list of qualified CEQA consultants.
Typically, when the City brings on an environmental consultant to prepare a CEQA document, the costs are borne by the developer.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution (Attachment 1) approving a pre-qualified list of qualified environmental consulting firms to provide services related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Prepared by: Carmela Campbell, Economic and Community Development Director Submitted by: Carmela Campbell, Economic and Community Development Director Agenda Item No. 4.5
City Council Staff Report Page 3 of 3 May 12, 2026
Attachments
1. Draft Resolution
2. Exhibit A- List of Pre-qualified Firms
3. CEQA RFQ