Assignment No. 4: 
Initial Study/Environmental Assessment

Scope

Use the checklist supplied in the CEQA Guidelines, Appendix G, as well as appropriate indices or indicators, and at least one other matrix, network, or checklist, to evaluate environmental impacts.  Discuss separately any impacts that may or definitely will be significant.  Take into account the Mandatory Findings of Significance under CEQA Guidelines (sec. 15065).  This is a good place to use the indicators and indices studied in Assignment No. 3.

Determine which public agencies may have regulatory permit authority, and identify other agencies that may choose to advise or comment on the EIS/EIR you are preparing.  Discuss the possible role of these agencies.  Various agencies have thresholds of significance or other ways to determine if they will permit, comment or ignore a project.

Determine which public interest groups, business organizations, non-profit organizations, and other private partiesmay have an interest in the project studied in your EIS/EIR.  Discuss their possible role: will they be consulted experts, will they simply be invited to review and comment the draft EIS/EIR?  Indicate what means will be taken to contact those various parties.

Identify plans and policies with which the project must be consistent, such as zoning plans and other applicable land use controls.  Sum up and discuss their requirements.

Note: Normally, an Initial Study or Environmental Assessment requires the evaluation of all alternatives' impacts.  At this stage in your project, you do not have this information available.  Complete the IS/EA to the best of your current knowledge, clearly indicating what information you have in hand and what is still missing.  Since this document examines impacts at a low level of resolution, it's acceptable to have only conceptual outlines of the various alternatives.
 

Format and Style

Include at least:
 

• title page
• executive summary
• list of preparers and their responsibilities
• table of contents, including list of figures, list of tables, list of appendicies
• introduction, including need for the project, project description, and list of alternatives currently explored
• environmental setting (as noted below)
• discussion of agencies and other parties involved
• discussion of consistency with other plans and policies
• identification of potentially significant impacts, including a description of method(s) used to identify them
• brief conclusion summing up the results of this Initial Study/Environmental Assessment
• identifying headers and footers, including page numbers
• list of references

This is not an exhaustive list but a minimum.

Hints: It may be useful to split the assignment by topic between team members, and exchange for peer review before turning in your assignment.  If your Environmental Setting memorandum (Assignment No. 2) was satisfactory (i.e., needed only minor corrections), you can incorporate it directly by attaching it as an appendix.  If, however, it needed serious rework, include a corrected version in your Initial Study/Environmental Assessment, with your original graded copy in appendix.

This is a team assignment.  Turn in one copy for the entire team, making sure to list all team members.

Due date: Monday, March 22, 1999 (by 5:00 PM).