Approval of a Resolution for Participation in the Delta Conveyance Project and Execution of Financing & Implementation Agreements
Summary
SCH Number
2020110357
Public Agency
Palmdale Water District
Document Title
Approval of a Resolution for Participation in the Delta Conveyance Project and Execution of Financing & Implementation Agreements
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
11/20/2020
Document Description
Notice of Exemption: Approval of a resolution (“Resolution”) authorizing (1) the Palmdale Water District (“District”) to participate in the proposed Delta Conveyance Project; (2) the District’s General Manager to enter into a funding agreement for environmental planning costs relating to the Delta Conveyance Project; and (3) the District to execute an Amended and Restated Joint Powers Agreement Forming the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Joint Powers Authority.
Contact Information
Name
Peter Thompson
Agency Name
Palmdale Water District
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Agency Name
Palmdale Water District
Contact Types
Project Applicant
Location
Cities
Palmdale
Counties
Los Angeles
Regions
Countywide, Statewide, Unincorporated
Other Location Info
Palmdale Water Districts Service Area within Los Angeles County
Other Information
The activity it approved has no specific location as it does not entail construction, development, or any other activity that could potentially result in a significant environmental impact.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
State CEQA Guidelines sections 15060(c)(3), 15378(a), (b)(2)(4)(5); 15061, subd. (b)(3); 15262
Reasons for Exemption
The District’s approval of the Resolution does not qualify as a “project” subject to CEQA because it constitutes (1) continuing administrative or maintenance activities, such as general policy and procedure making; (2) government fiscal activities that do not involve any commitment to any specific project that may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment; and (3) organizational or administrative activities of a public agency that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15060(c)(3).) Moreover, the approval of the Resolution does not qualify as a “project” because it does not have a potential to result in either a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15378(a).)
Alternatively, the District’s approval of the Resolution is statutorily exempt from CEQA under State CEQA Guidelines section 15262, as the Resolution concerned “feasibility or planning studies for possible future actions [that] the agency … has not approved, adopted, or funded.” (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15262.) Notably, although the Resolution provides for some funding for the environmental planning costs associated with the Delta Conveyance Project, it provides for no funding for the construction of the Delta Conveyance Project, nor does it otherwise commit the Agency to the Delta Conveyance Project.
Furthermore, the District’s approval of the Resolution is exempt from CEQA under the common sense exemption set forth in State CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3), as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. None of the exceptions to this exemption identified in CEQA Guidelines § 15300.2 exist here.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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