Authorize execution of a Funding Agreement with the California Department of Water Resources; Authorize execution of amendment to JPA for Delta Conveyance DCA
Summary
SCH Number
2020120167
Public Agency
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Document Title
Authorize execution of a Funding Agreement with the California Department of Water Resources; Authorize execution of amendment to JPA for Delta Conveyance DCA
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
12/9/2020
Document Description
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will execute a funding
agreement with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), commit funds for Metropolitan's share of the Delta Conveyance Project (DPC) planning and pre-construction costs, and authorize execution of an amendment to the Joint Powers Agreement for Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA).
DWR proposed the DCP and initiated the required California Environmental Quality Act environmental review in January 2020, and it has a contract with the DCA for engineering and design work needed to support that review and other pre-construction planning. The funding agreement and commitment of funds will provide
Metropolitan's share of those costs, but do not commit Metropolitan to approving the DCP. The work funded by this action is limited to pre-construction costs, so there is no possibility of any potential impacts to the environment. The amendment to the DCP Joint Powers Agreement (JPA amendment) will alter the membership in the DCA and provide a voting structure that reflects the members' respective funding levels, so
it, too will have no direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect impacts on the physical environment.
Contact Information
Name
Sean Carlson
Agency Name
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Los Angeles
Counties
Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Yolo
Zip
90012
Other Location Info
700 N Alameda Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
PRC 21065 14 CCR 15378(b)(2) 15378(b)(4) 15061(b)(3) 15306
Reasons for Exemption
The action is not defined as a project under CEQA (Public Resources Code Section 21065, Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines ) because neither the funding agreement and commitment of funds nor the JPA Amendment will cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect
physical change in the environment and involves continuing administrative or maintenance activities (Section 15378(b)(2) of the State CEQA Guidelines). In addition, the action is not defined as a project under CEQA because it involves other government fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific
project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment (Section 15378(b)(4) of the State CEQA Guidelines). Furthermore, where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA (Section 1506l(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines). In the alternative, and even if the proposed action was a project under CEQA, the action is categorically exempt under the provisions of CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines. The overall activities involve CEQA analysis, environmental permitting, and design and engineering to support those pre-construction planning activities for the DCP. The basic data collection
and resource evaluation activities needed for the environmental review and permitting do not result in any adverse impacts to an environmental resource. These may be strictly for information gathering purposes, or as part of a study leading to an action which a public agency has not yet approved, adopted, or funded. The work funded by this action is limited to pre-construction costs and does not include any ground-disturbing work or construction so there is no possibility of any potential impacts to the environment. Accordingly, the proposed action qualifies for a Class 6 Categorical Exemption (Section 15306 of the State CEQA Guidelines).
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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