Delta Conveyance Project Agreement
Summary
SCH Number
2022030484
Public Agency
Desert Water Agency
Document Title
Delta Conveyance Project Agreement
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
3/17/2022
Document Description
On March 15, 2022, the Agency approved Resolution No. 1270. The Resolution authorized the Agency’s General Manager to execute a letter to DWR committing the Agency to provide funds for environmental planning costs associated with the Delta Conveyance Project for years 2023 and 2024. The resolution does not commit the Agency to any current or future project, and it does not entail any construction or other activity that could result in a potential physical change to the environment.
Contact Information
Name
Steve Johnson
Agency Name
Desert Water Agency
Job Title
Assistant General Manager
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Palm Springs
Counties
Riverside
Regions
Countywide
Cross Streets
None
Other Location Info
No physical location.
Desert Water Agency is a State Water Project Contractor and its service area includes portions of Riverside County.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Ministerial
Type, Section or Code
Sec. 21080(b)(1); 15268
Reasons for Exemption
The Agency’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 Agency’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 Agency’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.
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
“Common Sense” Exemption: State CEQA Guideline §15061(b)(3)
Reasons for Exemption
Furthermore, the Agency’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.
County Clerk
Riverside
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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