Well Ordinance
Summary
SCH Number
2023040487
Public Agency
Sonoma County
Document Title
Well Ordinance
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
4/19/2023
Document Description
Ordinance Amending Chapter 25B Of The Sonoma County Code To Address Evaluation Of Impacts To Public Trust Resources For Proposed New Water Supply Wells, To Specify Public Trust Review Area And Exemptions, To Add, Delete, Or Modify Definitions, To Add A Well Metering Requirement, To Make Other Miscellaneous And Technical Correction, And To Set An At-Cost Fee For Discretionary Well Permit Applications The proposed ordinance provides a framework to guide the County's consideration of impacts to public trust resources when permitting new water supply wells that could harm a navigable waterway, including specification of a public trust review area and exemptions from discretionary public trust review. It adds, deletes, or modifies certain definitions, and makes other related and technical changes. "Public trust resources" are waterways the government is obligated to hold in trust pursuant to the public trust doctrine for the benefit of the public for purposes of commerce, navigation, recreation, fishing, and preservation of wildlife habitat and natural resources. The "public trust doctrine" is a common law legal doctrine, reflected in Article X, section 4 of the California Constitution, that continues to develop and evolve through published judicial decisions. The 2018 decision by the California Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Environmental Law Foundation vs. State Water
Resources Control Board (ELF) (26 Cal. App. 5th 844) found that public trust responsibility of the state and counties extends to consideration of impacts to public trust resources when making groundwater decisions that could harm a navigable waterway. In response to such case law, staff has developed proposed ordinance amendments to guide the County's exercise of its public trust responsibility to consider impacts to public trust resources when issuing groundwater well permits that could cause harm to public trust resources in interconnected navigable surface waters. The proposed ordinance was informed by recommendations from technical
and policy working groups convened by the Director of the Permit and Resource Management Department.
Contact Information
Name
Nathan Quarles
Agency Name
Permit Sonoma
Job Title
Deputy Director Engineering Construction
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Windsor
Counties
Sonoma
Regions
Countywide
Zip
95403
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Categorical Exemptions Sections 15307, 15308, 15061(6)(3)
Reasons for Exemption
Adoption of the proposed ordinance amendments to Chapter 25B and at~cost fee are exempt pursuant to the categorical exemptions provided at State CEQA Guideline §15307 for Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources and §15308 for Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment because the amendments are regulatory in nature and are designed to assure the maintenance, restoration, or enhancement or protection of natural resources and the
environment and at §15061( b )(3) because the amendments and associated fee create and fund an application review process designed to public trust resources, where no exception to applicability of the exemptions under§ 15300.2, and because It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this ordinance or application fee may have a significant effect on the environment.Similarly, CEQA does not apply to fee changes pursuant to this ordnance as such fees are for the purpose of meeting
operating expenses (Public Resources Code §21080 and 14 CCR §15273).
County Clerk
Sonoma
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
Disclaimer: The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) accepts no responsibility for the content or accessibility of these documents. To obtain an attachment in a different format, please contact the lead agency at the contact information listed above. For more information, please visit LCI’s Accessibility Site.