Hoover Middle School HVAC Project

2024090371

Long Beach Unified School District

NOE - Notice of Exemption

9/11/2024

9/11/2024

Dana Grudem

Long Beach Unified School District

Senior Program Manager

Lead/Public Agency

2425 Webster Ave Long Beach
Long Beach, CA 90810

(562) 997-7550

Dgrudem@lbschools.net

Fairway Dr and Country Club Dr

90712

Rte 19

Long Beach Airport

Categorical Exemption

Class 1:15301; Class 2:15302; Class 11:15311; Class 14:15314

Reasons Why Project Is Exempt: The proposed activity is a project subject to CEQA. However, it is exempt from further environmental analysis under Class 1, Existing Facilities {CEQA Guidelines §15301), Class 2, Replacement or Reconstruction (CEQA Guidelines §15302}, Class 11 Accessory Structures (CEQA Guidelines §15311), and Class 14 Minor Additions to Schools (CEQA Guidelines §15314. Class 1 categorical exemption consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency's determination. Class 2 consists of the replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity of the structure replaced. Class 11 consists of construction, or placement of minor structures accessory to existing commercial, industrial, or institutional facilities. Class 14 consists of minor additions to existing schools within existing school grounds where the addition does not increase original student capacity by more than 25% or ten classrooms, whichever is less. The Proposed Project will result in interior building improvements, ADA compliance upgrades, and updates to alarm and communication systems. The improvements will not involve an increase in student capacity, and will include repairs, maintenance, reconstruction, and minor additions to an existing school campus. The Proposed Project will not result in significant environmental impacts and is exempt from further review under the conditions in Article 19. Therefore, the application of Class 1, Class 2, Class 11, and Class 14 categorical exemptions is appropriate for the Proposed Project. The Proposed Project does not have the potential to trigger any of the exceptions identified in CEQA Guidelines §15300.2. Consequently, as documented below, the Proposed Project is exempt from further CEQA review. (a) location. The improvements will occur entirely within the existing campus, which is located in an urbanized community. The existing conditions on and around the middle school are disturbed and paved ground and are not considered environmentally sensitive. Minor ground disturbance would occur during construction but will be limited to the existing school property on previously disturbed surfaces. The Proposed Project will not impact environmentally sensitive areas or an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern. This exception does not apply to the Proposed Project. (b) Cumulative Impact. Once Proposed Project has been approved by the District's Board of Education, project construction activities will commence for the electrical upgrades, and for the HVAC installation. Details of any other future projects are not yet clearly defined and thereby cannot be further evaluated at this time. Further, the majority of impacts associated with the Proposed Project will be temporary (the construction timeframe) and are limited to the immediate vicinity of Hoover MS. As such, no other cumulatively considerable projects have been identified that could incrementally contribute to the impacts associated with the Proposed Project. This exception does not apply to the Proposed Project. (c) Significant Effect. The HVAC installation, the ADA compliance upgrades, interior improvements, technology, and fire safety upgrades are not considered an unusual circumstance as campus updates are not unusual for school sites. All upgrades associated with the Proposed Project would be installed on or within existing facilities. Therefore, the Proposed Project would not appear visually incompatible with existing equipment and accessories on the Project site. Normal operations will be similar and consistent with current uses within the Project boundary. The Proposed Project is located within a disturbed, urbanized environment in Long Beach. The campus vegetation is limited to ornamental landscaping, and it is anticipated that no candidate, sensitive, or special status species are anticipated to exist on or around the elementary school. The majority of work associated with the Proposed Project would occur in the interior of existing buildings; only minor accessibility upgrades would result in minor ground disturbing activities. Thus, the Proposed Project and will not involve the removal of any vegetation or scenic trees, nor would it impact any scenic vistas within the immediate area. Therefore, no reasonable possibility exists that the Proposed Project would have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. Therefore, this exception does not apply to this Project. (d) Scenic Highways. The nearest highway to the Proposed Project site is Rte 19. Rte 19 is approximately 2,100 feet to the north and 1,200 feet to the east from the proposed project site. This highway is not eligible for historic designation (Caltrans 2022). Therefore, no impact to scenic highways would occur, and this exception does not apply to the Project. (e) Hazardous Waste Sites. Due to thetlme of original construction (1955) and campus expansion that has occurred since, it is likely that Hoover MS contains asbestos-containing materials (ACM)/asbestos-containing building materials {ACBM) and lead-based paint {LBP). However, the construction activities would be monitored and comply with federal and state law to prevent exposure to hazardous material and reduce potential impacts during construction and operation to a level below significant. The Proposed Project site is not on a list of hazardous materials sites compiled pursuant to Government Code Section 65862.5 {SWRCB 2022; DTSC 2022); therefore, implementation of the Proposed Project would not result in an impact associated with known hazardous materials sites. This exception does not apply to the Notice of Project. (f) Historical Resources. As part of the District-Wide Cultural Resources Assessment, PCR services recommended that Hoover MS is not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or the California Register of Historic Resources (CRHR) (LBUSD 2017). Therefore, the Proposed Project activities will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. This exception does not apply to the Notice of Project.