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Clarification and Supplementation of Definitions in the Guidelines for the project of City Of Richmond

Section 2: Definitions

The following definitions aim to clarify and enhance the existing definitions found in the Guidelines, ensuring that they do not replace or negate those definitions. In cases of inconsistency, the Guidelines shall prevail.

  • Approval: A decision by a public agency, such as the City Council, city agency, or advisory body, that commits the agency to a specific course of action regarding a project proposed by any person. For private projects, approval occurs upon the earliest commitment to issue or the actual issuance by the public agency of a discretionary permit, contract, grant, subsidy, loan, or other financial assistance, lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for project use.

  • Advisory Body: A public body or administrative official mandated by State Law or City Ordinance or Resolution to consider and make recommendations on specific types of projects. For instance, the Planning Commission serves as the advisory body for legislative approvals of the City Council, while the Design Review Board advises the Planning Commission.

  • Categorical Exemptions: Exemptions from CEQA for specific classes of projects based on findings by the Secretary for Resources indicating that these projects do not significantly impact the environment.

  • City: Refers to the City of Richmond, encompassing all departments, commissions, boards, the City Council, and the Redevelopment Agency.

  • Council: Indicates the City Council of the City of Richmond.

  • County Clerk: Refers to the County Clerk for Contra Costa County.

  • Decision-Making Body: The decision-making body consists solely of the City Council or the Planning Commission for the purposes outlined in these Guidelines.

  • Department: Any agency of the City of Richmond, including divisions of any agency, departments not included in other agencies, or any special district governed by the Richmond City Council.

  • Discretionary Project: A project requiring the exercise of judgment or deliberation by the public agency or body when deciding to approve or disapprove an activity, contrasting with cases where the agency merely assesses conformity with applicable laws, ordinances, or regulations. Examples include general plan amendments, rezonings, variances, conditional use permits, tentative subdivision maps, and parcel maps.

  • Guidelines: Refers to the State Guidelines for the Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), codified in Division 6, Title 14, Section 15000 et seq. of the California Code of Regulations.

  • Lead Agency: The public agency primarily responsible for carrying out or approving a project, tasked with deciding whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or a Negative Declaration for the project and overseeing the document's preparation.

  • Ministerial: A governmental decision characterized by minimal or no personal judgment from the public official regarding the project’s execution, wherein the law is applied to the facts presented without special discretion or judgment. Examples of ministerial decisions include issuing building, plumbing, or electrical permits, business licenses, approving final subdivision maps, utility service connections and disconnections, code compliance reviews, encroachment permits, and developing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).

  • Mitigation: Refers to measures aimed at:

    • Avoiding impacts by refraining from specific actions.
    • Minimizing impacts by reducing the degree or magnitude of an action.
    • Rectifying impacts by repairing or restoring the environment.
    • Reducing or eliminating impacts over time through preservation and maintenance operations.
    • Compensating for impacts by replacing or providing substitute resources.

  • Planning Commission: A commission appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council to make recommendations and take actions concerning city planning matters.

  • Planning Department: The department within the City of Richmond responsible for initiating and implementing the environmental review process, culminating in review and consideration by the City Council or Planning Commission.

  • Planning Director: The director of the Planning Department for the City of Richmond or the Director's designated representative.

  • Project: Refers to the entirety of an action that may result in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect change, encompassing:

    • Activities directly undertaken by any public agency, including public works construction, land grading, public structure improvements, zoning ordinance amendments, and General Plan adoption or amendments.
    • Activities undertaken by individuals supported in part or wholly through public agency contracts, grants, subsidies, loans, or other public assistance forms.
    • Activities involving the issuance of leases, permits, licenses, certificates, or other entitlements by public agencies.

  • Responsible Agency: Any public agency other than the Lead Agency that possesses discretionary approval power over a project.

  • Significant Effect on the Environment: Refers to a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in physical conditions within the project-affected area, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, and historic or aesthetic objects. Economic or social changes alone do not constitute significant environmental effects, but social or economic changes related to physical changes may be considered in determining significance.

  • Streamlining: The process of shortening project approval timelines for eligible projects by exempting them from the CEQA process or limiting the environmental review topics.

  • Substantial Evidence: Refers to enough relevant information and reasonable inferences supporting a conclusion, even if other conclusions may also be valid. Determining whether a fair argument exists that a project may significantly affect the environment involves examining the complete record before the lead agency. Evidence that is argumentative, speculative, unsubstantiated, clearly erroneous, or irrelevant to physical environmental impacts does not qualify as substantial evidence; rather, substantial evidence includes facts, reasonable assumptions based on facts, and expert opinions supported by facts.

  • Staff Planner: The individual responsible for making determinations and recommendations regarding potential environmental impacts of projects and managing the environmental review process for project applications assigned by the Planning Director.

  • Trustee Agency: A state agency with legal jurisdiction over natural resources impacted by a project, which are held in trust for the people of California. Relevant Trustee Agencies for the City of Richmond include, among others, the Department of Fish and Game and the State Department of Parks and Recreation.

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