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DISCLAIMER
Planning Home > Environmental Review > CEQA Review

Environmental Review and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in Inyo County

Inyo County is required to disclose and consider the potential environmental effects of any project is carries out or approves.  As the County's Environmental Review Board, the Inyo County Planning Commission is required to review and certify all environmental documents prepared by or for the County. The Commission also reviews and comments on environmental documents which are prepared by other governmental agencies which may affect the environment or residents of the County.  The Inyo County Water Commission serves as the Environmental Review Board for projects carried out under the Inyo County - City of Los Angeles Groundwater Management Agreement.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires state and local agencies to prepare multidisciplinary environmental reviews of proposed development projects. CEQA has six primary objectives:

bullet Disclose to decision makers and the public the significant environmental effects of proposed activities.
bullet Identify ways to avoid or reduce environmental damage.
bullet Prevent environmental damage by requiring implementation of feasible alternatives or mitigation measures.
bullet Disclose to the public reasons for agency approval of projects with significant environmental effects.
bullet Foster interagency coordination in the review of projects.
bullet Enhance public participation in the planning process.

The California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) has developed an excellent CEQA webpage (This is an external link that will take you away from this page).

The CEQA Act is implemented statewide through a set of CEQA Guidelines by the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (Again, these are external links).

Locally, Inyo County has adopted CEQA Procedures (Title 15 of Inyo County Code) to guide the environmental review process and implement CEQA. The three major steps are preliminary review, completion of an Initial Study, and preparation and approval of an environmental document.

CERES also maintains a list of frequently asked questions about CEQA and an Interactive CEQA Process Flow Chart to explain how the environmental review process works (external links).
(Death Valley Sandunes and Funeral Range)

 

 

 

 

 

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