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Anaheim Housing Opportunities Sites Rezoning Project Draft Supplemental EIR City of Anaheim Page 2-1 2. Introduction 2.1 PURPOSE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Public Resources Code sections 21000 et seq., requires that all state and local governmental agencies consider the environmental consequences of projects over which they have discretionary authority prior to taking action on those projects. This Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (DSEIR) has been prepared to satisfy CEQA, and the State CEQA Guidelines (“CEQA Guidelines”), Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Chapter 3, Section 15000 et seq., and the City of Anaheim (“City”) CEQA Procedures. An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is a public informational document designed to provide decision makers and the public with an analysis of the environmental effects of a proposed project, to indicate possible ways to reduce or avoid significant effects, and to describe reasonable alternatives to a project. An EIR must also disclose significant environmental impacts that cannot be avoided; growth-inducing impacts; effects not found to be significant; and significant cumulative impacts of all past, present, and reasonably foreseeable probable future projects. As discussed in Section 3.3.1, Project Background, of this DSEIR, in May 2004, the Anaheim City Council adopted a comprehensive update of the City’s General Plan and certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR) No. 330 (“2004 Certified EIR”) as the environmental documentation for the 2004 Approved Project. The General Plan is a document that represents the City’s view of its future and is a blueprint for a city’s growth and development. The City Council and the Planning Commission use the General Plan to help guide their land use decisions. The 2004 Certified EIR is incorporated by reference in this DSEIR. A summary of the 2004 Certified EIR is provided in Section 3.3.1 of this DSEIR. This Supplemental EIR contains information necessary to make the previously Certified EIR adequate for the proposed Anaheim Housing Opportunities Sites Rezoning Project (the “Proposed Project”). The Proposed Project requires discretionary actions by one or more public agencies. The City is the lead agency for the Proposed Project. Pursuant to CEQA Section 21067, the lead agency means “the public agency which has the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a project which may have a significant effect upon the environment.” As the lead agency, the City has the responsibility for, among other things, preparing and certifying an SEIR that analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the Proposed Project, as compared to the 2004 Approved Project, identifying feasible mitigation measures that could avoid or minimize the Proposed Project’s significant environmental impacts, describing and analyzing feasible alternatives to the Proposed Project, adopting findings with regard each significant effect of the Proposed Project, providing a Statement of Overriding Considerations (SOC) for all environmental impacts of the Proposed Project that cannot be mitigated to a less than significant level, and adopting a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) to ensure that all required mitigation measures are implemented during the lifetime of the Proposed Project. The overall purpose of this DSEIR is to inform the City’s decision makers and the general public whether the Proposed Project, as compared to the 2004 Approved Project, would result in any new significant impacts or an increase in the severity of significant impacts previously identified for the 2004 Approved Project. The 2004 Approved Project is the “baseline” for the analysis in this DSEIR, and was used in ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Page 2-2 July 2013 preparing the Initial Study for the Proposed Project, to evaluate the potential incremental impacts of the Proposed Project. As stated in Section 15121(a) of the CEQA Guidelines, the DSEIR is an "informational document" intended to inform the City, other public agencies with discretionary authority over aspects of the Proposed Project, the general public, the local community, and other organizations, entities and interested persons of the scope of the Proposed Project, the significant environmental effects of the Proposed Project, as compared to the 2004 Approved Project, feasible measures to avoid or minimize the significant effects, and a reasonable range of feasible alternatives to the Proposed Project that would avoid or minimize the significant effects. The City must consider the information in this DSEIR and make certain findings with respect to each significant effect identified. The City will use the information in the DSEIR, along with other information received and/or developed during the public review process for the DSEIR, to determine whether to approve, modify, or not approve the Proposed Project, or an Alternative to the Proposed Project, and, if approval is granted, to specify applicable and enforceable environmental mitigation measures as part of the Proposed Project approvals. Specific discretionary actions to be reviewed by the City and potential project permits and approvals required from other regulatory agencies for the Proposed Project are described in Section 3.3.2, Description of the Proposed Project, and Section 3.4, Intended Uses of the DSEIR, of this DSEIR. This DSEIR, which has been prepared at the direction and under the supervision of the City, has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of: CEQA State CEQA Guidelines City of Anaheim CEQA Procedures 2.2 NOTICE OF PREPARATION AND INITIAL STUDY The City issued a Notice of Preparation (NOP) and Initial Study on October 15, 2012 (See Appendix Comments received during the public review period, which extended from October 15, 2012, to November 16, 2012, are contained in Appendix B. The NOP process was used to determine scope of the environmental issues to be addressed in this DSEIR. Based on the NOP and the Initial Study for the Proposed Project, certain environmental categories were identified as having the potential for significant environmental impacts over and above those found for the 2004 Approved Project. Issues identified as Potentially Significant in the Initial Study for the Proposed Project are addressed in detail in this DSEIR. Issues identified as Less Than Significant or No Impact in the Initial Study are summarized in Chapter 8, Impacts Found Not to be Significant. Refer to the Initial Study in Appendix A to this DSEIR for a discussion of how these initial determinations were made. Table 2-1 summarizes the comments received from the commenting agencies during the NOP process, along with a reference to the section(s) of this DSEIR where the issues are addressed. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Anaheim Housing Opportunities Sites Rezoning Project Draft Supplemental EIR City of Anaheim Page 2-3 Table 2-1 NOP Written Comment Summary Commenting Agency / Person Comment Summary Location Issue is Addressed October 15, 2012 NOP Airport Land Use Commission, Kari Rigoni, Executive Officer Potential hazards related to airports and/or heliports. This issue was adequately addressed in Section 5.6, Hazards and Hazardous Materials in the 2004 Certified EIR. However, a summary of this analysis is provided in Chapter 4.0, Environmental Setting of this DSEIR. State of California, Department of Transportation, Christopher Herre, Branch Chief Potential traffic impacts to Caltrans facilities. Section 5.4, Transportation and Traffic. State of California, Department of Toxic Substances Control, Rafiq Ahmed, Project Manager Potential hazards related to hazardous materials. This issue was adequately addressed in Section 5.6, Hazards and Hazardous Materials in the 2004 Certified EIR. However, a summary of this analysis is provided in Chapter 4.0, Environmental Setting of this DSEIR. The Kennedy Commission, Cesar Covarrubias, Executive Director The Kennedy Commission supports the City’s efforts to implement the Housing Element. Comment noted. Native American Heritage Commission, Dave Singleton, Program Analyst Potential impacts related to cultural resources and Native American sites. This issue was adequately addressed in Section 5.4, Cultural Resources in the 2004 Certified EIR. However, a summary of this analysis is provided in Chapter 4.0, Environmental Setting of this DSEIR. Orange County Public Works, Michael Balsamo, Manager, OC Community Development 1) Encroachment permits may be required if development of any of the Housing Opportunities Sites affects County right-of-way; 2) Mitigation measures should be incorporated into future development to buffer existing single-family neighborhoods from higher density development; and 3) Infrastructure capacity issues should be addressed in the DSEIR. 1) Comment noted; 2) As described in Section 5.8, Land Use and Relevant Planning in the 2004 Certified EIR, General Plan goals and policies will serve to protect existing residential neighborhoods from future higher density and mixed use developments; and 3) Infrastructure was adequately addressed in Section 5.13, Public Services and Facilities, in the 2004 Certified EIR. However, a summary of this analysis is provided in Chapter 4.0, Environmental Setting of this DSEIR. Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Scott Morgan, Director, State Clearinghouse Letter of transmittal of the Notice of Preparation. Comment noted. Southern California Association of Governments, Jonathan Nadler, Manager, Compliance and Performance Assessment Consistency with SCAG’s Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). Section 5.2, Greenhouse Gas Emissions. South Coast Air Quality Management District, Ian MacMillan, Program Supervisor, CEQA Inter-Governmental Review Potential impacts related to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Section 5.1, Air Quality; Section 5.2, Greenhouse Gas Emissions. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Page 2-4 July 2013 2.3 DSEIR SCOPING MEETING Prior to preparation of this DSEIR, a public scoping meeting was held on November 7, 2012, at Anaheim City Hall. The scoping meeting was held to determine the concerns of responsible and trustee agencies, stakeholders, and the community regarding the Proposed Project. No issues were raised by members of the public at this meeting. 2.4 SCOPE OF THIS DSEIR As described in Section 1.2.2, Type and Purpose of This DSEIR, this DSEIR has been prepared as a supplement to the 2004 Certified EIR consistent with Public Resources Code Section 21166 and CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15163. Pursuant to those sections, the DSEIR analyzes the impacts of the Proposed Project as compared to the 2004 Approved Project. Under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15126.2 and 15126.4, the DSEIR must identify any potentially significant adverse impacts of the Proposed Project, as compared to the 2004 Approved Project, and recommend mitigation measures that would reduce those impacts to levels of insignificance or eliminate the impacts altogether. The overall scope of this DSEIR was determined based upon the Initial Study completed by the City, comments received in response to the NOP, as noted in Section 2.2, and comments received, if any, at the public scoping meeting conducted by the City, as outlined in Section 2.3. The description of the Proposed Project contained in the Project Description (Chapter 3 of this DSEIR) establishes the basis for analyzing Proposed Project-related environmental impacts as compared to the 2004 Approved Project. 2.4.1 Impacts Unchanged or Considered Less Than Significant All of the potential impacts within the following thirteen environmental factors listed in Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines have been identified as not being significantly affected by the Proposed Project as compared to the 2004 Approved Project and therefore are not discussed in detail in this DSEIR. Those environmental factors are: Aesthetics Agriculture & Forestry Resources Biological Resources Cultural Resources Geology / Soils Hazards & Hazardous Materials Hydrology / Water Quality Land Use / Planning Mineral Resources Population / Housing Public Services Recreation Utilities / Service Systems ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Anaheim Housing Opportunities Sites Rezoning Project Draft Supplemental EIR City of Anaheim Page 2-5 2.4.2 Potentially Significant Adverse Impacts Certain impacts within the following environmental factors could be potentially significant if the Proposed Project is implemented, and therefore those impacts are analyzed in this DSEIR: Air Quality Greenhouse Gas Emissions Noise Transportation and Traffic The Certified EIR analyzed air quality, noise, and transportation and traffic. Greenhouse gas emissions are being analyzed for the first time as part of this DSEIR, in accordance with SB 97 which went into effect January 1, 2010. 2.4.3 Unavoidable Significant Adverse Impacts The 2004 Certified EIR identified a total of three significant and unavoidable adverse impacts, as defined by CEQA, relating to air quality, noise, and transportation and traffic. This DSEIR identifies the same three significant and unavoidable adverse impacts for the Proposed Project, which remain unchanged from the 2004 Approved Project, and one additional significant and unavoidable adverse impact for greenhouse gas emissions, which was not analyzed in the 2004 Certified EIR. Therefore, the impacts found in this DSEIR to be significant and unavoidable are: Air Quality Greenhouse Gas Emissions Noise Transportation and Traffic 2.5 INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE All documents cited or referenced are incorporated into the DSEIR in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15148 and 15150, including but not limited to the following: City of Anaheim General Plan (as amended). City of Anaheim Municipal Code (as amended). City of Anaheim Zoning Ordinance (as amended). Final EIR No. 330 for the Anaheim General Plan and Zoning Code Update, State Clearinghouse Number [PHONE REDACTED], May 2004. Final Subsequent EIR No. 339 for the Revised Platinum Triangle Expansion Project, State Clearinghouse Number [PHONE REDACTED], August 2010. Southern California Association of Governments, 2012-2035 Regional Transportation Plan / Sustainable Communities Strategy, April 2012. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Page 2-6 July 2013 South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Final 2012 Air Quality Management Plan, December 2012. South Coast Air Quality Management District, CEQA Air Quality Handbook, 1993 (as amended). In each instance where a document is incorporated by reference for purposes of this DSEIR, the DSEIR shall briefly summarize the incorporated document, or briefly summarize the incorporated data if the document cannot be summarized. In addition, the DSEIR shall explain the relationship between the incorporated part of the referenced document and the DSEIR. This DSEIR relies upon previously adopted regional and statewide plans and programs, agency standards, and background studies in its analyses, such as the City’s General Plan, the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) Air Quality Management Plan, and the SCAQMD CEQA Air Quality Handbook. Chapter 10, Bibliography, provides a complete list of references utilized in preparing this DSEIR. All of the documents listed above that are incorporated by reference, are available for review at: City of Anaheim Planning Department 200 South Anaheim Boulevard, Suite 162 Anaheim, California 92805 2.6 FINAL EIR CERTIFICATION Pursuant to CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines, this DSEIR is being circulated for public review for a period of 45 days. Interested agencies and members of the public are invited to provide written comments on the DSEIR. Upon completion of the 45-day review period, the City will review and prepare written responses to each comment as required by CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. A Final SEIR (FSEIR) will then be prepared, incorporating all of the comments received, written responses to the timely-received comments, and the DSEIR, along with any changes to the DSEIR that result from the comments received. The FSEIR will then be presented to the City for potential certification as the environmental document for the Proposed Project. All persons who comment on the DSEIR will be notified of the availability of the FSEIR and of the date of the Anaheim Planning Commission public hearing(s) and City Council public meeting(s) concerning potential certification of the FSEIR. The DSEIR is available to the general public for review at: Anaheim Planning Department 200 South Anaheim Boulevard Anaheim, CA 92805 Anaheim Central Branch Library 500 West Broadway Anaheim, CA 92805 City of Anaheim, Planning Department Website www.anaheim.net/planning (click on the link to Planning and Zoning, followed by the link to Environmental Documents) ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Anaheim Housing Opportunities Sites Rezoning Project Draft Supplemental EIR City of Anaheim Page 2-7 All comments received from agencies and individuals on the DSEIR will be accepted during the 45-day public review period. All comments on the DSEIR should be sent to: Susan Kim, AICP, LEED AP ND, Senior Planner Anaheim Planning Department 200 South Anaheim Boulevard, Suite 162 Anaheim, CA 92805 [EMAIL REDACTED] All agencies that submit comments during the 45-day public review period on the DSEIR will receive written responses to their comments at least 10 days prior to final action on the Proposed Project. If the City Council decides to certify the FSEIR, the City Council will make the necessary findings required by CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines regarding the extent and nature of the impacts as presented in the FSEIR. The FSEIR must be certified by the City prior to making a decision to approve the Proposed Project. Public input is encouraged at all public hearings and meetings before the City concerning the Proposed Project. 2.7 CEQA FINDINGS FOR PROJECT APPROVAL CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines require that the environmental impacts of a project be examined before a project is approved. Specifically, CEQA Guidelines Section 15091 provides: No public agency shall approve or carry out a project for which an EIR has been certified which identifies one or more significant environmental effects of the project unless the public agency makes one or more written findings for each of those significant effects, accompanied by a brief explanation of the rationale for each finding. The possible findings are: 1. Changes or alterations have been required in, or incorporated into, the project which avoid or substantially lessen the significant environmental effect as identified in the final EIR. 2. Such changes or alterations are within the responsibility and jurisdiction of another public agency and not the agency making the finding. Such changes have been adopted by such other agency or can and should be adopted by such other agency. 3. Specific economic, legal, social, technological, or other considerations, including provision of employment opportunities for highly trained workers, make infeasible the mitigation measures or project alternatives identified in the final EIR. In addition, for a Supplemental EIR, CEQA Guideline 15163(e) requires: When the agency decides whether to approve the project, the decision-making body shall consider the previous EIR as revised by the supplemental EIR. A finding under Section 15091 shall be made for each significant effect shown in the previous EIR as revised. Concurrent with its final action on the FSEIR, the City Council will issue findings that comply with the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Sections 15091 and 15163(e), and with Public Resources Code Section 21081. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. Introduction Page 2-8 July 2013 2.8 MITIGATION MONITORING Public Resources Code Section 21081.6 requires that the lead agency adopt an MMRP for any project for which it has made findings pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21081. Such a program is intended to ensure the implementation of all mitigation measures that are adopted following the preparation of an EIR, SEIR, or Negative Declaration. An updated mitigation monitoring and reporting program will be prepared as part of the FSEIR and will be completed prior to consideration of the Proposed Project by the Anaheim City Council.