California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Toolkit

Responsible Agencies

Other public agencies that have a discretionary decision to make about the project must also comply with CEQA. These agencies are called Responsible Agencies under CEQA. Examples include the other local governments participating in an RMDZ CEQA project but who are not designated as the Lead Agency.

Responsible Agencies must use the environmental document prepared by the Lead Agency and must consider the environmental effects of the project as described in the Negative Declaration or EIR, impose mitigation measures within its authority, if necessary, and file their own Notice of Determination. (See Guidelines Section 15096 for more detail on the duties of Responsible Agencies.)

Most agencies considering RMDZ CEQA projects, which include designations, renewals or expansions likely will find no significant impacts in their Initial Studies and will prepare a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration. Therefore, this guide focuses on the preparation of Negative Declarations and does not discuss the EIR process.

If the Initial Study indicates substantial evidence that the proposed RMDZ action may cause a significant environmental impact, then an EIR is required.

Negative Declaration

The Negative Declaration is a brief, written statement explaining why the proposed project will not significantly affect the environment and does not require the preparation of an EIR. In cases where there may be significant effects that can be mitigated by modifying the project before approval, the Lead Agency must prepare and circulate a Mitigated Negative Declaration. CEQA Guidelines Section 15071 lists the following minimum content requirements for a Negative Declaration:

• Description and title of the project;
• Location of the project, preferably shown on a map;
• Name of the project proponent;
• A proposed finding that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment;
• An attached copy of the Initial Study documenting reasons to support the finding; and
• In the case of a Mitigated Negative Declaration, mitigation measures that have been incorporated into the project to avoid potentially significant effects.

If the Initial Study shows that the project may have one or more significant effects, the Lead Agency must circulate a Notice of Preparation in anticipation of preparing an EIR and must consult with responsible and trustee agencies as to the content of the environmental analysis.

State Clearinghouse Distribution and Review Period

Lead agencies are required to send environmental documents (Negative Declarations and Notices of Determination) to the State Clearinghouse (SCH), under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15205 and 15206. Lead agencies must submit these documents to:

State Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 3044
1400 Tenth Street, Suite 222
Sacramento, CA 95812-3044

Lead Agencies must submit a completed Notice of Completion form with 15 copies of the draft Negative Declaration and Initial Study. This form facilitates the processing of environmental documents and SCH circulates it to state agencies together with the Negative Declaration. SCH will enter the information from the NOC form into their database.

Whenever SCH receives a Negative Declaration for distribution, it is assigned an SCH number to the project. If the project already has a number from a previous submittal of an environmental document, the Lead Agency should reference the previously assigned SCH number. This is particularly important for zone renewals and expansions.

The document is reviewed to determine its scope and to identify the state agencies that should receive it for review. SCH will distribute the document to any responsible or trustee state agencies and to any other agencies that have relevant expertise in the subject or otherwise have a reason to review the document.

SCH then distributes the documents to the selected agencies for review and comment and sends an acknowledgment of receipt, containing the assigned review period, to the Lead Agency.

• The normal review period for Negative Declarations submitted to SCH is 30 calendar days (see CEQA Guidelines, Section 15105). The review period begins when SCH circulates the document, which is usually the day of receipt.
• SCH calculates specific review dates by counting as day 1 the date on which the SCH distributes the document and concluding on the 30th calendar day thereafter.
• SCH may grant a shortened review period of not less than 20 days under special circumstances.
• Lead Agencies may provide for a longer review period.
• After SCH has distributed a Negative Declaration to state agencies, those agencies review and comment.
• Agencies normally forward comments to SCH prior to the end of the assigned review period.
• Occasionally, state agencies may request an extension of a review period.
• SCH grants reasonable requests for extensions.
• The SCH will notify the Lead Agency upon approval of an extension.

SCH collects all comments from the reviewing state agencies at the end of the state review period. Then they forward a closing letter and a complete package of comments to the Lead Agency on the day following the close of the review period.

At the end of the public comment period, the Lead Agency considers all submitted comments before it acts on a proposed project for which a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared. The public agency responsible for approving the project considers the adequacy of the environmental documentation. This is typically the City Council, Board of Supervisors, or other local governing body.

Zones often consist of several jurisdictions. Therefore, these multiple jurisdictional Zones have to consider these environmental documents individually.

After the Lead Agency approves the RMDZ action, it must file a Notice of Determination with the county clerk and with the State Clearinghouse. The Lead Agency must file a Notice of Determination (NOD) with the county clerk of the county or counties where the project is located within five working days of approving a project for an adopted Negative Declaration. The applicant should include this SCH number on the NOD. 

Section 15075 of the CEQA Guidelines lists the information required in a Notice of Determination. The filing of the NOD begins a 30-calendar-day statute of limitations on court challenges to the project approval under CEQA. When the Lead Agency sends the NOD to the State Clearinghouse, it must include two copies of a completed Certificate of Fee Exemption (De Minimus Impact Finding — required by the California Department of Fish and Game), if it applies to the project.

Completing the form will indicate that considering the record as a whole, the project involves no potential or adverse effect on wildlife. Details of this requirement can be found in the Department of Fish and Game regulations, 14 CCR § 753.5 – Collection of Filing Fees. The SCH cannot post an NOD without proof of payment of, or a certificate of exemption from, the required Fish and Game filing fee.