Activities covered

The categories of restoration project types eligible for enrollment under the Statewide Restoration General Order (SRGO) are listed below. Detailed eligible project type descriptions are provided in Chapter 2 of the PEIR, starting on page 2-8. Projects may conduct restoration activities such as establishment, reestablishment, rehabilitation, and/or enhancement for any of these project types:

1. Improvements to Stream Crossings and Fish Passage
2. Removal of Small Dams, Tide Gates, Flood Gates, and Legacy Structures
3. Bioengineered Bank Stabilization
4. Restoration and Enhancement of Off-Channel and Side-Channel Habitat
5. Water Conservation Projects
6. Floodplain Restoration
7. Removal or Remediation of Pilings and Other In-Water Structures
8. Removal of Nonnative Invasive Species and Revegetation with Native Plants
9. Establishment, Restoration, and Enhancement of Tidal, Subtidal, and Freshwater Wetlands
10. Establishment, Restoration, and Enhancement of Stream and Riparian Habitat and Upslope Watershed Sites

Application Tips and Resources

To utilize the CEQA document, follow the steps as described below and as outlined in Figure ES-2 Restoration Projects Statewide Order CEQA Process Flow Chart on page ES-4 of the Executive Summary.

Determining the Next Step under CEQA

A party implementing an individual restoration project subject to the Order may be a public agency, as defined by State CEQA Guidelines Section 15379, or a private party. If the party implementing the restoration project is a public agency, that agency would typically be a CEQA lead agency for the project or, in some circumstances, a responsible agency (State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15367 and 15381). If the party implementing the individual restoration project is a private entity, that party would coordinate with the public agency with principal responsibility to approve the project, as described in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15050 and 15051. Such public agencies with permitting or other approval authority related to the individual restoration project may include a Regional Board, CDFW, or a county or city, among other public agencies.

Therefore, as used in this PEIR, the term “project proponent” is defined as a public agency or private party that meets the following criteria:

• A public agency that would provide funding in whole or in part for an individual restoration project permitted under the Order.
• A public agency that proposes to carry out or otherwise approve all or some portion of an individual restoration project permitted under the Order.
• A private party that completes, carries out, or funds an individual restoration project. The private party would coordinate with the public agency with principal responsibility to approve the project, as described in State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15050 and 15051.

Any public agency proposing to carry out or approve all or some portion of an individual restoration project subject to the Order must exercise its independent judgment to determine CEQA compliance. Given this PEIR and the statewide scope of the Order, the exercise of discretion by a lead agency for an individual restoration project will be guided by State CEQA Guidelines Section 15168. Possible scenarios are described below.

Scenario 1: No New Significant or Substantially More Severe Impacts Identified

If the CEQA lead agency determines, under State CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, that the individual restoration project would result in no new significant effects and/or require no new mitigation measures, the activity could be approved as being within the scope of the PEIR. In such a case, the project would not require a new or additional environmental review (e.g., EIR, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration). At this point, the CEQA lead agency would use this PEIR for the project’s CEQA compliance and would file a notice of determination when the project is approved.

Under this CEQA compliance approach, the CEQA lead agency must incorporate all project requirements identified in the Order and all feasible and appropriate mitigation measures from the PEIR into the individual restoration project, as needed, to address significant or potentially significant impacts on the environment.

Scenario 2: Potentially Significant or Substantially More Severe Impact

If an individual restoration project would have impacts that were not fully described or new impacts not examined in this PEIR, the CEQA lead agency would need to prepare an initial study to determine the appropriate environmental document to ensure all impacts are analyzed. Should a separate environmental document be needed—whether that document is a notice of exemption, an addendum or supplemental document to this PEIR, or a document that tiers from or incorporates by reference this PEIR (i.e., negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or EIR)—the PEIR could be used to simplify the task of preparing an additional or seprate environmental document (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15168[d]).

The environmental document for the individual restoration project may incorporate any applicable elements of this PEIR by reference including, but not limited to, direct and indirect impacts, mitigation measures, cumulative impacts, alternatives, or a statement of overriding considerations. As a result, an additional environmental document could focus solely on the new effects that were not previously considered. Individual restoration projects would proceed based on independent judgment for the individual project CEQA lead agency, subject to supporting substantial evidence.

The CEQA lead agency could also tier from this PEIR such that the CEQA document for an individual restoration project only focuses on the new effects that were not considered in this PEIR.