NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF A DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT AND GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT

OCTOBER 26, 2023

 

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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the County of San Diego, Department of Planning & Development Services
is circulating for public review a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (Draft SEIR) in accordance
with the California Environmental Quality Act, along with a General Plan Amendment (GPA), Guidelines for Determining Significance for Climate Change (Guidelines), which include the County’s greenhouse gas (GHG) threshold of significance, and Climate Action Plan Consistency Review Checklist (Checklist) for the proposed Climate Action Plan (CAP) Update, which constitute the project. The Department is seeking public and a
gency input on the Draft SEIR and related project documents. Project documents, including the Draft SEIR,
can be reviewed online at the following website:
http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/sustainability/climateactionplan/seir.html, or in person at Planning & Development Services (PDS), Project Processing Counter, 5510 Overland Avenue, Suite 110, San Diego, California 92123, and at the public libraries listed below. Comments on the draft project documents listed in this notice must be sent to Meghan Kelly, CAP Project Manager electronically at https://engage.sandiegocounty.gov/cap-seir, via e-mail to CAP@sdcounty.ca.gov, or at the PDS address listed above and should reference the project name and numbers listed in this notice.

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO CLIMATE ACTION PLAN UPDATE (PDS2020-POD-20-016), GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT (PDS2020-GPA-20-004), DRAFT SEIR (LOG NO. PDS2020-ER-20-00-002). The project entails the County’s CAP that includes measures and actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the unincorporated county and County operations. The CAP necessitates changes to Goal COS-20 and Policy COS-20.1 of the 2011 County of San Diego General Plan Update (GPU) and mitigation adopted in the certified Final Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the 2011 GPU (Mitigation Measures CC-1.2, CC-1.7, and CC-1.8). As a result, an associated action of the project is a General Plan Amendment to the 2011 GPU, which includes revised mitigation measures and a revised Mitigation, Monitoring, and Reporting Program for the 2011 GPU PEIR. The project also includes a threshold of significance for GHG emissions and revised Guidelines for Determining Significance for Climate Change, as well as a CAP Consistency Review Checklist. All of these actions constitute the project analyzed in the Draft SEIR.

The overall objective of the project is to reduce GHG emissions generated from activities within the unincorporated county (community) and GHG emissions generated by County facilities and operational activities throughout the county, including facilities and operations located within incorporated cities (County operations) to meet or exceed GHG reduction goals under State laws. The CAP proposes nine strategies, 21 measures, and 70 actions that the County would implement to reduce GHG emissions. Measures that could result in physical environmental impacts are evaluated within applicable chapters of the Draft SEIR.

The Draft SEIR identified potentially significant environmental impacts to the following issue areas: Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Hydrology and Water Quality, Noise, Transportation, Cultural and Paleontological Resources, Land Use and Planning, and Tribal Cultural Resources.

Comments on the Draft SEIR and related project documents must be received no later than January 5, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. (a 71-day public review period). Comments on the draft documents must be sent to Meghan Kelly, CAP Project Manager via an online form at https://engage.sandiegocounty.gov/cap-seir, via e-mail to CAP@sdcounty.ca.gov, or at the PDS address listed above and should reference the project name and numbers listed in this notice.

Printed copies of the Draft SEIR and Appendices can be reviewed at the PDS Project Processing Counter (5510 Overland Avenue, Suite 110, San Diego, California 92123) and at the following library branches:

  • Fallbrook, 124 South Mission Road, Fallbrook, CA 92028, (760) 731-4650
  • Ramona, 1275 Main Street, Ramona, CA 92065, (760) 788-5270
  • Rancho San Diego, 11555 Via Rancho San Diego, El Cajon, CA 92019, (619) 660-5370
  • Rancho Santa Fe, 17040 Avenida de Acacias, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067, (858) 756-2512
  • Spring Valley, 836 Kempton Street, Spring Valley, CA 91977, (619) 463-3006

Electronic copies of these documents are also available for review on the following website: http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/sustainability/climateactionplan/seir.html. This website can be accessed at any of the 33 County-operated library branches. The hours of service for each library can be viewed at: https://sdcl.bibliocommons.com/v2/locations or by calling the number listed for each location.

Public informational meetings on the CAP may be held during the environmental public review period. Details on these public informational meetings will be posted on the County’s CAP website (https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/sustainability/climateactionplan.html) and electronic notification will be sent to all stakeholders who have requested to receive updates on the CAP. If you would like to receive notifications on the County’s CAP, please sign up to receive notices by visiting the CAP project website (https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CASAND/subscriber/new?topic_id=CASAND_309).