California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Overview

What is Environmental Review? 

The Current Planning Division reviews discretionary applications for potential environmental impacts in a process known as environmental review. The process aims to provide information on such environmental impacts of potential projects to decision-makers and the public for their consideration. Common types of environmental impact include traffic, noise, groundwater contamination, archaeological resources, vegetation, and wildlife.

If significant environmental impacts are identified, feasible mitigation measures must be included in a project to eliminate or reduce these impacts. Various State and City policies provide the basis for determining impacts and a means for ensuring that such impacts are mitigated.

How are Environmental Reviews conducted? 

Reviews are conducted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Chapter 17 of the Woodland Municipal Code, which provide guidelines for implementing the CEQA process. The reviews identify any potential adverse environmental effects of proposed actions, assess their significance, and propose measures to eliminate or mitigate significant impacts. Certain actions identified by the state, known as Categorical Exemptions, are exempt from environmental review. Such exempt projects generally include small-scale new construction, some changes of use, some additions, and other generally small projects. These projects are enumerated in CEQA Guidelines.

What if my project requires an Environmental Review?

If your project requires an environmental evaluation, please fill out the Initial Study with Environmental Form. See also our Environmental Review Process and Flow Chart and Planning Forms for more details on application requirements.

Project-specific environmental review documents for the City of Woodland are posted on the Development Projects webpage. Environmental Review documents for the Woodland Research and Technology Park can be found on the Woodland Research and Technology Park webpage. 

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Links

• Attorney General Opinions: A complete compilation of legal opinions of the Attorney General issued since 1990 may be viewed and searched.
• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): The laws and rules governing the CEQA process are contained in the CEQA statute (Public Resources Code Section 21000 and following), the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 15000 and following), published court decisions interpreting CEQA, and locally adopted CEQA procedures.
• California Law
• CEQAnet Database: The CEQAnet database provides summaries of Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), Negative Declarations, Environmental Impact Statements, and other types of CEQA and NEPA documents

CEQA Streamlining Opportunities

There are a variety of avenues for projects to receive CEQA relief, including SB 375 (PRC 21155.1) and SB 35, Infill Housing (PRC 21159.24 and 21159.25).

SB 375 CEQA Streamlining

SB 375 provides several CEQA reform provisions. These include streamlined review and analysis of residential mixed-use projects that meet certain criteria.

SB 35 CEQA Streamlining

California Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) creates a new streamlined approval process for multifamily residential projects in cities and counties not meeting their Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) goal. SB 35, which took effect January 1, 2018, requires local entities to streamline the approval of certain housing projects by providing a ministerial approval process (no CEQA), focused design review, and removing or lowering parking requirements. This is a voluntary program that a project sponsor may elect to pursue, provided that certain eligibility criteria are met. For more information on SB 35, visit the SB 35 webpage.