Agencies developing the Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will evaluate ecosystem restoration, water conveyance, and other stressors alternatives identified by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and through the environmental review process under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
A joint EIR/EIS for BDCP is currently being prepared by the DWR, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Under CEQA, the EIR will describe the proposed project, identify its significant environmental impacts, and develop reasonable mitigation measures and alternatives to eliminate or reduce such impacts. Under NEPA, the EIS will describe a reasonable range of alternatives that would avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts.
The EIR/EIS will:
- Fulfill the requirements of:
- Describe the proposed action
- For CEQA compliance: Describe the proposed project, identify its significant environmental impacts, and develop reasonable mitigation measures and alternatives to eliminate or reduce such impacts.
- For NEPA compliance: Describe reasonable range of alternatives that would avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts.
- Analyze the environmental effects of the proposed action and the alternatives
- Support future regulatory actions or approval
- Serve as a decision document as well as a disclosure document