The comment period on the Draft Program EIR for the staff draft Delta Plan closed February 2, 2012. Comment letters and other comment submissions we received are available for review at this web address: http://deltacouncil.ca.gov/public-comments. The submissions, and written responses, will be published in a Final EIR anticipated sometime in 2012.
 

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) has been prepared by the Delta Stewardship Council staff. The Council is the Project proponent and state lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the Delta Plan. CEQA generally requires lead agencies to consider the environmental consequences of a project over which they have discretionary authority before approving, carrying out, or funding the project. Under CEQA, a project is an activity which may cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. CEQA requires a lead agency to prepare an EIR if there is a fair argument that the project may have a significant environmental effect.

The action considered by the Council is the adoption of the Delta Plan. The suite of twelve binding regulatory policies and sixty-one nonbinding recommendations contained in the fifth staff draft Delta Plan released in August 2011 is what the DEIR calls the "Proposed Project" or "Project."

CEQA requires that the lead agency use its independent judgment to formulate and evaluate in an EIR a reasonable range of alternatives to the project that could "feasibly attain most of the basic objectives of the project and avoid or substantially lessen any of the potential adverse environmental impacts of the project." Consequently, this DEIR also describes five alternatives of the Proposed Project, which are analyzed at the same level of detail as the Proposed Project. In addition to the "No Project Alternative" (which assesses the environment as if no Delta Plan is adopted), the DEIR includes four alternatives that are based upon, and informed by (but not taken verbatim from), comments and alternative proposals received from various stakeholder groups, communities, and other interested persons.

Because the Council does not propose or contemplate constructing, owning, or operating any facilities or directly undertaking any specific activities to implement the Delta Plan recommendations or regulatory policies, there would be no direct physical change in the environment through adoption of the Delta Plan. However, adoption of the Delta Plan by the Council could influence the nature and shape of decisions and actions by other agencies (particularly where those actions are "covered actions" under the Delta Reform Act). Those decisions and actions, as potentially influenced by the Delta Plan, could cause physical changes in the environment. Those potential physical changes are what the DEIR evaluates.

The Delta Plan EIR is programmatic in nature due to the broad nature of the Delta Plan. Future environmental documents would be completed by other agencies when they implement projects that are subject to consistency reviews by the Council, or which are encouraged or otherwise influenced by the Delta Plan. This programmatic EIR is not intended to provide project-level clearance for any specific project.

The Preliminary Summary of Comments on the Delta Plan Draft EIR viewed here

Audio Recordings of Delta EIR Field Hearings

• Listen to meeting held on January 11th 2012
• Listen to meeting held on January 12th 2012
  
• Listen to meeting held on January 17th 2012
• Listen to meeting held on January 18th 2012
  
  1. Dr. Robert Pyke's Comments from 1/18 meeting
  2. Desalination Handouts provided during 1/18 meeting
• Listen to the meeting held on January 19th 2012

The Meeting Notice & the Agenda for the Draft EIR Field Hearings can be viewed here

The Fifth Staff Draft of the Delta Plan can be viewed here

The Draft EIR Field Hearing Media Advisory can be viewed here

The Draft EIR Field Hearing Flyer can be viewed here

El folleto de las reuniones sobre el borrador del informe EIR se puede ver aqui

The Notice of Availability of the Draft Program EIR can be viewed here

The Statement on Update of DSC's EIR Process can be viewed here

The Draft EIR Status and Summary of Approach Power Point can be viewed here

The Draft EIR Press Release & the DSC Ex. Ofcr. Statement can be viewed here

The Draft EIR Public Process Update (Nov. 17, 2011 Presentation) can be viewed here

Review Dates

• The EIR is now available for review and comment through February 2, 2012
• Thu, November 17, 2011, 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sheraton Grand Hotel, 1230 J Street, Sacramento, CA (Council will take oral public comment)
  
• Thu, December 15, 2011, 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., California State Capitol, Room 447, Sacramento, CA (Council will take oral public comment)

The Meeting Notice & the Agenda for the Draft EIR Field Hearings can be viewed here

The Draft EIR Field Hearing Flyer can be viewed here

El folleto de las reuniones sobre el borrador del informe EIR se puede ver aqui

Chapters of the draft EIR

• Draft EIR Cover (3.4 MB)
• Draft EIR Contents (0.4 MB)
• Executive Summary (0.5 MB)
• Section 1 - Introduction (0.3 MB)
• Section 2A - Project Description (0.9 MB)
• Section 2B - Introduction to Anaylsis of Environmental Impacts (0.3 MB)
• Section 3 - Water Resources (5.6 MB)
• Section 4 - Biological Resources (1.6 MB)
• Section 5 - Delta Flood Management (2.6 MB)
• DEIR Errata (dated November 4, 2011) - Section 5.3.4.2 (replacing figure 5-3)
• Section 6 - Land Use and Planning (3.8 MB)
• Section 7 - Agriculture and Forestry Resources (0.9 MB)
• Section 8 - Aesthetics (1.6 MB)
• Section 9 - Air Quality (0.7 MB)
• Section 10 - Cultural Resources (0.5 MB)
• Section 11 - Geology and Soils (3.6 MB)
• Section 12 - Paleontological Resources (0.9 MB)
• Section 13 - Mineral Resources (0.7 MB)
• Section 14 - Hazards and Hazardous Materials (0.5 MB)
• Section 15 - Noise (0.4 MB)
• Section 16 - Population and Housing (0.3 MB)
• Section 17 - Public Services (0.4 MB)
• Section 18 - Recreation (0.5 MB)
• DEIR Errata (dated November 22, 2011) - Replacing pages 18-5, 18-6, 18-8, 18-14, 18-18, 18-19
• Section 19 - Transportation (1.6 MB)
• Section 20 - Utilities (0.2 MB)
• Section 21 - Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (?? MB)
• Section 22 - Cumulative Impacts (0.3 MB)
• Section 23 - BDCP (0.3 MB)
• Section 24 - Other CEQA Considerations (0.2 MB)
• Section 25 - Comparison of Alternatives (0.1 MB)
• Section 26 - List of Preparers (0.1 MB)

Appendicies of the draft EIR

• Appendix A - Acronyms and Abbreviations (0.1 MB)
• Appendix B - SBX7 1 (0.3 MB)
• Appendix C - Policies and Recommendations (4.8 MB)
• Appendix D - Regulatory Framework (2.0 MB)
• Appendix E - Water Resources Supporting Information (2.8 MB)
• Appendix F - Biological Appendices (0.8 MB)
• Appendix G - Farmland Definitions (0.1 MB)
• Appendix H - Reference EIRs (0.2 MB)
• Appendix I - Notice of Preperation (0.5 MB)

Draft EIR References Requested by Public

County libraries where the Draft EIR can be viewed.