TRINITY COUNTY. Board Item Request Form Phone ext 3425

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1 County Contract No. Department Transportation TRINITY COUNTY 2.01 Board Item Request Form Contact Richard Tippett Phone ext 3425 Requested Agenda Location 10:00 AM Public Hearings Requested Board Action: Conduct a public hearing to consider adopting a resolution which certifies the Final Program Environmental Impact Report for the Wildwood Road Realignment and Widening Project. Fiscal Impact: $3, in STIP funds to process the Notice of Determination. Possible repayment of $735,000 if no decision is made, from Road Funds or General Fund. Motion: Second Roll Call: Ayes: Nays: Tabled To: Action: Notes:

2 STAFF REPORT Subject: Resolution Certifying the Final Program Environmental Impact Report for the Wildwood Road Realignment and Widening Project; Date: March 17, 2015 ISSUE Should the Board adopt a resolution which certifies the final environmental impact report for the Wildwood Road Realignment and Widening Project? This Resolution would Certify that the Board of Supervisors has reviewed and considered the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR), dated June 25, 2014 for the Wildwood Road Realignment and Widening Project, and that the Board has determined that the Final EIR has been prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and represents the independent judgment of the County. This certification is required by CEQA as a prerequisite to the Board approving the Proposed Project or selecting an alternative to the Proposed Project. The complete CEQA Statutes and Guidelines can be found at: BACKGROUND: A Notice of Preparation (NOP) of a Program EIR was published in the Trinity Journal on September 28, The Draft Program EIR was completed and circulated for 45 days of public review, from April 2, 2014 to May 19, The Draft EIR included the comments received on the NOP and responses to those comments, as well as an analysis of the environmental impacts and measures proposed to mitigate the impacts. A public hearing was held on the draft EIR before the Trinity County Planning Commission on May 8, See Attachment 1 PC Minutes No comments were received from the public at the meeting, but written comments were received during the circulation period from Caltrans, California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, California Transportation Commission and Wildwood Road property owner Suren Holbek. A Final Program EIR was prepared, including all comments received and responses to them, pages of the Draft EIR that had been revised in response to comments, a list of individuals and agencies that were sent copies of the Draft EIR and a Final Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan. The Final EIR is not a stand-alone document. The Draft EIR contains complete project description and analysis of the environmental impacts. A set of CEQA Findings of Fact was also prepared, whereby the Board comes to certain conclusions regarding each of the environmental impacts of the project to demonstrate that they have been mitigated to the extent feasible. All of these documents were posted on the Department of Transportation s web page at on June 25, 2014 and can still be viewed there. The Board should thoroughly review these documents prior to the public hearing. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Final EIR on July 10, The Commission recommended that the Board adopt the EIR, finding that it has been completed in compliance with CEQA. See Attachment 2 PC Minutes

3 Item Staff Report March 17, 2015 Wildwood Road Project EIR DISCUSSION Because of the long time frame of completing design and construction of all three segments, this EIR is a Program EIR. It assumes that one or more supplemental EIRs will be needed before construction of the later phases, as project details develop and/or project circumstances change. The NEPA document, including consultations with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service and a NEPA Categorical Exclusion document are nearly complete, but will likewise require supplemental documents as project details develop, particularly on the last two phases. The EIR must be adopted in order for the Board to make a final decision to approve the project, an alternative project or no project. ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: 1) Adopt the Resolution, thereby adopting the EIR 2) Adopt the Resolution with modifications. 3) Do not adopt the Resolution. There is no direct fiscal impact to adopting the EIR. If adopted, the Board would proceed to Issue B, selecting a project alternative. If the Final EIR is not adopted, additional Department of Transportation staff time would be spent revising the EIR, and additional expense would be incurred for copies, postage, legal notices, etc. required to recirculate the document for additional public and agency review. Cost would be paid by State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds currently allocated to the project through June 30, If no decision is made and the project does not move forward to complete the Preliminary Engineering phase by 9/8/2021, the County may be required to pay back the $735,000 allocated and expended to date on the Environmental phase. RECOMMENDATION: It is staff s recommendation that the Board adopt the Resolution Certifying the EIR as written. The Planning Commission concurs with the recommendation to certify the EIR (See Attachment 2 PC Minutes ) Respectfully submitted Richard Tippett, Director CAO RECOMMENDATION: Concur: Yes No Comments: 2

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11 RESOLUTION NO XXX A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF TRINITY WHICH CERTIFIES A FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE WILDWOOD ROAD REALIGNMENT AND WIDENING PROJECT WHEREAS, Wildwood Road has long been the only County road providing year-round access to Wildwood and alternate access between Hayfork and the Central Valley; and WHEREAS, Wildwood Road is cut through steep slopes and slope failures have reduced portions of the road to a single lane, caused frequent road slipouts and closures and required extensive and frequent repairs and annual freezing and thawing action, resource truck use and gradual wear and tear have lead to degradation of the road condition; and WHEREAS, Wildwood Road lacks substructure and subsurface drainage facilities, and fills and structures are not keyed into good foundations; and WHEREAS, major reconstruction and minor realignment of six miles of the road are needed to bring Wildwood Road to current safety standards, and to restore and maintain sufficient width for two-way traffic; and WHEREAS, Wildwood Road was considered a priority for funding because of the substandard condition of the road and the high cost to maintain it; and WHEREAS, the project is to be designed and constructed in three phases of approximately two miles each, starting with the intersection with East Fork Road at the north end and ending at Gemmill Gulch Picnic Area at the south end; and WHEREAS, this project was first proposed in the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan and $500,000 was programmed for environmental studies for all three phases of the project in the 2006 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Augmentation in 2007; and WHEREAS, an additional $155,000 was programmed in the 2010 STIP and $80,000 more was programmed in the 2012 STIP to complete preliminary design, surveying and environmental studies for all three phases of the project; and WHEREAS, in March 2019, Trinity County Department of Transportation contracted North State Resources Environmental Consultants, to prepare environmental technical studies and reports for the Wildwood Road Realignment and Widening Project in order to satisfy the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other State and Federal environmental regulations; and WHEREAS, initial environmental studies resulted in a determination that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) should be prepared for this project; and

12 Resolution No XXX DATE Page 2 of 3 WHEREAS, on September 28, 2009, the County issued a "notice of preparation" in order to solicit input from agencies and the general public as to the issues that should be addressed in the EIR; and WHEREAS, the Draft EIR was completed and circulated for 45 days of public review, from April 2, 2014 to May 19, 2014; and WHEREAS, the EIR is a Program EIR, because it covers the entire 3-segment project, even though Segments 2 and 3 are several years in the future and none of the segments have been designed beyond a very schematic level. Therefore, as each segment is designed, the environmental documents will be reviewed, and if there are new significant impacts, a supplemental document shall be issued for each phase; and WHEREAS, during the course of public review a Public Hearing was held on the Draft EIR before the Planning Commission on May 8, 2014, but no public comments were received; WHEREAS, nothing in any comments on the Draft EIR raised issues, or prompted the County to respond by adding information, that triggered an obligation to recirculate the Draft EIR under applicable legal standards (see CEQA Guidelines, , subd. (a)); and WHEREAS, on June 25, 2014, the County released the Final EIR, which included the following: the Draft EIR (incorporated by reference); a list of persons and agencies commenting on the Draft EIR; verbatim copies of all written comments received on the Draft EIR; written responses to written comments; and pages of the Draft EIR that were revised to incorporate comments received from agencies and the public, with changes indicated by strikeout and underline and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; and WHEREAS, a Public Hearing was held on the Final EIR before the Planning Commission on July 10, 2014, but no public comments were received; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt findings that the EIR for the Wildwood Road Realignment and Widening Project has been completed in compliance with CEQA; and WHEREAS, the County Board of Supervisors has reviewed the Final EIR in its entirety, including the April 2, 2014 Draft EIR, and the June 25, 2014 Final EIR, and has determined that the document reflects the independent judgment of the County of Trinity.

13 Resolution No XXX DATE Page 3 of 3 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Trinity County Board of Supervisors adopts and incorporates herein, as true and accurate statements and findings of fact, all of the statements and recitals set forth above; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Trinity County Board of Supervisors hereby certifies that the Final EIR has been completed in compliance with CEQA; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Trinity County Board of Supervisors hereby certifies that the Final EIR has been presented to the Board of Supervisors, which has reviewed and considered the information and analysis contained therein, in light of the entire Record of Proceedings; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Trinity County Board of Supervisors hereby certifies that the Final EIR reflects the independent judgment of the County of Trinity. DULY PASSED AND ADOPTED this 17th day of March, 2015 by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity by motion, second (/), and the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: RECUSE: ATTEST: WENDY G. TYLER Clerk of the Board of Supervisors JUDY MORRIS, CHAIRMAN Board of Supervisors County of Trinity State of California By: Deputy