Report 2018-119 Recommendations

To ensure that it consistently prioritizes and reviews projects with potentially significant impacts on the environment, the department should establish a departmentwide policy for prioritizing CEQA documents for review and comment by December 2019 and require regional offices to adopt region-specific procedures by March 2020.

To ensure that it consistently prioritizes and reviews projects with potentially significant impacts on the environment, the department should develop policies and procedures outlining departmentwide expectations for CEQA review and comment by December 2019 and require regional offices to develop region-specific policies and procedures for CEQA review by March 2020.

To ensure that it consistently prioritizes and reviews projects with potentially significant impacts on the environment, the department should develop ongoing training for environmental scientists that covers subjects including the complexities and technical aspects of CEQA review by June 2020.

To ensure that it consistently prioritizes and reviews projects with potentially significant impacts on the environment, the department should incorporate the policies
and procedures into regulations in full compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act, should it determine that the new policies and procedures create rules of general application.

To ensure regional staff enter data into the project tracking database accurately and consistently, the department should, by December 2019, develop, implement, and provide training on departmentwide written policies and procedures that outline the requirements and process for entering data related to CEQA review into the department's project tracking database.

To ensure that it complies with state law requiring it to use CEQA fees only for CEQA activities, the department should immediately begin tracking and monitoring CEQA revenues and expenditures separately from other program activities within the nondedicated account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.

To determine more accurately the resources that it needs to review all CEQA documents it receives, the department should implement a timekeeping mechanism by December 2019 that requires staff to track the hours they spend on CEQA-related activities.

To determine the costs for its CEQA review and set appropriate fees, the department should complete its five-year review of program costs and revenues and report the results to the Legislature by March 2020. To provide the Legislature with a more accurate estimate of the costs of CEQA activities, the department should prepare an update to this review no more than two years after it has modified its time-tracking procedures.

To ensure it receives all CEQA revenues to which it is entitled, the department should immediately begin collecting any unpaid fees it identifies in audits of counties.

To reduce the risk of counties not collecting and remitting CEQA filing fees, the department should begin sharing any findings from internal audits with counties and reminding county officials of their responsibilities related to CEQA fees.

To maximize the amount of time that environmental scientists have to review CEQA documents, the department should establish procedures for the electronic distribution of CEQA documents for review by December 2019. These procedures should include the utilization of the State Clearinghouse's electronic system when it becomes available.