Environmental Resources

City Planning offers these documents, forms, and other helpful resources to guide environmental consultants and members of the public in processing and preparing environmental documents in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

General Environmental Resources

CEQA Statute and Guidelines
State laws that govern CEQA procedures and guidance for analysis can be found in the CEQA Statute and Guidelines. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) is the State agency responsible for providing guidance on CEQA. Visit OPR’s website to stay up to date on technical advisories, find other helpful resources, and learn more about CEQA streamlining options available for qualifying housing projects.

Los Angeles’s Environmental Assessment Form
The City’s Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) is required for all discretionary applications submitted to City Planning unless a project qualifies for certain Categorical or Statutory Exemptions as specified under CEQA. The EAF is intended to assist the Department in determining the appropriate environmental clearance for a project.

Environmental Impact Category Analysis Resources

In 2019, City Planning adopted the standards of Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines as the thresholds of significance for impacts pursuant to CEQA. While the 2006 L.A. City CEQA Thresholds Guide may still inform environmental analysis as appropriate and be consulted as a reference document, it is no longer the source of City Planning’s default thresholds.

Click on an impact category below for additional guidance and documents. Note that the thresholds and/or methodology for the Cultural Resources and Noise Sections are in the process of being updated, and the documents linked are currently working drafts until adoption

Prepared in response to the Sierra Club v. County of Fresno court ruling, the Air Quality and Health Effects Guidance document provides a supplemental discussion on the potential for identifiable health impacts to result from air pollutants as analyzed within the geographic boundaries for projects located within the City’s boundaries.

OPR's guidance on conducting analyses of greenhouse gases and their impact on climate change can be found on the agency's CEQA and Climate Change page.

City Planning maintains a number of forms and templates to analyze impacts on biological resources. For potential impacts relating to trees, the following forms are required:

  • Tree Disclosure Statement
    Any discretionary application that includes changes to a building’s footprint, including demolition or grading permit applications, must provide a completed Tree Disclosure Statement that is signed by the property owner.

  • Tree Report Template
    If there are any protected trees or protected shrubs on the project site and/or any trees in the adjacent public right-of-way that may be impacted or removed as a result of the project, a qualified tree expert must prepare a Tree Report.

For biological resources in general, projects will be required to submit one of four different documents, depending on the project’s potential for impacts to biological resources. Consult City Planning for assistance selecting the right document.

  • Owner’s Declaration of Biological Resources
    The Owner’s Declaration of Biological Resources is a brief declaration used for projects with the least potential to impact biological resources. It does not require the participation of a qualified biologist.

  • Biologist’s Statement of Biological Resources
    The Biologist’s Statement of Biological Resources is a short statement used for projects with some potential to impact biological resources. It requires the participation of a qualified biologist.

  • Biological Resources Report Template
    A Biological Resources Report Template is used for projects with strong potential to impact biological resources. It requires the participation of a qualified biologist.

  • Biological Reporting Standards
    The biological resource assessment documents above use the Biological Reporting Standards.

  • Biological Resources Reporting Standards Acknowledgement
    A qualified biologist may submit the Biological Resources Reporting Standards Acknowledgement to acknowledge compliance with the reporting standards when completing any of the above documents.

 

 

OPR provides guidance on the use of the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) metric, rather than Level of Service (LOS), as the basis for quantitative transportation analysis for CEQA. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s (LADOT’s) Transportation Assessment Guidelines (TAG) are the complete guide to conducting transportation analyses in Los Angeles.

The Tribal Cultural Resources Guidance is intended to assist environmental consultants in addressing the history of Native Americans in Los Angeles in Tribal Cultural studies prepared pursuant to CEQA.