On August 12, 2021, the District Board of Directors adopted the amended policy because of the recent CEQA court case. The amendments focus on providing guidance about how off-site mitigation approaches and related criteria can be used by lead agencies to achieve the offset of greenhouse gases emissions from land use projects. The amended policy can be downloaded here.
On October 13, 2016, the District Board of Directors adopted the Review of Land Use Projects under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Policy (PDF). The Policy establishes the thresholds of significance for criteria pollutants as well as greenhouse gases (GHG) and the review principles which serve as guidelines for the District staff when the District acts as a commenting agency to review and comment on the environmental documents prepared by the lead agencies.
The purpose of the adopted Policy is to ensure consistency and transparency in staffs' reviews and recommendations, which assists lead agencies in preparing legally adequate environmental documents with professional analyses to address potential air quality impacts from land use projects.