[Sustain] URGENT CEQA Update, & Alert To CONTACT Supervisor David Chiu ASAP!

[Eric Brooks]

Hi all,

It is very important that we all contact Board of Supervisors President 
David Chiu immediately so that by Monday morning (before the Monday 
afternoon Land Use hearing) he has heard from us and our member groups. 
See contact info below.

As you know, Supervisor Chiu's amendments to Scott Wiener's CEQA 
legislation (though they are a marked improvement) are not nearly 
enough. The Wiener/Chiu text still forces appeals on the -first- project 
approvals, does not contain a strong enough process to define first and 
last approvals, does not have strong enough language to guarantee rights 
to appeal major modifications in projects, and is much weaker in general 
on noticing and other responsibilities of the Planning Department.

We must now refocus to insist on the following points:

1) The primary CEQA appeal must be allowed to be filed up to the -final- 
approval in multi-approval projects.

2) So that first and final approvals for projects are completely clear 
and understandable to the public, all planned approvals of 
multi-approval projects must be clearly listed in project application 
documents and environmental determination documents which are noticed to 
the public.

3) A second appeal -must- be allowed following any substantial 
modification in a project. This modification appeal trigger must be very 
well defined in the new ordinance, and the opportunity to appeal a 
modification must be available regardless of new environmental 
determinations by the Environmental Review Officer of the Planning 
Department.

4) The Planning Department must be the entity responsible for making and 
noticing the final environmental determinations on projects sponsored by 
other city agencies; not the other agencies themselves.

5) Jane Kim's public noticing requirements throughout her CEQA 
legislation are far superior to those in the Wiener/Chiu compromise and 
must be chosen as the core noticing provisions of the CEQA ordinance.

IMPORTANT: We should all contact/call David Chiu's office from now 
through Monday morning to insist on these points, and to insist that we 
wait until May 20 to complete any CEQA ordinance in the Land Use 
Committee; this so that Jane Kim's legislation can be fully incorporated 
as the foundation of our CEQA improvements.

TO CONTACT Board President David Chiu, write and/or call -both- David 
and his aide Amy Chan at:

David.Chiu at sfgov.org
Amy.Chan at sfgov.org

Chiu's Office Phone: 415-554-7450

cheers

Eric Brooks
-- 

"I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate 
themselves."

Che Guevara