Jackson – Amador County officials and members of the public in 2 weeks will be able to comment on environmental impacts of the county General Plan Update. The Planning Department hosts a public scoping session Thursday, August 13th. County Planner Susan Grijalva in a release Wednesday said the “environmental impact analysis in the Program EIR will be based on the change between existing conditions and those associated with likely development in accordance with the Draft General Plan by 2030, as well as at theoretical build out.” Grijalva explained the scoping session process in a release Wednesday. She said: “Before any project decision can be made by the county, the California Environmental Quality Act requires the preparation and certification of a document which discloses the potential adverse effects to the physical environment which could occur from such a project.” Also, “mitigation measures must be developed which would, if possible, reduce those potential impacts to an acceptable level.” She said: “It has been determined an Environmental Impact Report must be prepared to address the proposed project’s potential impacts.” As part of the EIR preparation process a Notice of Preparation is circulated to various state, federal, and local agencies informing them of the proposed project and requesting their responses, “feasible reasonable alternatives, and mitigation measures” to be explored in the EIR. Also used as part of the EIR preparation process is Early Public Consultation. Grijalva said the county will hold a Scoping Meeting to hear comments and concerns of agencies and area landowners and residents. A subject-by-subject checklist-type questionnaire will be used to guide work at the meeting, presided over by the Amador County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commissioners. Following the scoping, and close of the comment period, August 31st, a Draft EIR will be prepared to respond to the issues raised by the public and various agencies. Once the Draft EIR is completed, a public hearing will be held on the document, Grijalva said. “Eventually, the EIR may be certified as being adequate. Once the EIR has been certified, the county can then go on to make ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decisions on the project.” Grijalva said the “certification of an EIR as being adequate is not an indication the county will or will not eventually approve the project. It simply means the environmental impacts have been fully disclosed and mitigation measures recommended.” The scoping meeting will be held in 2 sessions, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, August 13th, in Supervisors’ Chambers. Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.