Draft EIS/EIR for the San Luis Reservoir SRA Resource ...

5. Environmental Analysis
use, facility construction or rehabilitation, or development projects, and adverse
impacts can range from negative visual impacts to degradation of water quality to
the disturbance or loss of cultural and natural resources.
For the purposes of this document only, the terms used for impact magnitude
(NEPA) and thresholds of significance (CEQA) are shown below. Mitigation
measures are provided where applicable.
NEPA Impact Magnitude
CEQA Threshold
Beneficial –
No impact
No impact
Minor adverse impact
Less than significant impact
Major adverse impact
Significant impact
As discussed above, this Plan is a first-tier EIS/EIR and, as such, the description
of proposed development, program impacts, and associated mitigation are
programmatic. The Plan goals and guidelines (Section 4.2) would provide
program-level avoidance and/or minimization for effects that may result from
proposed management actions. Additional program-level mitigation measures are
provided in Section 5.4. As additional area development plans or specific projects
are proposed or developed, they will be subject to further environmental review.
Project-specific mitigation measures may be implemented where necessary based
on more specific project review. The potential mitigation measures identified in
this section may be necessary for specific projects that could be implemented
under this Plan. Impacts are summarized in Table 5-4, at the end of this chapter.
5.2.4 Environmental Effects Found Not to Be Significant
As required by CEQA (CEQA Guidelines §15128), this section presents
discussions related to environmental effects found not to be significant. At this
first tier of planning and environmental analysis, some topical issues were found
not to be significant and were not evaluated further in this Draft EIS/EIR. These
topical issues are identified and briefly discussed in this section. If the Plan is
amended in the future or conditions as presented herein change, these effects will
have to be re-evaluated to ensure that they are still deemed to be not significant.
5.2.4.1 Agricultural and Forest Resources
Implementation of the Plan would not convert farmland to nonagricultural use.
The Plan Area is not designated as Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or
Farmland of Statewide Importance pursuant to the Farmland Mapping and
Monitoring Program of the California Resources Agency. Thus, the proposed Plan
would have no effect on agricultural resources.
No lands in the Plan Area are zoned as forest land or timberland (Merced County
1990, Merced County Planning and Community Development Department 2008a,
b). The Plan would not result in the conversion of forest land to non-forest use.
5-6 San Luis Reservoir SRA
Draft RMP/GP and Draft EIS/EIR