j - City of Tustin

Executive Summary
regulations implementing NEP A (32 C.F.R. Part 775); U.S. Marine Corps Environmental
Compliance and Protection Manual (Order P5090.2); and the California Environmental Quality Act
of 1970 (CEQA) statutes (Cal. Pub. Res. Code, § 21000 et seq., as amended) and implementing
guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., Title 14, § 15000 et seq. (1998)).
The City of Tustin is the local lead agency under CEQA, and the Tustin City Council may certify the
EISIEIR. The Tustin City Council may use the certified EISIEIR to implement a civilian reuse plan,
i.e., amend the City of Tustin General Plan, amend its zoning ordinance, and adopt a Specific Plan
and other discretionary actions. The City of Irvine, whose jurisdiction encompasses a portion of
MCAS Tustin, supports the City of Tustin acting as the sole local lead agency. (Appendix E contains
a copy of the May 1994 letter from Irvine to Tustin formalizing this agreement.) Under CEQA
statute, the City of Irvine is considered a responsible agency (Cal. Code Regs., Title 14, § 15381).
As a responsible agency, the City of Irvine would implement the project in the 95-acre portion within
its jurisdiction and would need to certify the EISIEIR for any discretionary actions to implement the
civilian reuse plan (CaL Code Regs., Title 14, § 15096). Implementing the project would include
amending the City of Irvine General Plan, amending the zoning ordinance, and adopting a Specific
Plan, as well as other discretionary actions.
ES-2 PURPOSE OF AND NEED FOR THE ACTION
The purpose and need of the proposed federal action is to dispose of surplus federal property at
MCAS Tustin for subsequent reuse. The purpose of and need for the local action is to reuse MCAS
Tustin surplus property to offset the negative socioeconomic effects caused by BRAC, and to reuse
these properties under an economically viable and balanced reuse plan that will provide housing and
employment opportunities, solve existing community circulation and recreation parkland
deficiencies, and generate sufficient revenue (property tax, sales tax or others) to support the
investment in infrastructure required to improve the site for civilian purposes.
To maximize efficiency of the reuse planning process, the City of Tustin incorporated two other
parcels into the MCAS Tustin Reuse Plan. An Army Reserve parcel, although not part of the
disposal action, was incorporated into the Reuse Plan to provide zoning and general plan
designations for this parcel should it become available for disposal in the future. A privately owned,
approximately four-acre parcel, bounded by the Tustin city limits and MCAS Tustin in the vicinity
of Harvard Avenue and Edinger Avenue, has also been included. Incorporating this otherwise
"isolated parcel" was a logical extension of the reuse planning process. Figure ES-3 illustrates the
boundaries of MCAS Tustin and the slightly larger area that is the reuse plan area.
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MCAS Tustin EIS/EIR
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