What is a Negative Declaration or Mitigated Negative Declaration?
An agency prepares an initial study to describe a project’s potential impacts and determine what type of environmental review document should be adopted. A negative declaration is adopted when there is no substantial evidence (facts, reasonable assumptions and expert opinion based on facts) supporting a “fair argument” that a project may have a significant environmental impact. An MND is adopted when a project may have significant environmental impacts, but certain mitigation measures clearly reduce impacts below a level of significance.
About the Author
Andrew Shaffer is the former Engagement Director at the California Preservation Foundation. Prior to joining CPF, he studied at the University of San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin, where he specialized in LGBTQ history, preservation, and activism. Andrew is a transplant to San Francisco and loves showing off his adopted hometown to people from all over the world.
I am a member of a Historic Preservation Commission. Over the. years, we have had historic buildings approved for demolition based on faulty historic reports within the MND that city staff accepted. In a recent case, I responded to the errors and omissions in a report during the public comment period and then was asked by city staff to recuse myself from a vote related to the demolition permit because I had made a public comment. In order to create a more legitimate process, I would like to see the HPC review historical reports for all MNDs before they are approved and submitted to the Planning Commission and/or City Council so that those bodies are not misled by the flawed reports. Does any other city do this?