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.
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?