EMC PLANNING GROUP INC.
IN THE NEWS...

Ron Sissem Co-Leads 2009 Spring AEP CEQA Series Advanced Workshop

As part of a panel of three speakers, Ron Sissem, MRP, Principal Planner, presented several topics in the recent Spring Workshop in San Jose sponsored by the Association of Environmental Professionals. Each spring AEP sponsors a series of advanced workshops across California concerning issues relevant to the California Environmental Quality Act. This year’s workshops focused on addressing climate change in the CEQA process. Ron presented and led discussions focused on climate change guidance and thresholds and on climate change and cumulative impact analysis.

Ron has over 20 years of interdisciplinary technical and project management experience in the field of land use and environmental planning and natural resource management both domestically and internationally. Ron provides project management leadership for the firm’s larger scale advance planning, entitlement management, and CEQA projects. He also spearheads EMC's climate change services by assisting public agencies and private sector clients with climate change planning and mitigation strategies, policy, and project design.

Christine Bradley has been Elected President of AEP, Monterey Bay Area Chapter

Christine Bradley has been elected President of the Monterey Bay Area Chapter of the Association of Environmental Professionals. She has been an active member since she joined AEP in 2007. Prior to being elected as President, she served as Secretary of the local chapter.

Christine is a graduate of Monterey Institute of International Studies and holds a Masters in International Environmental Policy. She also holds a bachelors degree from the University of California at Davis in International Relations with an emphasis on Environmental and Global Health.

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

For additional information, please visit our website.
www.emcplanning.com

E. J. Kim, Marketing Director
831.649.1799 ext. 220
kim@emcplanning.com


California's Coalition for Adequate
School Housing (CASH)
Environmental Mitigation
Best Practices Handbook
is Now Available!

The handbook is here and it looks great.

Teri Wissler Adam, Principal, and Janet Ilse, Biologist/Senior Planner with EMC Planning Group Inc. worked on a committee to prepare the CASH Environmental Mitigation Best Practices Handbook for school districts in California to assist with understanding mitigation requirements for new or expanded school facility projects. The volunteer committee was headed by staff from Murdoch Walrath & Holmes, and was assisted by a variety of school districts, attorneys, and environmental consultants. Teri and Janet wrote the chapter on mitigation fees for impacts to biological resources and mitigation in perpetuity.

Please contact Teri Wissler Adam, Principal, if you would like a handbook.
wissler@emcplanning.com or 831.649.1799 ext. 203

For more information about CASH click here.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Industrial Wastewater Conveyance System Upgrades CEQA Plus Compliance,
City of Salinas

EMC Planning Group Inc. is assisting the City of Salinas with the CEQA-Plus process (Environmental Protection Agency funding) for this program. The program will provide for the design and construction of pipeline improvements to rehabilitate the City’s Industrial Wastewater Conveyance System. The improvements include: extension of industrial wastewater conveyance system along Dayton Street to proposed future development, conveyance improvements to serve proposed future development, bypass connection at regional sewer pump station, and replacement of 33-inch pipeline with 42-inch pipeline (9,600 lineal feet upstream of Industrial Wastewater Treatment Facility). Environmental issues of concern include biological resources and cultural resources.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding – Gilroy Sidewalk Rehabilitation Project NEPA Compliance, City of Gilroy

EMC Planning Group Inc. assisted the City of Gilroy with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for a proposed sidewalk rehabilitation project. The City applied for federal funding pursuant to the 2009 Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is being administered by the California Department of Transportation. EMC has completed the environmental review documentation as a part of the City’s application package. Environmental issues of concern included biological resources (tree removal) and cultural resources (historic and pre-historic).

San Miguel Canyon Road - Castroville Boulevard Improvement Project,
Monterey County Department of Public Works

EMC Planning Group Inc. prepared an initial study and mitigated negative declaration on this roadway improvement located in the Prunedale area of unincorporated Monterey County, east of U.S. Highway 101. The project consists of roadway widening and striping improvements to an approximately 0.75 mile long segment of San Miguel Canyon Road between Prunedale North Road and Castroville Boulevard, widening and restriping of an approximately .14 mile long segment of Castroville Boulevard near its intersection with San Miguel Canyon Road, and signalization of the San Miguel Canyon Road/Castroville Boulevard intersection. The environmental evaluation focused on the following issues: visual impacts associated with tree removal and construction of a retaining wall; impacts to special-status plant species (Hooker’s manzanita, Pajaro manzanita) and special-status wildlife species (nesting birds, roosting bats); removal of significant trees (pine and oak); potential impacts to cultural resources; and noise, air quality and water quality impacts during construction activities.

Salinas Agricultural-Industrial Center Specific Plan EIR, City of Salinas

This proposed 257-acre industrial center includes adoption of a specific plan, general plan amendment from Farmland to General Industrial, sphere of influence amendment, prezoning, annexation to the City of Salinas and the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, and detachment from the Salinas Rural Fire Protection District and the Monterey County Resource Conservation District. Significant environmental issues addressed include traffic, air quality, climate change, flooding, loss of farmland, cultural resources, and public services and utilities.

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