C.2. Environmental Impact Procedures and Fund-raising 
     Campaigns
     Spring 1992

Development Policy and Administration Manual 
Chapter I. Soliciting and Accepting Private Funds
Section C. Fund-raising Campaigns    
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        ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT PROCEDURES AND FUND-RAISING CAMPAIGNS


The California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (CEQA) requires
the University to complete the appropriate environmental review
process before it makes a commitment to proceed with a project.  
Under State CEQA Guidelines, "project" means "the whole of an
action which has a potential for resulting in a physical change
in the environment, directly or ultimately."  For the University,
typical projects that could have a significant effect on the
environment include capital construction projects, long-range
development plans, leases, acquisition of property, and
substantial changes in the use of existing facilities.

Approval of a fund-raising campaign permits the University to
accept gifts that are irrevocable, both from the donor's point of
view and as a matter of charitable trust law.  Because a court
might reasonably hold that conducting a fund-raising campaign
constitutes a commitment to proceed with a project, in general,
fund-raising campaign authorization for a particular project
should not be sought before completion of the environmental
impact review process.  Besides risking CEQA violations, the
University also places itself in the position of soliciting gifts
for a project that may be subsequently canceled or so greatly
modified that it no longer corresponds with the representation
made to the donors.

The UC CEQA Handbook governs the University's compliance.  Under
these procedures a project must be classified as to its expected
environmental impact, using a standard Environmental Impact
Classification form (EIC form).  An EIC form should be prepared
when a project is first proposed to the Office of the President
if the project requires Office of the President action.  If the
project does not require Office of the President concurrence, an
EIC form must be prepared before the project is approved at the
campus level.  For capital projects, the EIC form is included in
the Project Planning Guide (PPG).


The EIC form contains four basic classifications:

     1.  Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. 
         If it can be seen with certainty that there is no
         possibility that the project may have a significant
         effect on the environment.



     2.  Categorically Exempt.  If the project is included within
         a list of classes, established in the State Guidelines,
         that have been determined to have no significant effect
         on the environment.

     3.  Initial Study.  If the project is not exempt from CEQA
         or Categorically Exempt and may have a significant
         effect on the environment.

     4.  Environmental Impact Report.  If the project may, is
         likely to, or clearly will have a significant effect on
         the environment.

If the President, in consultation with General Counsel, concurs
with the campus that a project is classified as Exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act or Categorically Exempt, the
environmental impact review process ends and a fund-raising
campaign may be approved.

If the project is classified as requiring an Initial Study or an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR), such a document must be
prepared and submitted for public review.  The EIR or Initial
Study and any comments received during the public review period
are then considered incident to the decision by the Chancellor,
President, their delegated officers, or The Regents, to authorize
the fund-raising campaign.

For capital projects, The Regents normally will review and
certify the required CEQA documentation when they approve the
design of the project.  If The Regents do approve a fund-raising
campaign before the final design has been approved, any gift
solicitation made before the final design approval should clearly
inform donors that the project is provisional and that CEQA
review must be completed before a commitment to the project can
be made.

Reference:  UC CEQA Handbook, Procedural Handbook and Model
Approach for Implementing the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA), 1991.