TO: Napa County Climate Action Committee
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Napa County Planning, Building & Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Jesse Gutiérrez, Principal Planner, Sustainability
SUBJECT: Napa Regional Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (RCAAP) and Related California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Document Update
RECOMMENDATION
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Receive a presentation on the status of the draft RCAAP and related CEQA document.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The final RCAAP will be released concurrently with the public draft of the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND). The IS/MND will be circulated for public review and comment on the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, CEQAnet Web Portal, <https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/>.
Following this process, the Climate Action Committee will consider and possibly recommend adoption of the RCAAP and IS/MND, which will be forwarded to the member jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction will independently consider adoption of the RCAAP and the associated CEQA document as a lead agency (Napa County) or responsible agency (all other member jurisdictions).
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Climate Action Committee (CAC) directed staff on June 27, 2025, to proceed with an Initial Study review of the RCAAP, to initiate conversations within municipalities to review the draft RCAAP, to return with feedback in the fall, and to provide opportunities for public input in August and September.
Last fall, the draft RCAAP was released for a 60-day public comment period (August 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025). The document was subsequently revised to incorporate public feedback, along with additional refinements from project staff, the All Staff Working Group, agency partners, and internal stakeholders. Over the past several months, staff and consultants have been preparing an IS/MND for the RCAAP. Staff conducted formal tribal consultation with representatives of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation on February 12, 2026, as required by California Assembly Bill 52 (AB 52). Additionally, staff met with representatives from the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley on March 10, 2026, for an informal discussion to establish a working partnership on RCAAP, nature-based solutions, and sustainability programs.
Following this outreach and incorporation of the feedback received, CEQA and the state CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3) require lead agencies to submit the environmental documents to the CEQAnet web portal. CEQAnet coordinates state-level review of environmental documents under CEQA, acting as a central hub for distributing, reviewing, and tracking projects. A Notice of Intent (NOI) will be filed and published on CEQAnet, informing the public, organizations, and agencies about the availability of an IS/MND for review and signaling the start of a 30-day public review period, allowing stakeholders to comment on the document's findings regarding potential environmental impacts. The NOI will be distributed to the RCAAP interested parties list and potentially affected agencies. The NOI will also be published in the Napa Valley Register, filed with the County Clerk, and available on the County’s website. In addition to the filing of documents with the CEQAnet, the documents will also be made available at the public counter of the Napa County Planning, Building and Environmental Services Department and on the project website: <https://climateactionnapa.konveio.com>.
During the public comment period, the published IS/MND will be presented to the CAC, providing an opportunity for member discussion and public comment in person or by phone. Comments on the document will also be accepted through RCAAP@countyofnapa.org <mailto:RCAAP@countyofnapa.org>.
Following the closure of the 30-day review period, project staff, consultants, and legal counsel will review all comments received. Depending on the scope of feedback, additional revisions to the IS/MND may be warranted, which may or may not warrant recirculation of the IS/MND. The CAC will then review the RCAAP and IS/MND and consider whether to recommend adoption to the member jurisdictions.
The County is the lead agency for purposes of CEQA. The other jurisdictions act as responsible agencies. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15096, each responsible agency complies with CEQA by considering the mitigated negative declaration prepared by the lead agency and by reaching its own conclusions on whether and how to approve the project involved. The responsible agency would certify that its decision-making body reviewed and considered the information contained in the environmental document, affirm that the environmental document is adequate, adopt mitigation measures to address any significant impacts, and make its own findings and issue its own approvals for the project, including the adoption of a mitigation monitoring and reporting program.
Ultimate decision-making authority remains at the individual agency/legislative body, and RCAAP adoption must be unanimous by the agencies for the RCAAP to be considered a certified GHG reduction plan that may be relied upon to streamline the analysis of GHG emissions associated with future projects that are consistent with the plan. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.5)