Santa Cruz Wharf
This year the Santa Cruz Wharf is set to celebrates its 100th anniversary and the city has been provided with a distinctive opportunity that has been facilitated by the federal US to improve its functionality in terms of its structures and Santa Cruz Wharf is one of the last piers that were built together with Santa Cruz Shoreline and it’s the only one remaining. It was built back in 1914 and it was a city owned property and its main purpose was to facilitate the movement of lime, leather, lumber and agriculture products. Continuing up to today and the time it is was build; the Wharf has been marked to have exceeded all standards of designs. In reference to the provisions of the California act, the initial master plan study of the Santa Cruz Wharf has been revised and it is still being recalculated for civic examination.
The decision to prepare a mitigated negative declaration on the Santa Cruz Wharf is justified under the CEQA as it may be compared to EIR. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is an act that was put in place to ensure that the local and the states agencies put into consideration the environmental effects of their decisions anytime time they are approving their private or public project. Effects of this decision have been positive and twenty-seven years now, the essential goal of the CEQA is sound. Almost every member of the California’s business community has expressed positive views that CEQA has resulted into great economic development in all parts of the state. Specifically, the CEQA has been said to have improved specific areas. To start with, the CEQA has enhanced a smooth flow of events in the state by ensuring that the process are efficient, less time consuming and less costly to the public agencies and the public developers. Secondly, the CEQA is set to make the mitigation of the environmental impacts less cost-effective. This is by engaging the public in the environmental review process and indentifying measures or feasible alternatives that will help reduce or bring to end adverse environmental impacts. As noted, the state does not categorize these purposes according to their importance but instead individual stakeholders have their personal rankings according to their own particular interests in the CEQA process.
Following the California Environmental Quality Act, every public agency is required to conduct a preliminary analysis that will help determine whether a project might have significant negative impacts on the environment. In a case where the agency realizes that the projects will create significant adverse environmental impacts, the agency is required to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This simply indicates the importance of the EIR and it is certain the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) cannot just work alone but instead to a certain level it requires the EIR to function. EIR can in other word be referred to as the heart or the backbone of the CEQA. The Environmental Impact Report is crucial and it must provide comprehensive information about projects likely effects on the environment. In addition, the EIR must also consider different ways in which to mitigate the unpleasant environment effects and provide other relevant safe alternatives to the project. In a situation where the EIR realizes that a project will have major adverse impacts on the environment, the concerned lead agency is prohibited from approving the project, until some conditions are met. Such conditions are the private developer must make relevant modification that significantly reduces the adverse environmental impacts or the lead agency must come into conclusion that the economic or other benefits supersede the negative environmental effects. From above mentioned, it is therefore important to involve the both the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in the declaration.