In late October, Foothill Conservancy — along with Farms of Amador, the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians, and the Sacramento law firm of Remy Moose Manley LLP — co-sponsored a California Environmental Quality Act workshop in Jackson. Knowledge of CEQA is critical for anyone who is planning, reviewing, voting, or commenting on a land use or natural resource issue in our state.

Thanks to contributions from our co-sponsors and our own financial contribution, we were able to deliver a class that normally costs $400 a person at a greatly reduced per-person cost, which enabled local agencies and others that do not have large training budgets to attend. The 30-person workshop sold out in advance, and was well attended despite the Public Safety Power Shutoffs that affected our area during that time. Attendees included representatives from the county governments of Amador and Calaveras; the cities of Jackson, Plymouth, and Sutter Creek; Jackson Rancheria; Calaveras County Water District; Calaveras Healthy Product Impact Solutions; Foothill Conservancy; and local engineering firms.

The U.C. Davis Continuing and Professional Education (formerly U.C. Davis Extension) all-day class was taught by Antero Rivasplata, a consultant with extensive CEQA knowledge and experience who formerly worked for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. Feedback received from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with enrollees expressing appreciation for the excellent overview of the CEQA process as well as the examples of practical applications and applicable case law. Attorneys who attended earned continuing legal education credits.

We were very pleased by the response to the workshop and grateful to our co-sponsors for helping us keep the cost down. We feel confident that those who attended are now better equipped to understand, plan, and administer CEQA projects within the realm of their authority and roles, which should lead to better planning and project outcomes in our area.