Mono City Secondary Ingress/Egress Road ROW

Project Title: MONO CITY SECONDARY INGRESS/EGRESS ROAD ROW
Project Location: APN 019-110-001 Located off Hwy 167 Adjacent to Mono City, CA. 

Project Description:  The proposed project is the issuance of a thirty (30) year renewable road right-of-way (ROW) (CACA 052688) to Mono County by BLM for the construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of a gravel secondary ingress/egress road for Mono City, California. The existing material pit dirt road would be improved to 12 feet wide, would be about 2,220 feet long, and considered to be a one-way road. A new one-way road segment being 12 feet wide and 370 feet long would be constructed from the pit road intersection with the parallel road to the well located at the fire station. The existing 12 foot wide 260 feet long dirt road from the fire station parking area to the well would be widened to 18 feet and would be considered to be a two-way road. The overall length of this proposed secondary access route would be 2,850 feet (0.53 miles). Two turnouts would be utilized. Total project area surface disturbance would be about 0.82 acres, the majority of which would be within the footprint of an existing road. New vegetation loss from construction and maintenance would be limited to 0.30 acres. The proposed road would be gated at the two primary access points (Highway 167 and just north of the Mono City Fire Station) and managed by Mono County for emergency ingress/egress purposes only. Three locking gates would be installed. 

Notice is hereby given that Mono County proposes to adopt the Mono City Secondary Ingress/Egress Road ROW EA and FONSI prepared by the Bureau of Land Management, Bishop Field Office in the place of a Mitigated Negative Declaration as it meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15221 and 15225.

Section 21083.5 of the Public Resources Code (see also CEQA Guidelines section 15221) directs that when an EA/FONSI has been prepared for a project pursuant to the requirements of NEPA, all or part of the EA/FONSI may be submitted in lieu of all or any part of an mitigated negative declaration (MND) required by CEQA if the EA/FONSI complies with the requirements of CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. Prior to using the EA/FONSI in place of an MND, the lead agency must provide notice that it will use the EA in place of the MND and believes that the EA/FONSI meets the requirements of CEQA. The Mono County finds that the EA/FONSI prepared by the BLM complies with the requirements and provisions of CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines. Accordingly, Mono County is providing this notice that it intends to use the EA/FONSI prepared by the BLM, along with a supplemental Mitigation Monitoring Plan prepared by Mono County to meet the requirements of CEQA.

The EA and FONSI included a description of the Proposed Action and evaluated potential for adverse environmental impacts. The EA concludes the Proposed Action would have no significant impacts to the environment. Mono County believes that the federal document meets the requirements of CEQA.

Public Review Period: In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, there will be a 30-day public review period.  Any comments concerning the findings of the proposed Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration must be submitted in writing and received by Mono County no later than 5:00 pm on May 24, 2014.  Comments received will be considered by Mono County prior to certification of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and action on the proposed project.   

Start date: April 25, 2014 End Date: May 24, 2014