Is the informational meeting the same as a hearing set for a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) document?
Answer 2: CEQA does not require any public hearings, although the CEQA Guidelines recommend public hearings on CEQA documents [14 CCR Section 15202]. Typically, however, a project that is subject to CEQA will be considered in a public hearing. For the purpose of this question, CIWMB staff assumes that the questioner means to ask whether an informational meeting intends the same functional purpose as a public hearing held by a public agency before approving a project, such as a land use entitlement. No. It is CIWMB staffs view that under PRC Subsection 44004(d)(4) there is no relationship between an informational meeting and a local public hearing or the local CEQA process other than indicating that the purpose of the informational meeting required by Section 44004(d)(4) is to make public the preliminary determination of the action to be taken by the EA on the application package. Thus, the EA should present its proposed determination to the public in the information meeting, along with
