Venice High School Soil Garden Cleanup

2026060942

Los Angeles Unified School District

NOE - Notice of Exemption

6/22/2026

6/22/2026

Zulema Renteria

Los Angeles Unified School District

Environmental Planning Specialist

Lead/Public Agency

333 S Beaudry Ave, 21st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017

(213) 241-3432

zulema.renteria@lausd.net

The Venice High School Garden Soil Cleanup Project (Project) will be located on the 28.4-acre Venice High School (Venice HS) campus. The Venice HS campus (Campus) is located at 13000 Venice Boulevard in the Mar Vista neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. It is bound by Lyceum Avenue to the north, Zanja Avenue to the east, Walgrove Avenue to the south, and Venice Boulevard to the west. The Project will occur on an approximately 0.2-acre area located in the northwest comer of the Campus that is currently being used as a community garden that is also used by the Campus. The Campus is located in an urbanized community surrounded by single-family residences.

Categorical Exemption

15330

Section 15330 - Minor Actions to Prevent Minimize Stabilize Mitigate or Eliminate the Release or Threat of Release of Hazardous Waste or Hazardous Substances. Class 30 consists of any minor cleanup actions taken to prevent, minimize, stabilize, mitigate, or eliminate the release or threat of release of a hazardous waste or substance which are small or medium removal actions costing $1 million or less. The Project entails the implementation of a SEP for arsenic and lead impacted soil; excavation of impacted soil; and disposal of impacted soil. Based on the site characterization data, a cleanup plan has been developed for the Site. The SEP identifies best management practices designed to limit potential short-term risks (e.g., the exposure of students, staff, and onsite workers to AOCs during soil excavation activities) through the proper use of institutional controls, such as engineering controls, security measures, PPE, and adherence to established health and safety procedures, including the application of water spray to suppress fugitive dust emissions during the excavation, the proper handling, transportation and disposal of impacted soil, and enforcing speed limits at the Project site. The Project is estimated to cost approximately $308,775 and will therefore qualify for the Class 30 exemption. Section 15300.2 - Exceptions Section 15300.2 of the CEQA Guidelines, Exceptions, provides conditions under which categorical exemptions are inapplicable. Review of the Project indicates that they would not violate any of the exceptions, as described below. 1. The project would occur in certain specified sensitive environments or locations; The Project site is a fully developed Campus within an urban-residential community. The Project site is not designated as a biologically sensitive location. The nearest significant ecological area to the Project site is the Ballona Wetlands located 1.2 miles south of Venice HS and the nearest critical habitat is the Braunton's milk-vetch, located approximately 5.4 miles northwest of the Campus. As such, the Project will not impact sensitive environments or locations. 2. Cumulative impacts would be considerable because successive projects of the same type would occur at the same place over time; The Campus is an active school site and there will likely be ongoing maintenance activities and minor projects on the Campus to keep the school operational. As the Project would not result in any lasting impacts once construction of the Project is complete, the Project would not contribute to cumulative impacts when considered with expected successive projects. 3. There is a reasonable possibility that the activity would have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. There are no known unusual circumstances that would have a significant effect on the environment. The removal of trees is not anticipated as part of the proposed scope of work. However, should the Project be altered to include the removal of trees, LAUSD's Office of Environmental Health & Safety (OEHS) must be notified immediately. District policy requires consultation with an arborist to determine if the trees are a protected native species. All tree trimming and removal conducted on District property is required to adhere to the procedures described in the LAUSD OEHS Tree Trimming and Removal Procedure. Additionally, written approval from the school principal will be required before any trees can be removed. If tree removal is scheduled to occur between February 1 and August 31, a nesting bird survey would be performed prior to removal activities, per Standard Condition of Approval (SC) SC-BIO-3 of the Subsequent Program Environmental Impact Report (SPEIR). The Project will include ground-disturbing activities. OEHS will provide oversight to ensure that these activities are conducted in compliance with the requirements of District Specification 01 4524, relevant provisions of South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 1466, and other applicable environmental agency rules and requirements. Furthermore, as set forth in SC-CUL-6, SC-CUL-7, SC-CUL-9, SC-CUL-1 0, and SC-GEO-2 of the SPEIR, construction activities must be stopped immediately and OEHS notified upon discovery of subsurface features, such as buried resources (i.e., paleontological resources, archaeological resources), tanks or seepage pits, or stained/ odoriferous soils. Lastly, any construction and demolition waste shall be recycled to the maximum extent feasible per SC-USS-1 of the SPEIR. Therefore, the Project will not have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. 4. The project may result in damage to scenic resources, including but not limited to trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway; The closest designated state scenic highway to Venice HS is Angeles Crest Highway (State Route 2), which is located approximately 21 miles southwest of the Campus.14 In addition, the Project would not result in the removal of historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or other scenic resources. Therefore, the Project would not result in damage to scenic resources or similar resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway. 5. The project is located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code; or The Project site is not listed on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. Therefore, the Project would have no impacts related to being located on a hazardous waste site. 6. The project may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. The Venice High School campus was surveyed in 2004 and assigned a California Historical Resource Status Codes of "3S" and "3CS," which means the subject school appears eligible for National Register and California Register through survey evaluation. The Campus is an excellent example of the school district's reconstruction efforts following the Long Beach earthquake of 1933. The Campus was redesigned in the PWA Moderne architectural style and the primary period of significance is between 1934 and 1937. In 2015, a Character-Defining Features Memorandum (CDFM) was prepared for the campus prior to the comprehensive modernization project. The CDFM identified the contributing features of the historic campus to include the West Building, Administration Building, East Building, Assembly Hall, and front lawn. However, the LAUSD Historic Preservation Specialist determined the landscape space affected by the Project is a non-contributing space and will not impact character-defining features of the Campus. Therefore, the Project will not cause substantial adverse changes in the significance of a historic resource.