Pacoima Charter Elementary School New Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

2026061246

Los Angeles Unified School District

NOE - Notice of Exemption

6/29/2026

6/29/2026

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 Pacoima Charter Elementary School HVAC Project (Project) will be located on the approximately 6.8-acre Pacoima Charter Elementary School Campus (Pacoima CES or Campus). The Campus is located on 11016 Norris Avenue in the City of Los Angeles. It is bound by Herrick A venue to the north, Pierce Street to the east, Norris Avenue to the south, and Van Nuys Boulevard to the west. The Project will occur throughout the Campus. The Campus is located in an urbanized community primarily consisting of commercial uses, multi-family, and single-family residences.

Categorical Exemption

15301, 15302

Section 15301 Existing Facilities Class 1 consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency's determination. The Project will replace the existing HVAC systems with new HVAC systems and provide an EMS Campus-wide. Therefore, the Project fulfills the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15301. Section 15302 Replacement or Reconstruction Class 2 consists of replacing or reconstructing existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced. The Project will replace the existing HVAC systems with new HVAC systems and provide an EMS Campus-wide. The Project will not increase or alter the current use, function, or capacity of the existing Campus. Therefore, the Project fulfills the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15302. 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 it will not violate any of the exceptions, as described in the following section. 1. The project will occur in certain specified sensitive environments or locations; The Project site is a fully developed Campus within an urbanized area of Los Angeles in the neighborhood of Pacoima surrounded by residential communities on all sides. The site is not designated as a biologically sensitive location. The nearest significant ecological area (SEA) is the Hansen Dam located approximately 0.75 miles east of the Project site. The nearest critical habitat is the Southwestern willow flycatcher habitat located approximately 1.1 miles east of the Project site. As such, the Project will not impact sensitive environments or locations. 2. Cumulative impacts will 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. There are currently no known successive projects of the same type or scale planned for the Campus. 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. Therefore, no cumulative impacts will result from the Project and successive projects of the same type and at the same place over time. 3. There is a reasonable possibility that the activity will 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 Project does not include removal of trees. 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 (SC) of approval SC-BIO-3. The Project may include minor ground-disturbing activities. These activities are not considered unusual circumstances for the classes of projects under which an exemption is claimed. Nevertheless, consideration must be given to the management of pavement removal and excavated soils associated with earthwork activities for the Project. As the Project involves the removal of pavement, soil sampling and testing for characterization is required prior to demolition and removal of the paving materials. If construction or earthmoving activities require import or export of soils and materials, OEHS must be notified to 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.8 Furthermore, as set forth in SC-CUL-6, SC-CUL-7, SC-CUL-10, and SC-GEO-2, 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. 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 the Project site is the Angeles Crest Highway or State Route 2 (SR-2), which is located approximately 13.4 miles east of the Campus. The Project will not result in the removal of historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or other scenic resources. Therefore, the Project will 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 the Government Code; or The Project site is not located on any sites that are included on any list compiled pursuant to Government Code Section 65962.5. Therefore, the Project will have no impacts related to being located on a hazardous waste site. 6. The project may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance CJ( a historic resource. Pacoima CES is over 45 years old, meeting LA Unified's threshold for review as a potential historic resource and requiring evaluation for historic eligibility. LA Unified has identified Pacoima Charter ES as eligible for listing as a historic resource per Section 18955 of the California State Historical Building Code (CHBC). The scope of the Project is focused on removal and replacement of the existing HVAC system that is not character-defining. The Project will not alter or affect the historic resources on the campus. Therefore, OEHS' Historic Preservation Specialist h.as determined that the Project will not materially impair the significance of the historic resource and therefore will not cause a substantial adverse historic impact. Should the scope of the Project activities be altered from the components that are described above, standard District procedure requires that OEHS must be notified immediately to ensure that these activities are conducted in compliance with the Secretary's Standards and would not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource.