2026 Placerville Wildfire Resilience Strategy

2026090223

El Dorado County Resource Conservation District

NOE - Notice of Exemption

9/4/2026

9/4/2026

Mark Egbert

El Dorado Resource Conservation District

District Manager

Lead/Public Agency / Project Applicant

100 Forni Road, Suite A
Placerville, CA 95667

(539) 957-3472

Mark.Egbert@ca.usda.gov

38°42'49.8"N 120°47'46.6"W

95667

683

49

Placerville

El Dorado High School

Weber Creek

T10N

R10E

24, 13

The legal description of the project is: T10N, R10E, Sec. 24 and 13; and T10N, R11E, Sec. 8, 17, 18, 19 and 20 within the USGS 7.5-minute Placerville quadrangle. The approximate center of the project is at latitude 38.713840 and longitude -120.796285 NAD 83.

Categorical Exemption

Class 4; Sect. 15304 Minor Alterations to Land

The project falls under Categorical Exemption Class 4, Minor Alterations to Land (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15304). This exemption applies to projects that are minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees except for forestry or agricultural purposes. The proposed project consists of removing small trees and understory vegetation, and dead trees, in support of a fire resilient landscape on private and public lands. The alterations to the vegetation would be minor, and would not involve removal of healthy, mature, or scenic trees. State CEQA Guidelines 15300.2 identifies exceptions to the Categorical Exemption which are addressed in the following sections. (a) Location. Classes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 11 are qualified by consideration of where the project is to be located – a project that is ordinarily insignificant in its impact on the environment may in a particularly sensitive environment be significant. Therefore, these classes are considered to apply all instances, except where the project may impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies. The proposed project would not be located within a designated critical habitat or other area of environmental resource concern. Designated critical habitat nearest to the project site is California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) critical habitat (Final Rule 71 FR 19244; effective May 15, 2006) approximately 4.10 miles east of the project site, well beyond the area affected by the proposed project. The standard baseline operational protocols incorporated into the project design for the project would avoid sensitive environmental resources known to occur or potentially occurring in the project area. (b) Cumulative Impact. All exemptions for these classes are inapplicable when the cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place is significant. The proposed project consists of removing dense understory vegetation and hazardous trees to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the WUI south of Placerville and in heavily vegetated or wooded (e.g., greenbelt) areas in the southeastern part of the City south of I-50. The overall objective of the project is to protect critical facilities and infrastructure and natural and cultural resources. The proposed project would have negligible negative impacts on the environment and would not contribute to a cumulatively considerable impact. The project would prioritize treatments in the WUI that complement previous and planned fuels reduction treatments which have been or would be implemented separately under separate authority. All projects would be implemented in accordance with state and/or federal regulations to protect the environment and together would result in a beneficial cumulative impact associated with the reduced risk of catastrophic wildfire. (c) Significant Effect. A categorical exemption shall not be used for an activity where there is a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. There are no unusual circumstances associated with the proposed project that would result in a significant effect on the environment. The project is situated to reduce the risk of wildfire in areas around and in the City of Placerville that have been identified as high priority for treatment in multiple planning documents. The project scale and scope of activities are consistent with other similar projects in the region intended to achieve protection of critical facilities and infrastructure and natural and cultural resources from wildfire. As demonstrated in paragraphs (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f) of this section, the proposed project would not result in negative effects associated with highly sensitive or hazardous areas; cumulative impacts; scenic, cultural or historical resources. Furthermore, the project would result in beneficial effects on these resources by reducing the risk of a high-severity fire moving through the area which could result in uncontrolled damage and long term or irreversible negative impacts on environmental resources in the area. (d) Scenic Highways. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project which 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. This does not apply to improvements which are required as mitigation by an adopted negative declaration or certified EIR. I-50 is a designated scenic highway from west of Placerville to State Route 89 in the east (CalTrans 2025). The project site would be approximately 200 feet south of I-50 at its nearest point and project treatments may be visible from a small portion of I-50. The proposed activities consist of understory thinning and tree spacing and removing dead trees. Thinning would favor tree species diversity and would prioritize retention of black oak, blue oak, canyon oak, California bay, and madrone where feasible. Although there would be a noticeable change in the overall density of the understory, the canopy would be retained and the existing wooded and forested character of the treatment areas would remain. The project does not involve damage to historic buildings, rock outcroppings or removal of healthy, large or scenic trees and would not negatively affect scenic resources within the scenic highway. (e) Hazardous Waste Sites. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. There are no hazardous waste and substances sites listed in El Dorado County (Department of Toxic Substances Control 2026). The State Water Resources Control Board lists leaking underground storage tank sites. While there are two open cases in southeastern Placerville, there are no sites listed within the project site (State Water Resources Control Board 2026). The project is not located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. (f) Historical Resources. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project which may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Project activities would avoid any historical resources in the project area and would not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of historical resources.