JSMPP Roadside Fuels Reduction Project (EPP Project No.: bfeb9f39-65f3-4fd6-8a48-f2a030f4d9be)
Summary
SCH Number
2026090639
Public Agency
Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
Document Title
JSMPP Roadside Fuels Reduction Project (EPP Project No.: bfeb9f39-65f3-4fd6-8a48-f2a030f4d9be)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
9/16/2026
Document Description
The District will conduct manual understory thinning on approximately 45.6 acres within the Joyce-Stevens Monterey Pine Preserve (JSMPP) to reduce hazardous fuel loading in areas of dense ladder fuels and brush adjacent to residential and commercial development and along Aquajito Road, Monhollan Road, Olmsted Road, Jacks Peak Road, and Loma Alta Road.
Work is limited to manual treatment. Brush and ladder fuels 8 inches DBH and under will be thinned, and trees over 8 inches DBH will be retained and may be limbed or pruned to create up to 8 feet of vertical separation from the crown. Standing dead trees will be removed from the buffer area to reduce fuel loading and ember cast potential. Removal will prioritize dead, diseased, and invasive material. Brush outside the tree canopy will be thinned to a functional mosaic with horizontal spacing of roughly twice the height of the brush layer in order to retain habitat and prevent type
conversion. Low-growing herbaceous understory will be retained at an average height of 18 inches for erosion control and habitat. Rare and sensitive species will not be treated, and prescriptions may be reduced in sensitive habitats, including seasonal streams and areas identified to support sensitive species.
Cut material will be chipped in place or lopped and scattered to a depth not exceeding 4 inches in sensitive areas and not to exceed 6 inches elsewhere; large downed logs over 10 inches DBH will be laid flat and retained as habitat. Biomass left on site will be placed where it cannot enter water bodies. Equipment is limited to hand and light powered tools, 4x4 trucks, UTVs, and trailered chippers, which will remain on established roads and service road/trails. No new roads will be constructed and no significant ground disturbance will occur.
The purpose of the Project is to reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire originating in or spreading through the Preserve, to improve emergency ingress and egress along arterial evacuation routes, and to reduce roadside ignition risk. Beneficiaries are the residents and businesses of Monterey and the surrounding Monterey Peninsula communities, emergency responders, users of District lands, and the habitat resources of the Preserve itself.
Contact Information
Name
Jake Smith
Agency Name
Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
Job Title
Planning & Conservation Program Manager
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Address
Phone
Email
Location
Coordinates
Cities
Monterey
Counties
Monterey
Regions
Citywide, Northern California
Cross Streets
Aquajito Road, Monhollan Road, Olmsted Road, Jacks Peak Road, and Loma Alta Roads
Zip
93940
Total Acres
45.6
Parcel #
103-081-012-000 103-081-004-000 103-081-005-000 103-071-023-000 103-071-022-000 103-071-018-000
Airports
Monterey Regional Airport
Schools
La Mesa Elementary School, Monterey Peninsula College
Waterways
Pueblo Creek
Township
16S
Range
1W
Other Location Info
The project area is located within Undefined Sections of Township 16S, Range 1W, of the Monterey Quadrangle, as well as Undefined Sections of Township 16S, Range 1E of the Seaside Quadrangle. These sections are "undefined" due to original Spanish Land Grants.
APNs:
103-081-012-000, 103-081-004-000, 103-081-005-000, 103-071-023-000, 103-071-022-000, 103-071-018-000, 259-011-050-000, 259-011-049-000, 259-011-056-000, 259-011-083-000
Other Information
The project area is located entirely within the Joyce-Stevens Monterey Pine Preserve.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Emergency Project
Type, Section or Code
Sec. 21080(b)(4); 15269(b)(c)
Reasons for Exemption
Under Public Resources Code section 21080(b)(4) and CEQA Guidelines section 15269(c), a specific action necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency is not subject to CEQA.
On March 1, 2025, Governor Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency to exist within the State of California due to the catastrophic wildfire risks created by forest conditions across the state, finding under Government Code section 8558(b) that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist as a result of those conditions. Paragraph 2 of the Proclamation suspends state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements within the jurisdiction of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) -
expressly including CEQA, Public Resources Code sections 21000 et seq. - to the extent necessary for expediting critical fuels reduction projects. Executive Order N-38-25, signed December 31, 2025, extended the Proclamation. Under the Proclamation, only projects submitted by May 1, 2026 are eligible for a secretarial suspension authorization.
Under the Proclamation, a critical fuels reduction project may proceed under the suspension where (1) it includes as a primary objective at least one of the activities listed in Paragraph 4 of the Proclamation; (2) the appropriate Agency
Secretary, or the Secretary's designee, has determined that the project is eligible to be conducted under the suspension (Paragraph 3); and (3) the project is carried out in accordance with the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan (EPP) (Paragraph 5).
The Project satisfies each condition:
1. Primary objectives. The Project has as primary objectives the removal of hazardous, dead, and/or dying trees; the removal of vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as identified by approved fire prevention plans; the removal of vegetation for community defensible space; the removal of vegetation along roadways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and responders and to reduce roadside ignitions; and the maintenance of previously established fuel breaks or fuels modification projects - Paragraph 4(a), (b), (c), (d), and (f) of the Proclamation.
2. Secretarial suspension authorization. CalEPA issued a Secretarial Suspension Authorization for the Project on April 9, 2026, signed by Alana Mathews, Deputy Secretary for Law Enforcement and General Counsel, as designee
of the Secretary for Environmental Protection. CNRA issued its Secretarial Suspension Authorization on April 14, 2026, signed by Wade Crowfoot, Secretary for Natural Resources. Both authorizations find that the Project was submitted by May 1, 2026, that it has a permissible primary objective, and that issuance serves the purpose of expediting critical fuels reduction activities while protecting public health and the environment. The CNRA authorization expressly suspends Public Resources Code sections 21000-21189.91 (CEQA) and all implementing regulations as to the Project.
3. Environmental Protection Plan. The Project will be conducted in conformance with the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan (EPP), as required by the Secretarial Suspension Authorizations.
Consistent with the EPP, the Project involves manual treatment only, no new road construction, no watercourse crossings, and no significant ground disturbance. District staff have reviewed the Project and identified no circumstances that would preclude reliance on this exemption.
The suspension applies only to state statutes, rules, and regulations. The District will comply with all applicable local and federal requirements, including the federal Endangered Species Act as to any federally listed species, for which the District will coordinate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Documentation supporting this determination - the Proclamation, Executive Order N-38-25, the EPP, the District's suspension application and project maps, the Ca IE PA and CNRA Secretarial Suspension Authorizations, and the CDFW Biological Resources Advisories - is on file with the District's Planning and Conservation Management Department at 4860 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel, CA 93923 and is available for public review. Project details may also be found online at the CalEPA/CNRA/CALFIRE Request to Suspend State Statutes and Regulations Application and Dashboard (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/44774e7d2cb1438ca90la38793e2fdec/page/Approved-Projects-Dashboard).
County Clerk
Monterey
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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