Animas Unit Fuels Reduction Project (EPP Project No.: 3a308b27-9201-497e-8311-b156f67dcece
Summary
SCH Number
2026090645
Public Agency
Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
Document Title
Animas Unit Fuels Reduction Project (EPP Project No.: 3a308b27-9201-497e-8311-b156f67dcece
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
9/16/2026
Document Description
The District will conduct mechanical fuels treatment on approximately 57.3 acres of enclosed pastural paddock within the Palo Corona Regional Park to reduce hazardous fuel loading, reduce dense population of invasive French Broom
(Genista monspessulana} and promote grassland health.
Mechanical treatment is limited to surface level mastication and repetitive mowing preferentially targeting Genista during its growing season, to reduce fuel load and limit reseeding potential. Encroaching coyote brush will also be targeted, but with emphasis on creating and maintaining a functional mosaic of habit with gaps of at least twice the shrub height (i.e. N20ft between shrubs or groups). Mowing will be conducted using a combination of light tractors, and masticators, and trailer wood-chippers. Touch-up mowing may also be conducted using a combination ofweed-trimers, chainsaws, pole-saws, loppers, brush-cutters, etc. In strategic cases, around sensitive sites, genista may be removed by the root using weed wrenches. Mowed woody debris will be either masticated, chipped, or lopped and scattered in place. Woody debris will be treated within the season to reduce fuel loading. Slash/chip depth is not to exceed 6 inches, or 4 inches in sensitive areas.
Herbicide application may be used over the same project area, but will only be used if deemed absolutely necessary. Any pesticide application (if necessary} would be performed by a certified applicator using ground-based spray applicators.
The purpose of the Project is to reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire originating in or spreading through the Park, to improve emergency ingress and egress along a previously identified fire road, to reduce roadside ignition risk, and to promote grassland health. Beneficiaries are the residents and businesses of Carmel and the surrounding Monterey Peninsula communities, emergency responders, users of District lands, and the habitat resources of the Park 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
Carmel Highlands
Counties
Monterey
Regions
Northern California, Unincorporated
Cross Streets
Carmel Valley Road at Palo Corona Regional Park
Zip
93922
Total Acres
57.3
Parcel #
157-121-0002-000, 157-131-011-000
State Highways
Highway 1
Schools
Carmel Middle School
Waterways
Carmel River, San Jose Creek, Seneca Creek
Township
16S
Range
1W
Other Information
Project is located in an undefined section of the Township 16S, Range 1W, of the Monterey Quadrangle.
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 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), (d), and (f) of the Proclamation.
2. Secretarial suspension authorization. CalEPA issued a Secretarial Suspension Authorization for the Project on April 2, 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 3, 2026, signed by Keali'i Bright, Undersecretary, as designee of the 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 District will conduct the Project in conformance with the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan (December 2025), and with the conditions of the suspension authorizations.
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 Cal EPA 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/ 44 77 4e 7 d2cb 1438ca90 la38793e2fdec/ page/ Approved-Projects-Dashboa rd).
County Clerk
Monterey
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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