​​California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

​​​​​​​​​​​Projects for Public Comment

The following are Initial Study (IS) Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) or Environmental Impact Report (EIR) documents for current CalGEM projects available for public comment. 

Each project has a link to the project documents that are either fully accessible and can be directly downloaded from our website or contains a link to request any files that have not met current ADA Standards. 

Each project will have a Notice of Intent to Adopt (NOI-A) form to direct the person to either the email or mailing address for comments. 

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TBA

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Westside Trend Exploration Well Project – Bidr, LLC [Comment period ended on October 29, 2025.]​

• NOI​-A​ (PDF)
  
• Draft ISMND Westside Trend Explorations Well Project Bidr LLC with Attachments​ (PDF)​​
  

​590383_Group_IN​NEX_OG​ ​[Comment Period ended August 27, 2025.]​​​​​

• ​​​NOI-A (Reque​st​ a File)
  
• ​​Project Documents (Request a File)
  
• Decision Record
  
• ​EA Errata_Innex_Four APDs in Kettleman Hills
• ​Environmental Assesment_DOI-BLM-CA
• EA FONSI​

​​​Deep Ros​​e​​ Geothermal Exploration​​​​​ [Comment period ended September 2nd​, 2025.]

• NOI-A (Request a File)
  
• (Draft) Supplemental Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration. ​
  
• Appendices Files. (Request a File) 
  
• App A_Fin​al Environmental Assessment​​​
  
• App B_Air Quality Calculations​
• App C_Blowout Protection Plan and Hydrogen Sulfide Safety and Abatement Plans
  
• App D_Final Mohave Ground Squirrel Report​
• App E_Draft Western Joshua Tree Project Report​
  
• App F_Tribal Perspective of the Environmental Assessment​
• App G_Tribal Addendum to Section 4.18 Tribal Cultural Resources​
  
• App H_Cultural and Tribal Resources Management and Treatment Plan​
  
• ​Signed MMRP Table_Deep Rose ISMND
  

​​​​​​​​For Operators Notice to Operators (NTO):​​  NTO 2025-01: CEQA NTO (PDF) NTO 2024-14: CEQA NTO (PDF) NTO 2023-02: CEQA NTO (PDF​)​​ ​​​CEQA Guidance for Operators:​ CEQA Rework Exemptions​ Process Guidance to Operators​ (PDF) The WellSTAR CEQA User Guide (PDF) can be found on the CalGEM WellSTAR Training Materials webpage CEQA Project Description Guide​​ (PDF)​​ ​Key​ Considerations Sum​mary (PDF)​ Geothermal Projects CEQA O​perator For​m(​​PDF)  General Information​​​​​ and Resources ​CEQA ​Pr​ojects CEQA Contacts​​ C​​EQA L​aws​​​ ​C​alGEM Flo​w​​​charts​​​​ ​CE​QA Filing Fees CEQA FAQs​ California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

CalGEM's CEQA unit ensures compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act by conducting reviews and collaborating with government agencies and the public to mitigate environmental impacts from oil, gas, and geothermal development. This aligns with CalGEM's mission to protect the environment, health, and advance climate and energy goals. CEQA mandates that public agencies identify significant environmental impacts of their actions and avoid or mitigate them when possible. For a general overview of how the CEQA process works, see this flowchart published by the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. 

 

CEQA's Purposes:

•  Inform decision-makers and the public about environmental impacts
• Prevent​ or reduce environmental impacts
• Promote inter-agency cooperation
• Encourage public participation
  
• ​Disclose agency decisions

 

CEQA guidelines apply to "projects" (Public Resources Code §21065; CEQA Guidelines §15378​)​ undertaken by public agencies like CalGEM, defined as activities that:​​

• Require discretionary approval involving judgment or deliberation (e.g., approving a permit)
• May cause direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical changes in the environment
  

 
CalGEM must comply with CEQA when issuing permits or approving projects.​​​​

Templates and Standard Operating Proce​dures​​​

​	​Templates	​Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
​All Teams	​​Notes to File​	​​Project Naming Convention CEQA Review Procedures - Commenting Agency Admin Record Procedures​
​Responsible Agency (RA)	FOS Template RA NOD Template Longform RA Review​​	​RA NOD SOP RA Review SOP​​
​Lead  Agency (LA)	​LA PR Form NOE Rework  Integrity NOE Template PbP Regulatory Action NOE​​​​​	​District NOE SOP Grouping NOIs LA PR SOP NOE SOP​​​
​Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND)	IS/MND Template​	IS Naming Convention CEQA Review Procesdures - Geothermal LA CEQA Document Preparation SOP​
​Tribal	AB 52 Tribal Notifcation Template	​​Tribal Consultation Guidelines​​

Commonly Used Abbreviations: 

​AB= Assembly Bill

NOD= Notice of Determination

NOE = Notice of Exemption

NOI= Notice of Intention​​

PbP= Project by Project​

PR = Preliminary Review​
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