Mercury News
April 6, 2005

Developers no longer get early look at impact reports
Bay Area Extra

By John Woolfolk

Developers in Santa Clara County no longer will get a sneak preview of critical environmental impact assessment reports before they are available to the public, the board of supervisors decided Tuesday.

The policy change was in response to a complaint by the Committee for Green Foothills that the county was giving developers an unfair advantage over the public by letting them see and influence environmental impact reports as they were being prepared.

The reports, required by the California Environmental Quality Act, are critical to project approval. If a proposed project will significantly affect things like wildlife, water supply, traffic or air quality, developers can be forced to scale back or pay for mitigation measures.

On a 3-1 vote, the board decided that from now on, the public and developers will have equal access to the reports once they are in the final stages of preparation. Supervisor Pete McHugh dissented, arguing there was no need to change existing policy. Supervisor Blanca Alvarado was absent.

Page last updated April 11, 2005 .