Mercury News
April 20, 2005

Kudos to county: Public to get look at environmental reports
Mercury News Editorial

By John Woolfolk

In the view of neighbors and others worried about a proposed housing development or office park, builders always seem to have the advantage. They design the project, and they get to review and maybe change the supposedly objective technical studies before the public sees them.

Santa Clara County has taken an unusual step to lessen that perception and to advance the cause of doing the public's business in public view.

Prompted by the Committee for Green Foothills, the board of supervisors decided to let people see early drafts of state-required environmental impact reports (EIRs) at the same time the developers see them. In most cities and counties, developers get a first look to check for factual errors and the like. Naturally, some folks wonder if they also influence conclusions.

State law gives local government lots of leeway to determine when a draft EIR becomes public, says county counsel Ann Ravel. She recommended earlier disclosure in light of the state's new public-records law, which tips the scale more toward the public's right to know.

Some local governments, including San Jose, allow developers to hire the consultant to do the EIR, although the final product must be certified by public officials as fair and accurate. The county hires consultants directly, strengthening the argument that their work is a public document even when it's preliminary.

City and county planners tend to join developers in favoring more private review before studies are made public. They say early drafts typically contain some errors, and correcting the misinformation later could be costly and time-consuming. Maybe. Or maybe people will have more trust in the process, making planners' jobs easier.

It's great that the county is willing to stretch in the interest of full disclosure.

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