REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL June 28, 2018 FROM: Jennifer Clark, AICP, Director Development and Resource Management Department SUBJECT ..Title Approve a professional consultant agreement in the amount of $152,526 with Ascent Environmental, Inc., a Sacramento-based California corporation, to prepare an EIR for the proposed Darling Rendering Plant Relocation Project. ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ascent Environmental, Inc. will prepare an EIR to assess the location of a rendering facility within the City's Wastewater Treatment Plant property (otherwise known as the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility (RWRF)). The EIR will take approximately six months to complete. Ascent was selected due to their prior experience and extensive data collection for the prior initial study and mitigated negative declaration (IS-MND) that was completed for the same project in a different location. The work can begin immediately and will take approximately six months to complete. BACKGROUND The City of Fresno adopted an initial study and mitigated negative declaration (IS-MND) and approved the relocation of a rendering plant to a 40-acre parcel between the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility (RWRF) and a PG&E substation at the southwest corner of South Cornelia Avenue and West Jensen Avenue. The City's action drew a lawsuit from a neighboring property owner. The City has since approved a settlement agreement which calls for the evaluation of a new site located within the RWRF. Ascent will prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) for the project on behalf of the City. The firm will conduct the environmental analysis in a manner that meets the substantive and procedural requirements of CEQA and that meets the City's schedule objectives. As this firm prepared the IS-MND for the original site, they are thoroughly familiar with the project characteristics, the project site and vicinity, and has significant data already compiled maximizing the resources allocated, and are therefore uniquely qualified. The process will include tribal consultation, a notice of preparation, a scoping meeting, completion of all necessary studies including but not limited to air quality, noise, biology, and traffic. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS Approval of this contract is not a project for the purposes of CEQA Guidelines section 15378. The proposed agreement is for preparation of an EIR consistent with the requirements of CEQA Guidelines 15080 et. seq. However, preparation of an EIR is not in and of itself a commitment to a project that will cause either a direct physical change to the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment. Therefore, this approval does not require an environmental assessment. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not implemented because Ascent Environmental, Inc., is uniquely qualified. FISCAL IMPACT The funds are currently appropriated in the 2018 Budget. Attachments: Contract with Ascent Environmental, Inc.