II. CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION AUTHORITY WITH REGARD TO LAND FORM ALTERATION

1. Permitting Process for Projects involving Land Form Alteration

A. The Coastal Act and CEQA Regarding Land Form Alteration The Coastal Commission may become involved in the process of reviewing permits for land form alteration in a number of ways. Section 30251 of the Coastal Act requires that:

Permitted development shall be sited and designed to protect views to and along the ocean and scenic coastal areas, to minimize the alteration of natural land forms, to be visually compatible with the character of surrounding areas, and, where feasible, to restore and enhance visual quality in visually degraded areas.

Other sections of the Act require protect of land and water resources and avoidance of impacts which can result from land form alteration. (See the attached documents for a more thorough discussion of the Coastal Act and impacts from land form alteration.) The following is a brief overview of provisions for Commission involvement in aspects of land form alteration.

1) If the proposal includes development [1] in an area of the coastal zone[2] where the city or county does not have a fully certified Local Coastal Program (LCP), a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) from the Coastal Commission will be required under Coastal Act Section 30600(a)[3]

2) The Commission retains permit jurisdiction over any portion of a project that is in state waters, on land up to the mean high tide line, or on lands subject to the public trust. If development is proposed within these areas, a Commission permit is required.

3) The Commission will review LCP amendments that provide for land form alteration or development which could lead to land form alteration.

4) In areas where there is a certified LCP, a proposed project may be appealable to the Commission under the appeal provisions of Coastal Act Section 30603.

The California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines considered minor alterations to the land as a Class 4 Categorical Exemption. Section 15304 of the CEQA Guidelines considers as exemptions:

"minor public or private alteration in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve removal of mature, scenic trees except for forestry and agricultural purposes. Examples include but are not limited to:

(a) Grading on land with a slope of less than 10 percent, except that grading shall not be exempt in a waterway, in any wetland, in an officially designated (by federal, state, or local government action) scenic area, or in officially mapped areas of severe geologic hazard;

(b) ....

(c) Filling of earth into previously excavated land with material compatible with the natural features of the site; ..."

The Coastal Act provides for various exemptions in Section 30610 and defines the limits for De Minimus Waives in the Coastal Act Administrative Regulations. Neither of these provide an exemption for minor land alteration.

B. Grading Projects Not Requiring a Local Government CDP Any person intending any development or any subdivision that may lead to development within the coastal zone which would involve any form of land disturbance or alteration will typically be required to obtain the following permits:

A local government (county or city) CDP for portions of the project within a local jurisdiction if the local government has a Commission-certified LCP. Prior to obtaining a local permit, the applicant may have to complete a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Document such as and Environmental Impact Report or a Negative Declaration.
A CDP for all or part of the development or subdivision that is within the Commission's original permit jurisdiction, as described above.
A local government approval of a grading plan. The following excerpt from the 1988 Uniform Building Code identifies the types of grading projects which are typically exempt from a required grading plan. Individuals should refer to the specific grading ordinances of the local jurisdiction for more site-specific information. Chapter 70 of the Uniform Building Code [4] recommends approval of a grading plan for all but the following:
- 1. Grading in a isolated, self-contained area if there is no danger apparent to private or public property.
- 2. An excavation below finished grade for basements and footings of a building, retaining wall or other structure authorized by a valid building permit. This shall not exempt any fill made with the material from such excavation nor exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than 5 feet after the completion of the structure.
- 3. Cemetery graves.
- 4. Refuse disposal sites controlled by other regulations.
- 5. Excavations for wells or tunnels or utilities.
- 6. Mining, quarrying, excavating, processing, stockpiling of rock, sand, gravel, aggregate or clay where established and provided for by law, provided such operations do not affect the lateral support or increase the stresses in or pressure upon any adjacent or contiguous property.
- 7. Exploratory excavations under the direction of soils engineers or engineering geologists.
- 8. An excavation which (a) is less than 2 feet in depth, or (b) which does not create a cut slope greater than 5 feet in height and steeper than one and one-half horizontal to one vertical.
- 9. A fill less than 1 foot in depth and placed on natural terrain with a slope flatter than five horizontal to one vertical, or less than 3 feet in depth, not intended to support structures, which does not exceed 50 cubic yards on any one lot and does not obstruct a drainage course.

2. Filing Requirements for a CDP permit application

All permits required for a proposed project must be obtained prior to any construction activity. Section 13035.5 of the Commission's Administrative Regulations list the items that must be included with a CDP application in order for the application to be filed. These items include:

An adequate description, including maps, plans, photographs, etc. of the proposed development, project site and vicinity sufficient to determine whether the project complies with all relevant policies of the California Coastal Act of 1976, including sufficient information concerning land and water areas in the vicinity of the site of the proposed project.... The description of the development shall also include any feasible alternatives or any feasible mitigation measures available which would substantially lessen any significant adverse impact which the development may have on the environment.

ENDNOTES

"Development means, on land, in or under water, the placement or erection of any solid material or structure; discharge or disposal of any ... gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal waste; grading, removing, dredging, mining, or extraction of any materials; change in the density or intensity of use of land ...; change in the intensity of use of water, or of access thereto; construction, reconstruction, demolition, or alteration of the size of any structure, including any facility of any private, public, or municipal utility ... As used in this section, "structure" includes, but is not limited to, any building, road, pipe, flume, conduit, siphon, aqueduct, telephone line, and electric power transmission and distribution line (Section 30106).
"Coastal zone" means that land and water area of the State of California ... extending seaward to the state's outer limit of jurisdiction, including all offshore islands, and extending inland generally 1,000 yards from the mean high tide line of the sea. In significant coastal esturarine, habitat, and recreational areas it extends inland to the first major ridgeline paralleling the sea or five miles from the mean high tide line of the sea, whichever is less, and in developed urban areas the zone generally extends inland less than 1,000 yards. The coastal zone does not include the area of jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission ... nor any area contiguous thereto, including any river, tributary, creek, or flood control or drainage channel flowing into such area (Section 30106).
All statutory citations herein refer to the California Public Resources Code, unless otherwise noted.
International Conference of Building Officials (1988) "Chapter 70: Excavation and Grading", Uniform Building Code, 1988 Edition, Whittier CA.

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