Process and Timing
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) dictates the environmental review processes for development projects such as The Village at USC. The City of Los Angeles, working with a team of consultants and the University of Southern California, has prepared a study to define the project, inform the public about any potential environmental issues, and identify measures to reduce significant impacts.
The city held two scoping meetings where community members were invited to give feedback on what they thought should be studied in The Village’s environmental documents, known as the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The EIR is meant to outline all potential environmental impacts of the project and to describe how those impacts can be addressed and mitigated.
The Draft EIR was released by the city in May 2010 with a 60-day comment period for individuals and community groups to provide comments. A Final EIR was released in July 2011 with answers to the comments received on the Draft EIR.
The Final EIR will be referenced and discussed throughout the public hearing process with the City of Los Angeles. The review and approval process will take several months.
Environmental Process Milestones
- January 30, 2009: Notice of Preparation of EIR/30-day scoping period
- February 2009 – May 2010: Preparation of Draft EIR
- May 27, 2010: Notice of Completion of Draft EIR/45-day comment period
- July 8, 2010: Revised Notice of Completion of Draft EIR/60-day comment period
- December 2010-March 2011: Final EIR Review and Approval
- July 5, 2011: Final University of Southern California Development Plan EIR released
