What is the CEQA Appendix G checklist?
Appendix G is the CEQA Guidelines' sample checklist; with each entry briefly explained, it can serve as the initial study[1]. Agencies may tailor it and should consider impacts it does not list. Its questions are not necessarily thresholds of significance[5].
Each question gets one of four answers: potentially significant, less than significant with mitigation, less than significant, or no impact. Explain each briefly, covering off-site, cumulative, indirect and construction impacts. The topics[5]:
- Aesthetics, agriculture and forestry resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources
- Energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality
- Land use and planning, mineral resources, noise, population and housing, public services
- Recreation, transportation, tribal cultural resources, utilities and service systems, wildfire
- Mandatory findings of significance
How long is the public review period for an MND?
At least 20 days, or 30 through the State Clearinghouse[6][7]. The proposed MND circulates with the initial study[9] under a notice of intent to adopt[10]. An MND substantially revised after notice, for example with new mitigation, is recirculated[11].
Example: San Bernardino County's MND for the Hume SoCal Campground expansion (SCH 2025110453) would grow a 107-acre camp near Green Valley Lake to 252.1 acres. The first MND, for about 3,000 campers and staff, was in state review from November 12, 2025 to January 16, 2026. A second, for about 2,400, has a state review period from September 30 to October 30, 2026[12][13].
The mitigation monitoring and reporting program (MMRP)
The decision-making body adopts an MND only if the whole record shows no substantial evidence of a significant effect[14]. It also adopts an MMRP, and each measure must be fully enforceable through permit conditions, agreements or other means[15]. The agency stays responsible even if it delegates monitoring[16].
When is an EIR required instead of an MND?
If a fair argument backed by substantial evidence shows the project may have a significant effect, the agency must prepare an EIR, even if other evidence says it will not[3][17]. Any potentially significant impact left on the Appendix G form at the determination means an EIR[5].
Substantial evidence means facts, reasonable assumptions from facts, and expert opinion backed by facts, not argument, speculation or public controversy. When such experts disagree, the agency treats the effect as significant[3].