Unless a data-center project is not subject to CEQA or qualifies for an exemption, the applicant must submit a completed project application and environmental questionnaire, and the Planning Director must conduct or arrange an initial study.

After the initial study, the Planning Director must require either a negative declaration or an environmental impact report (EIR), unless it is evident that an EIR is required.

A proposed negative declaration requires public notice and review for at least 20 days, or at least 30 days when state clearinghouse review is required, before the project can proceed to environmental certification and approval.

An EIR requires a notice of preparation, agency consultation, preparation of a draft and final EIR, and public review of the draft EIR for at least 30 days and generally no more than 90 days.

If the county prepares the EIR, the applicant must pay the county's estimated preparation and administrative costs before preparation of the draft EIR begins.

Projects approved with mitigation measures must comply with a mitigation monitoring and tracking program; noncompliance may result in a stop-work order, business-license revocation, and additional monitoring and reporting fees.

An EIR-based project with unmitigated significant environmental effects may be approved only after specified written findings are made, and it requires a statement of overriding considerations.

A person dissatisfied with a CEQA decision may appeal it to the Board of Supervisors under the county's land-use appeal procedures, creating an additional review step.

After approval of a project requiring a negative declaration or EIR, the Planning Director must file and post a notice of determination for 30 days, with additional filing required with the state Office of Planning and Research when the project requires discretionary state-agency approval.

Projects with no possibility of causing a significant environmental effect are exempt from CEQA, eliminating the need for CEQA environmental documents. The Planning Director or designee must make the determination. Projects or activities where there is no possibility

Building and construction permits, business licenses, utility service connections and disconnections, occupancy permits, sign permits, and landscape-plan checks are classified as ministerial county actions and are exempt from CEQA. The Planning Director or designee must determine that the action is ministerial. The following county actions are considered ministerial

Certain small new structures, conversions, replacements, and reconstructions may qualify for categorical CEQA exemptions, including data-center-related construction only if it fits the applicable small-structure or replacement/reconstruction criteria. New construction/conversion of small structures

Operation, repair, maintenance, or minor alteration of an existing facility may qualify for a categorical CEQA exemption, potentially facilitating expansion or continued operation where the work meets those limits. Conditional use permits involving the operation, repair, maintenance or minor alteration of existing facilities

A project can receive a negative declaration instead of an EIR when there is no substantial evidence of a potentially significant environmental effect, or when applicant-agreed revisions reduce effects to a level where no significant effects would occur. The Planning Director shall prepare a negative declaration

For a proposed negative declaration, the required public review period is at least 20 days, or at least 30 days when state clearinghouse review is required, providing a defined and potentially shorter review path than an EIR process. public notice and review of the negative declaration shall not be less than 20 days