Los Angeles Unified School District Office of Environmental Health and Safety MICHELLE KING THELMA MELÉNDEZ, PH.D. Chief Executive Officer, Office of Educational Services Superintendent of Schools ROBERT LAUGHTON Director, Environmental Health and Safety CARLOS A. TORRES Deputy Director, Environmental Health and Safety MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD or District) has completed an Initial Study for the Ocean Charter Schools’ proposed Panama Street K-8 School project (proposed project). The Initial Study was completed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA, California Public Resources Code §§ 21000 et seq.), and the State CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations §§ 15000 et seq.). Based on the Initial Study with mitigation the proposed project would not have a significant effect on the environment. Accordingly, this Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) has been prepared for the proposed project. LEAD AGENCY: Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of Environmental Health and Safety, 333 South Beaudry Avenue, 21st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 PROJECT PROPONENT: Ocean Charter School (OCS), 12606 Culver Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90066 PROJECT TITLE: Panama Street K-8 Charter School PROJECT LOCATION: The site is at 12870 and 12908 Panama Street (Assessor Parcel Numbers [APNs] 4223- 008-003 [12870] and 4223-008-004 [12908]) in the community of Del Rey in the City of Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California. Regional access to the site is from Marina Expressway via Culver Boulevard. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site currently houses Teledyne Microelectronics Technologies in a 17,400-square- foot, one-story industrial building; four accessory buildings; and several metal cargo containers and storage sheds. A strip along Panama Street is landscaped with several trees, including palm trees; shrubs; ornamental plants; and grass. Most of the remainder of the site is asphalt surface parking lot. The entire site is surrounded by a chain-link fence, most of which is topped with barbed wire. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The proposed project consists of demolition and removal of the existing buildings and parking, and the construction and operation of a charter school facility for 532 Kindergarten through 8th grade students on an approximately 2.1-acre site. The school campus would have a of approximately 82,073 square feet of space in three buildings: one 2-story classroom building, a 1-story administration building, and a 1-story multipurpose building, along with lunch shelters, three play yards, and a 62-space underground parking garage. Students would be transferred from two other existing OCS charter schools. 333 South Beaudry Avenue, 21st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone (213) 241-3199 Fax (213) 241-6816 Our Mission: To ensure a safe and healthy environment for students to learn, teachers to teach, and employees to work. Our Vision: To eliminate all environmental, health, and safety risks at schools. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS: The attached Initial Study was prepared to identify the potential effects on the environment from the construction and operation of the proposed school development and to evaluate the significance of those effects. Based on the Initial Study, the proposed project would have no impacts or less-than-significant environmental impacts related to 18 of the 19 environmental topics. Aesthetics Agriculture & Forestry Resources Air Quality Biological Resources Cultural Resources Geology & Soils Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hazards & Hazardous Materials Hydrology & Water Quality Land Use & Planning Mineral Resources Noise Population & Housing Public Services Recreation Transportation & Traffic Tribal Cultural Resources Utilities & Service Systems Mandatory Findings of Significance Project development would have potentially significant impacts on one environmental topic: Hazards & Hazardous Materials MITIGATION MEASURES: One mitigation measure is required to be incorporated into the project to minimize the potentially significant environmental impacts. Implementation of the mitigation measures would reduce potentially significant impacts to less than significant levels. HAZ-1 PREPARATION OF DEWATERING MANAGEMENT PLAN (DMP). Ocean Charter School shall prepare a DMP for submittal to LAUSD OEHS. The DMP include details about the dewatering activity. The following information shall be provided in the DMP. Contractor carrying out the dewatering activities Where to address complaints or issues that may arise during dewatering activities Purpose of dewatering (an explanation of why dewatering is necessary). Dewatering technique (wellpoint, deep well, open hole, etc.). Anticipated dewatering flow rate and total dewatering duration. Controls (settling tank, turbidity curtain, etc.) and method of effluent discharge. Measures and techniques to manage noise, vibration and odor issues. Measures and techniques to manage geotechnical stability issues. Contingency plan in case of any emergency situation. Engineering specifications for dewatering effluent treatment (air-stripper, carbon filtration, etc.) and details for an analytical monitoring program to ensure that effluent will meet water quality release standards. A monitoring program to ensure that effluent will comply with applicable water quality release standards. List of water quality permits and regulatory compliance required. The point of discharge to the stormwater system and to any waterway or water body. 333 South Beaudry Avenue, 21st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone (213) 241-3199 Fax (213) 241-6816 The Office of Environmental Health and Safety is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy environment for the students and employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Los Angeles Unified School District Office of Environmental Health and Safety CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT INITIAL STUDY CHECKLIST LEAD AGENCY DATE Los Angeles Unified School District November 2016 LEAD AGENCY CONTACT 333 S. Beaudry Avenue, 21st Floor Eimon Smith, CEQA Project Manager/Contract Professional Los Angeles, CA 90017 CHARTER SCHOOL and CONTACT 12606 Culver Boulevard Ocean Charter School Los Angeles, CA 90066 Jim Bush, Advisor (916) 846-1902 SCHOOL SITE ADDRESS LAUSD LOCAL DISTRICT 12870 and 12908 Panama Street, Los Angeles, CA 90066 West PROJECT TITLE LAUSD COLIN ID PANAMA STREET K-8 SCHOOL 10367569 PROJECT BACKGROUND Ocean Charter School (OCS) is a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD or District)-approved, independent charter school serving grades Kindergarten through 8th (K-8). The OCS charter was approved in 2003 by the District and was subsequently renewed in 2008 and 2013. In 2010, OCS was operating at a leased site at 12606 Culver Boulevard in the City of Los Angeles (Mar Vista Campus). That same year, OCS was awarded State allocation funds to acquire and construct a new school, enabling OCS to fulfill its academic and operational vision of a permanent K-8 facility housed together on one campus. While searching for a permanent school site, OCS shared campuses with two LAUSD schools, Playa Vista Elementary School (located at: 13150 West Bluff Creek Drive, Playa Vista, CA) and Westchester High School (located at: 7400 West Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, CA). OCS is currently operating its K-3rd grade program at the Mar Vista Campus, a leased site on Culver Boulevard (12606 Culver Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA) and its 4-8th grade program at Westchester High School (Westchester Campus). In 2015, OCS identified 12870 and 12908 Panama Street, Los Angeles, CA (project site) as the preferred location for its permanent campus. The proposed Panama Street K-8 School project (proposed project or project) consists of the construction and operation of a K-8 school at the project site. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS This type of new school project is one of many that were analyzed in the School Upgrade Program (SUP) Environmental Impact Report (Program EIR) that was certified by the LAUSD Board of Education (Board) on November 10, 2015.1 Appendix D, Environmental Analysis of the Program EIR discusses the general approach for preparing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance analyses and documents for SUP- related projects. LAUSD’s Program EIR meets the description of a Program EIR under CEQA Guidelines Section 15168 (a)(4) as one “prepared on a series of actions that can be characterized as one large project and are related…[a]s individual activities carried out under the same authorizing statutory or regulatory authority and having generally similar environmental effects which can be mitigated in similar ways.” 1 LAUSD. 2015. Program EIR for the School Upgrade Program. Available at: http://achieve.lausd.net/ceqa. 333 South Beaudry Avenue, 21st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone (213) 241-3199 Fax (213) 241-6816 Our Mission: To ensure a safe and healthy environment for students to learn, teachers to teach, and employees to work. Our Vision: To eliminate all environmental, health, and safety risks at schools. The Board-certified Program EIR enables LAUSD to streamline future environmental compliance and reduces the need for repetitive environmental studies.2 The Program EIR serves as the framework and baseline for CEQA analyses of later projects through a process known as “tiering.” Under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15152(a) and 15385, “Tiering” refers to using the analysis of general matters contained in a broader EIR (such as one prepared for a program) with later EIRs and negative