California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Resources and Guidelines
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is the state law that requires public agencies, including the County of Ventura, to study and disclose potential environmental impacts of projects and adopt any feasible measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts before a project is approved.
One of the main goals of CEQA is to inform decision-makers and the public about potential environmental impacts of proposed projects. The County of Ventura carries out environmental review through local CEQA guidelines that are included in two documents: the Ventura County CEQA Implementation Manual (Implementation Manual) and the Ventura County Initial Study Assessment Guidelines (ISAGs).
The Implementation Manual and the ISAGs ensure that the County uses consistent procedures and evaluation criteria when examining the physical impacts of a public or private project on the environment. The ISAGs allow for a streamlined and transparent process for the public, project applicants, consultants, County staff, and decision-makers to review the environmental effects of a project
Ventura County CEQA Implementation Manual
The Implementation Manual was formerly titled the “Administrative Supplement to the State CEQA Guidelines.” The Implementation Manual includes procedures to comply with CEQA, such as filing public notices of proposed projects. The Implementation Manual was last updated in September 2025, which includes updated CEQA requirements, procedures to amend the document in the future, and County agency responsibilities.
2025 CEQA Implementation Manual (Applies to projects deemed complete on January 1, 2026 or later)
2010 Administrative Supplement to the State CEQA Guidelines (Applies to projects deemed complete on December 31, 2025 or earlier)
Ventura County Initial Study Assessment Guidelines (ISAGs)
The ISAGs inform the public, project applicants, consultants, and County staff on environmental impact thresholds and ways to determine whether a project has the potential to cause a significant negative effect on the environment. The ISAGs cover a wide range of topic areas, including air quality, transportation, water quality, biological resources, and many others listed below.
The ISAGs were last updated in September 2025. Updates included consolidation of similar topic areas, removal of inapplicable sections, alignment with Appendix G in the State CEQA Guidelines, updated thresholds and methods for analyzing potential project impacts (including the Noise and Vibration Assessment Guidelines), and incorporation of certain General Plan programs and policies.
2025 Initial Study Assessment Guidelines (Applies to projects deemed complete on January 1, 2026 or later)
2011 Initial Study Assessment Guidelines (Applies to projects deemed complete on December 31, 2025 or earlier)