Source: City Planning
This month, City Planning unveiled a new online dashboard to monitor, track, and report the workload and case processing times for development projects that require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). These are some of the most diverse and large-scale projects in Los Angeles. As of August 2020, the Department is processing and reviewing 66 active EIRs. On average, each takes approximately 23 months from the initial filing to finalizing the document for City Planning Commission’s consideration.
The EIR process—the most lengthy and complex form of environmental review—entails the preparation of an Initial Study, a Draft EIR, and a Final EIR, which require public review and regular coordination between the applicant, the environmental consultant team, and the City. Generally, those documents are under review by the Department for only six to nine months (or 30 to 50 percent of the total processing time). During the majority of the process, the preparation of an EIR is in the hands of the applicant and consultant team, who work together to produce the technical reports and respond to the Department’s comments.
