The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) generally requires state and local government agencies to inform decision makers and the public about the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects, and to reduce those environmental impacts to the extent feasible.

If the project may cause adverse environmental effects, the Commission will prepare a more detailed informational document called an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). An EIR contains information on potential effects, measures to mitigate those effects, and an analysis of alternatives to the project.

The CEQA checklist lists environmental factors to be evaluated for all projects in California. The list goes by many names—environmental checklist, initial study checklist, Appendix G. But they all mean the same thing.

CEQA is encoded in Sections 21000 et seq of the Public Resources Code (PRC) with Guidelines for implementation codified in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 14, Chapter 3, Sections 15000 et seq., requires state and local public agencies to identify the environmental impacts of proposed discretionary ...