The California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research recently issued a technical advisory aimed at providing guidelines for consultation with Native American tribes under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), following the enactment of Assembly Bill 52. Under the new legislation, projects that involve resources located on or around tribal lands must have meaningful input from said tribes to protect their cultural heritage.
In his Law360 article “A 6 Step Guide to Tribal Consultation Under CEQA,” Attorney Brett Moore discusses CEQA’s implications on cultural resources and how courts have dealt with CEQA’s requirement that developers and local agencies must mitigate damage to cultural resources during development.
“Consultation with Native American tribes is necessary, not only for the purpose of determining appropriate mitigation measures, but also to help the lead agency identify locations where the proposed project might impact culturally significant areas,” wrote Moore. “Assembly Bill 52’s requirement that lead agencies consult with tribes early in the project’s development facilitates identification of cultural resources known to tribes and provides a better opportunity to undertake appropriate mitigation issues, if needed.”