Palo Alto Unified School District CEQA Compliance Services

Terraphase supported a demolition and replacement project in Palo Alto, California, by providing environmental and cultural resource review services. The project required coordination with multiple stakeholders, including tribal representatives and state and federal agencies, to assess potential impacts to cultural resources and ensure compliance with applicable regulations.

Scope of Services

Terraphase began by conducting client meetings, preparing a project schedule, submitting data requests, and reviewing design documents to create a detailed project description. Our cultural resources subcontractor reviewed the Sacred Lands File to identify tribal and/or culturally sensitive properties within or near the project area and performed outreach to Native American contacts as appropriate. A pre-field records search was conducted through the Northwest Information Center, as well as other state and federal databases. A pedestrian survey of the site was then performed and a letter report was prepared to document the regulatory, historical, and ethnographic settings, Native American consultation/outreach process, records search findings, and field survey results.

Notable Accomplishments

  • The results of the cultural resources letter report were incorporated into a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)-compliant Initial Study (IS) that evaluated the current environmental setting at the project site and discussed potential impacts related to implementation of the project.
  • All relevant resource areas were evaluated based on the IS Checklist. The Notice of Intent (NOI) was posted in accordance with CEQA Guidelines, ahead of construction the following year.

Christopher Alger, PG, CHG, CEG

Senior Principal Engineering Geologist

Christopher’s Profile