<![CDATA[
<body background="../../art/graphics/niceblue.gif">
<center>
<font size="5"><i><b><br>
California Environmental Quality Act:</b></i></font></center>
<div align="left">
<p>Chapter 1: Policy § 21000. LEGISLATIVE INTENT</p>
<p>The Legislature finds and declares as follows:</p>
<p>a) The maintenance of a quality environment for the people of this state now and in the future is a matter of statewide concern.</p>
<p>b) It is necessary to provide a high-quality environment that at all times is healthful and pleasing to the senses and intellect of man.</p>
<p>c) There is a need to understand the relationship between the maintenance of high-quality ecological systems and the general welfare of the people of the state, including their enjoyment of the natural resources of the state.</p>
<p>d) The capacity of the environment is limited, and it is the intent of the Legislature that the government of the state take immediate steps to identify any critical thresholds for the health and safety of the people of the state and take all coordinated actions necessary to prevent such thresholds being reached.</p>
<p>e) Every citizen has a responsibility to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the environment.</p>
<p>f) The interrelationship of policies and practices in the management of natural resources and waste disposal requires systematic and concerted efforts by public and private interests to enhance environmental quality and to control environmental pollution.</p>
<p>g) It is the intent of the Legislature that all agencies of the state government which regulate activities of private individuals, corporations, and public agencies which are found to affect the quality of the environment, shall regulate such activities so that major consideration is given to preventing environmental damage, while providing a decent home and satisfying living environment for every Californian.</p>
<p>ADDITIONAL LEGISLATIVE INTENT<br>
The Legislature further finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to:</p>
<p>a) Develop and maintain a high-quality environment now and in the future, and take all action necessary to protect, rehabilitate, and enhance the environmental quality of the state.</p>
<p>b) Take all action necessary to provide the people of this state with clean air and water, enjoyment of aesthetic, natural, scenic, and historic environmental qualities, and freedom from excessive noise.</p>
<p>c) Prevent the elimination of fish or wildlife species due to man?s activities, insure that fish and wildlife populations do not drop below self-perpetuating levels, and preserve for future generations representations of all plant and animal communities and examples of the major periods of California history.</p>
<p>d) Ensure that the long-term protection of the environment, consistent with the provision of a decent home and suitable living environment for every Californian, shall be the guiding criterion in public decisions.</p>
<p>e) Create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony to fulfill the social and economic requirements of present and future generations.</p>
<p>f) Require governmental agencies at all levels to develop standards and procedures necessary to protect environmental quality.</p>
<p>g) Require governmental agencies at all levels to consider qualitative factors as well as economic and technical factors and long-term benefits and costs, in addition to short-term benefits and costs and to consider alternatives to proposed actions affecting the environment.</div>
</body>
]]>