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Page 34 III. PROJECT DESCRIPTION BACKGROUND The City of Stockton's Austin Road Landfill has been operated by the City Public Works Department (PWD)since 1960 to dispose of a major portion of the City's Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The Austin Road Landfill is located outside of the city limits of the City of Stockton and is surrounded by unincorporated County of San Joaquin territory. The non-contiguous parcel containing the landfill was annexed by the City from San Joaquin County effective November 15, 1984. State.law allows cities to annex non-contiguous parcels up to 300 acres in size if they are used for public purposes. In the early 1990s,the City of Stockton initiated a project to expand the landfill's capacity because the landfill was reaching capacity. The City developed an expansion plan,and completed and certified an Environmental Impact Report on the proposed expansion on September 6, 1994(City of Stockton EIR 2- 90, State Clearinghouse No. 90020718). Necessary permits were obtained from the Regional Water +� Quality Control Board,Integrated Waste Management Board,and US Army Corps of Engineers,and the expansion is included in the Siting Element of the San Joaquin Countywide Integrated Waste Management Plan(C1WMP),dated April:1996. However,while the landfill expansion was initiated,it was not completely implemented. The City of Stockton now proposes to sell the permitted landfill(including the expansion option and the permits already obtained)to a private solid waste management fine. Currently,the landfill site is a non- contiguous City island since it is owned and operated by the City. Except for the approved realignment of the North Branch of the South Fork of Little Johns Creek,the proposed expansion project has not changed from that analyzed in the certified 1994 EIR. Also,certain background conditions may have changed since that date. When transferred to private ownership,the landfill will revert to the jurisdiction of San Joaquin County,because it will no longer fulfill.the legal requirement of City ownership or of use for public purposes. Thus,the proposed private ownership and operation of the expanded landfill site will 4 require a County Use Permit,General Plan Amendment,and zone reclassification. With the exception of !td' these County approvals,the other required permits for the landfill expansion have been obtained,and would remain in effect. Therefore,pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA),the projects addressed by this Initial Study are the County's issuance of the Use Permit,General Plan Amendment, and zone reclassification for the project,as well as the necessary revision to the City of Stockton's General Plan to reflect transfer of the facility from City to County jurisdiction. The County of San Joaquin is acting as Lead Agency for the environmental review of the project. An Initial Study has been prepared(see Appendix A) in order to facilitate the determination of the appropriate environmental documentation needed for the proposed expansion,and to consider the environmental implications of any changes in background conditions that may have occurred since the original EIR was certified in 1994. fi The landfill expansion project is described in detail in the City's certified EIR and summarized below. PROJECT OBJECTIVES The project applicant,the City of Stockton,seeks to: • expand the landfill as a long-term disposal facility for the City of Stockton's waste in a manner consistent with current federal and State construction and maintenance requirements for a Class III (municipal solid waste)landfill GRA=I ENVIRONMENT.41. CONSULTING