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Draft Environmental Impact Report Page V-1 fJ Forward Landfill Expansion V. ALTERNATIVES A. INTRODUCTION CEQA requires that a reasonable range of feasible alternatives to the proposed project be described and considered within an EIR. The alternatives considered should represent scenarios that could feasibly attain most of the basic objectives of the project, and would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant environmental effects of the project. The purpose of this process is to provide decision makers and the public with a discussion of viable development options and to document that other options to the proposal were considered within the application process (CEQA Guidelines, §15126.6). CEQA requires that the lead agency adopt mitigation measures or alternatives, where feasible, to substantially lessen or avoid significant environmental impacts that would otherwise occur. Where a lead agency has determined that even after the adoption of all feasible mitigation measures, a project as proposed would still cause significant environmental effects that cannot be substantially lessened or avoided, the agency, prior to approving the project as mitigated, must first determine whether, with respect to such impacts, there remain any project alternatives that are both environmentally superior and feasible within the meaning of CEQA. CEQA provides the following guidelines for discussing project alternatives: • An EIR need not consider every conceivable alternative to a project. Rather, it must consider a reasonable range of potentially feasible alternatives that will foster informed decision-making and public participation(§15126.6(a)). • An EIR is not required to consider alternatives that are infeasible (§15126.6(a)). • The discussion of alternatives shall focus on alternatives to the project or its location that are capable of avoiding or substantially lessening any significant effects of the project (§15126.6(b)). • The range of potential alternatives to the proposed project shall include those that could feasibly accomplish most of the basic objectives of the project and could avoid or substantially lessen one or more of the significant effects §15126.6(c)). • The EIR should briefly describe the rationale for selecting the alternatives to be discussed§15126.6(c)). • The EIR shall include sufficient information about each alternative to allow meaningful evaluation, analysis and comparison with the proposed project §15126.6(d)). B. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND REJECTED As part of a complete discussion of alternatives to the Project, CEQA requires that the EIR describe why certain alternatives were not selected for analysis. The following possible alternatives were considered for evaluation and not chosen for the reasons given: