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Rehabilitation's (CDCR)commitment to public safety_ To specifically authorize the first secure community re- entry facility in California at the former Northern California Women's Facility(NCWF)and correctional officer training academy, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 943 on September 26, 2007,which subsequently became legislation(California Penal Code § 6275). This law authorizes the use of the former NCWF as a reentry ` facility to house adult male inmates during the last 12 months of their respective sentences prior to parole, and to provide these inmates special programs to better prepare them for return to the community of their last legal residence. PROJECT BACKGROUND In February 2008 a Mitigated Negative Declaration(MND)for the proposed project was released for public review. CDCR approved the project in April 2008_At the time the MND was prepared and the project approved, the site was used as a correctional officer training academy. The California Correctional and Peace Officers Association(CCPOA)challenged the adequacy of the MND. On March 12, 2009, the Superior Court of San Joaquin County found that the environmental analysis was not adequate and ordered CDCR to set aside its approval of the MND and the project.In May 2009,CDCR rescinded and set aside all resolutions, decisions, and orders approving the MND (State Clearinghouse Number 2008021233)for the proposed Northern California Re-Entry Facility. CDCR has decided to respond to the Superior Court's ruling by re-analyzing the potential impacts of the project on the environmentin this EIR.The project remains substantially the same as described in the MND. The bed count would remain the same. The project would house up to 500 inmates and employ an estimated 381 staff. Since the time the MND was released,the correctional training facility has closed and the site is currently not in use. The current condition of the project site and surrounding area(at the time this NOP is released)will comprise the baseline used for the EIR's environmental analysis. PROJECT LOCATION The project site is located on 134-acres of state-owned property(See Exhibit 2)adjacent to the northeast corner of the Northern California Youth Correctional Center(NCYCC)_The site is less than two miles east of State Route 99 (SR 99)in unincorporated central San Joaquin County, immediately southeast of the Stockton city limits.It is approximately 6 miles northeast of the cities of Lathrop and Manteca,21 miles northwest of Modesto, 17 miles northeast of Tracy, and 15 miles south of Lodi.Arch Road provides direct access to the project site and State Route(SR) 99 provides regional access. The site is immediately north of the proposed 1,734-bed California Prison Health Care Facility(CHFC), Stockton project,which is also located on the grounds of the NCYCC. The project site was originally the Northern California Women's Facility, a secure female inmate prison,which closed in 203. Subsequently,the facility was used as a correctional officer training academy called the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center Annex(CTCA),which closed in 2008. The site is currently unused and on- site structures are vacant but.maintained. The project site includes a hexagonal two-row exterior perimeter fence (12 feet tall topped with razor ribbon)(See Exhibit 3).The vacant buildings surrounding the former recreation yard include four former housing units,a former food service building and reception building,and a former control/support/program building. The area south of the former recreation yard includes the former kitchen delivery/service area,plant operations, storage,maintenance,and an abandoned Prison Industry Authority(PIA) facility that previously operated a laundry,warehouse, and program space. There are no guard towers on the project site. Northern California Re-Entry Facility Notice of Preparation California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 3 September 2009