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5. What is an EIR? An EIR is an Environmental Impact Report, which is a document prepared if the potential impacts of a proposed project might be significant, or if the impacts are subjective but wide-reaching (such as with visual impacts). An EIR for the initial construction of the landfill was prepared in 1990. That first EIR addressed the complete build-out of the landfill. This more recent EIR evaluated the impact of the permit revisions within that area. 6. What is "CEQA"? CEQA is the California Environmental Quality Act, a state law Enacted in 1970. The purpose of CEQA is to protect the environment in California. In general, CEQA requires that California's public agencies determine if a proposed activity (called "the Project" in CEQA) will have a significant impact on the environment. The agency in charge of the EIR must: • Identify the environmental impacts of proposed discretionary projects • Determine if the impacts to the environment will be significant • Identify alternatives and mitigation measure that will substantially reduce or eliminate significant impacts In the case of the North County Recycling Center and Sanitary Landfill, the "project" is the proposed permit revision. At this time, the only significant impact appears to be visual. The County prepared a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to address all environmental issues of this permit revision. This draft was circulated for comment, and the final EIR addressed the issues raised. 5. Who pays for the landfill? Costs of operations and construction of new liner areas at the North County Recycling Center and Sanitary Landfill are paid for by the users of the landfill. No tax dollars are used. This is why the County seeks to keep the fees paid by the users of the facility as low as possible. One way to keep fees low is to use the existing landfill as much as possible.