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Administrative Draft Environmental Impact Report Gill Medical Center Project 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING, IMPACTS AND MITIGATION 4.1 INTRODUCTION TO IMPACT ANALYSIS Chapter 4 of this Draft EIR describes the environmental resources directly and indirectly affected by the Gill Woman's Medical Center Project and the extent and significance of those effects. This Chapter also considers the Project's contribution to the cumulative impact on affected resources due to past, ongoing and foreseeable future projects. Within each issue area in this section, the discussion of project impacts is provided in the following format: Environmental Setting; Regulatory Setting; Thresholds of Significance; Project Impacts and Mitigation Measures; and, Cumulative Impacts. 4.2 METHODS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS The CEQA analysis methodology employed in this Draft EIR is described below. 4.2.1 Environmental Baseline Pursuant to the State CEQA Guidelines (Section 15125(a)), the environmental setting used to determine the impacts associated with the Project normally is based on the environmental conditions that existed in the project area at the time the Notice of Preparation was published. However,the state CEQA Guidelines (Section 15125(a)) also says that where existing conditions change or fluctuate over time, a lead agency may define existing conditions by referencing historic conditions, conditions expected when a project becomes operational, or projected future conditions beyond the date of initial project operations, if doing so would meet CEQA's objective of giving the public and decisionmakers the most accurate and understandable picture practically possible of the project's likely near-term and long-term impacts. For purposes of this EIR, environmental baseline is generally defined as conditions that existed within the Project Study Area at the time of NOP circulation, or January 13, 2020. This provides the basis for the determination of the majority of Project impacts, i.e., the changes to those conditions brought about by Project construction and operation either directly or indirectly. When environmental baseline is substantially different than described above, the specific conditions and assumptions relied on for the issue area are described, such as in Section 4.17 Transportation. 4.2.2 Impact and Mitigation Measure Terminology This Draft EIR analyzes the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of the proposed Project.The determination of whether an impact is considered significant is based on specific Introduction to Impact Analysis 4-1 October 2021