2040 General Plan Updates

In June 2021 and August 2021, the MoVal 2040 Project and Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (2021 Final PEIR) were approved and certified, respectively, by the City of Moreno Valley City Council. A lawsuit by the Sierra Club argued that the 2021 Draft EIR and Final PEIR were deficient. On March 5, 2024, a Statement of Decision by a judge of the Riverside County Superior Court granted the petition on the issues of baseline (existing conditions analysis), air quality, climate change (GHG emissions), and energy use. This document, referred to as the MoVal 2040 Revised Draft Program EIR (Revised Draft EIR), has been prepared to correct the deficiencies identified in the March ruling. Those portions of the 2021 Final PEIR that were found to be in compliance with CEQA will not be circulated, and no further comments on them will be sought. Responses to comments on the Revised Draft EIR will be prepared. 

The revised sections of the Revised Draft EIR have been prepared to address the deficiencies identified in the court’s ruling, summarized as follows:

• Air quality: The air quality section failed to compare the MoVal 2040 Project’s environmental impacts against existing conditions and instead compared them to assumed impacts under the former General Plan, which understated the impacts from the present Project;
• Energy: The energy section failed to compare the MoVal 2040 Project’s environmental impacts against existing conditions and instead compared them to assumed impacts under the former General Plan, which understated the impacts from the present Project;
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

In addition, although not required by the Court ruling, the following analysis has been updated or newly prepared to assist in the response to the deficiencies identified by the Court:

• Noise
• Transportation

Consistent with Section 15168 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, this Revised Draft EIR provides a programmatic analysis of the environmental impacts associated with implementation of the goals, policies, actions, and projected buildout of the following three planning documents:

• 2024 General Plan Update (GPU), 
• Municipal Code and Zoning (including Zoning Atlas) Amendments, and 
• Climate Action Plan (CAP)

These three separate planning documents are collectively referred to as the MoVal 2040 Revised Draft EIR (Project).