NOTICE OF PREPARATION OF A PROGRAM ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR REVISIONS TO THE CITY OF FRESNO GENERAL PLAN Date: February 27, 2026 To: Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, Responsible and Trustee Agencies, Other Public Agencies and Other Interested Parties Subject: Notice of Preparation of a Program Environmental Impact Report for Revisions to the City of Fresno General Plan Lead Agency: City of Fresno Contact: Juan Lara, Planner III Planning and Development2600 Fresno Street, 3rd Floor, Room 3065 Fresno, CA 93721 (559) 621-8039 Juan.Lara@fresno.gov Comment Period: February 27, 2026, to March 30, 2026 PURPOSE OF NOTICE The City of Fresno (City) is revising its General Plan in order to ensure conformance with State law. The primary purpose is to incorporate climate adaptation and environmental justice policies into the City’s General Plan, pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 379 and SB 1000. The City, as the lead agency, is responsible for the preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the General Plan (proposed project). Pursuant to provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the City has prepared this Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the proposed project. Once a decision is made to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the lead agency must prepare a NOP to inform all responsible and trustee agencies that an EIR will be prepared (CEQA Guidelines Section 15082). The purpose of this NOP is to provide agencies, interested parties, and organizations with sufficient information describing the proposed project and the potential environmental effects to enable meaningful input related to the scope and content of information to be included in the EIR. PUBLIC REVIEW PERIOD This NOP is being circulated for public review and comment for a period of 30 days beginning February 27, 2026. The City requests that any potential Responsible or Trustee Agencies responding to this NOP reply in a manner consistent with Section 15082(b) of the CEQA Guidelines, which allows for submittal of any comments in response to this notice no later than 30 days after receipt of the NOP. Comments in response to this NOP will be accepted through 5:00 p.m., March 30, 2026. When submitting comments, include your name, address, and phone number and/or email address so that we may contact you for clarification, if necessary. Please send written comments to: Attn: Juan Lara, Planner III City of Fresno, Planning and Development Department 2600 Fresno Street, 3rd floor, Room 3065 Fresno, CA 93721 Phone: (559) 621-8039 Email: Juan.Lara@fresno.gov Please also contact Mr. Lara if you have any questions about the environmental review process. SCOPING MEETING The City will hold a public scoping meeting to inform interested parties about the General Plan PEIR and to provide agencies and the public with an opportunity to provide comments on the scope and content of the PEIR. The meeting time and location is as follows: Fresno City Hall City Council Chambers 2600 Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93721 Date: March 5, 2026 Time: 5:00 p.m. Copies of the full NOP may be reviewed at the following locations: Fresno County Public Library (Betty Rodriguez Regional Library/3040 N Cedar Ave/ Fresno, CA 93703) during library hours; City of Fresno, 2600 Fresno St, 3rd floor, Room 3065 between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.; or Online at: https://www.fresno.gov/planning/plans-projects- under-review/ PROJECT DESCRIPTION The City of Fresno (City) is revising its General Plan in order to ensure conformance with State law. The main purpose of this update is to incorporate the City’s Climate Adaptation Plan and Environmental Justice Element (CAP-EJ) into the City’s General Plan, pursuant to SB 379 and SB 1000, through revised Objectives and Policies. CAP-EJ provides a foundation for the City and its residents to prepare for the expected impacts of climate change and address environmental justice across Fresno. This EIR, consistent with Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, is intended to streamline implementation of the General Plan’s programs and projects by supporting them with updated environmental analysis, regulatory framework, and mitigation measures, pursuant to CEQA. This Program EIR will comply with new legislation as it relates to various resource topic areas as defined by CEQA and update the technical analyses to reflect the current baseline conditions of 2026. This update will include the incorporation of new local, State and/or federal regulations that have gone into effect since adoption of the Fresno General Plan in 2014, or that are proposed to be adopted as part of the Project or prior to this update, including: • Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) Legislation – SB 743 (2013); • Tribal Consultation, Assembly Bill (AB) 52 (2014); • Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (2014); • Safety Elements and Climate Related Hazards Legislation - SB 379 (2015); • Climate Action Plan Legislation. The City is updating the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan that was prepared for the 2014 MEIR (Appendix F-2) taking into account Executive Order S-03-05 (2005), SB 32 (2006), and Executive Order B-30-15 (2015); • Planning for Healthy Communities Act – SB 1000 (2016); • Cooperative Agreement between the City of Fresno Irrigation District and City of Fresno for Water Utilization and Conveyance (2016); • 2017 Housing Package and subsequent legislation, as described by the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development at https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-and-research (2017); • Floor Area Ratio Standards – SB 478 (2021); • Plan for the Future Bill – SB 932 (2022); • Open Space and Conservation Update Legislation – SB 1425 (2022); • Circulation Element, Goods Movement – AB 98 (2024); • Room to Roam Act – AB 1889 (2024); • Safety Element, Extreme Heat – AB 2684 (2024); • Local Electrification Planning Act – AB 39 (2025); • Fresno County Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), City of Fresno Annex (2026); • City of Fresno Active Transportation Plan (ATP) (2026); • City of Fresno Vision Zero Action Plan (VZAP) (2026); • City of Fresno Climate Adaptation Plan and Environmental Justice Element (CAP-EJ) (2026); and • City of Fresno Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) (2026). PROJECT LOCATION The General Plan Planning Area encompasses approximately 106,000 acres and includes all areas within the City limits and the Sphere of Influence (see Figure 1, Project Vicinity). POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS An Initial Study is typically prepared during the environmental scoping process to determine whether a project warrants the preparation of an EIR. Because the City does not currently have a certified EIR to implement the City’s General Plan, the City has determined that preparation of an Initial Study is not necessary. The PEIR will evaluate the potential environmental impacts related to the General Plan, after having first established the environmental setting, or baseline, for the environmental analysis.The significance of potential impacts, cumulative impacts, and appropriate mitigation measures associated with implementation of the General Plan will be thoroughly discussed in the PEIR. The PEIR will be comprehensive and will evaluate each of the environmental issue topics required by CEQA. The individual environmental topics include: • Aesthetics • Agriculture and Forestry Resources • Air Quality • Biological Resources • Cultural Resources • Energy • Geology and Soils • Greenhouse Gas Emissions • Hazards and Hazardous Materials • Hydrology and Water Quality • Land Use and Planning • Mineral Resources • Noise • Population and Housing • Public Services • Recreation • Transportation • Tribal Cultural Resources • Utility and Service Systems • Wildfire In addition, in accordance with Section 15126.6 of the CEQA Guidelines, the PEIR will assess a range of reasonable alternatives to the project. The range of alternatives to be addressed will include alternatives that are specifically required by CEQA (e.g., the No Project Alternative), as well as other alternatives (intended to reduce or eliminate potentially significant impacts) as identified through the coordinated consultation and planning process.