ABOUT us
Cultural Resource Management plays a crucial role in safeguarding our heritage through the preservation of sacred sites, monitoring development, and ensuring ethical returns to the indigenous communities of origin.
Located on the Central Coast of California, A and G Consulting is owned and operated by descendants of the region's native populations. We are committed to mitigating these sensitive processes while contributing a portion of our proceeds back to local indigenous communities and native organizations.
State Legislation
Understanding CEQA and AB52
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Public Resources Code section 21000 et seq.
Assembly Bill 52, which became effective on July 1, 2015, revised several portions of California’s Public Resources Code to broaden the requirements for tribal consultation and to provide a more formal structure for California’s tribes to provide meaningful input to protect their cultural heritage during the CEQA process.
California Public Resources Code section 21084.2 now establishes that “a project with an effect that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a tribal cultural resource is a project that may have a significant effect on the environment.” Lead agencies are required to avoid damaging effects to any tribal cultural resource when feasible. This requires lead agencies to begin consultation with California Native American tribes that are traditionally and culturally affiliated with the geographic area of the proposed project prior to the release of a negative declaration (ND), mitigated negative declaration (MND), or environmental impact report (EIR) for a project.
AB (Assembly Bill) 52 also broadly defined the “California Native American Tribe.” Federal statutes aimed at protecting cultural resources often limit the definition of “Indian Tribes” to include only those federally recognized. AB52 is inclusive of state recognition.