A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
The lead agency shall do all of the following:
Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
Submit, in an electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration to the State Clearinghouse.
The lead agency shall post all environmental review documents described in subdivision (a) on its internet website, if any.
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