Board certifies Friant Ranch final EIR, approves project components after long hearing

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to certify the final environmental impact report (EIR) for the Friant Ranch Community Plan update and specific plan, concluding a long hearing that focused on air‑quality modeling, water supply and potential impacts to nearby communities. County CEQA counsel Amy Higuera told the board the Supreme Court ecision narrowed the required remedy to air‑quality analysis and that the county had reviewed "changed circumstances" and found no new significant impacts requiring a broader EIR reopening. "You still have discretion on whether you want to approve the project or not, but in terms of its CEQA analysis, that analysis was previously done," Higuera said during the hearing.