The Project consists of a comprehensive update to the Housing Element of the City of Carlsbad General Plan. State law requires that housing elements be updated every eight years (California Government Code Sections 65580 to 65589.8). The Project will update the City of Carlsbad Housing Element as part of the sixth cycle of updates. For Carlsbad, the planning period runs from April 15, 2021 through April 15, 2029. The draft 2021 Housing Element Update identifies residential sites adequate to accommodate a variety of housing types for all income levels and needs of special population groups, defined under state law (California Government Code Section 65583). It analyzes governmental constraints to housing maintenance, improvement, and development; addresses conservation and improvement of the condition of existing affordable housing stock; and outlines policies that promote housing opportunities for all persons. The draft Housing Element Update establishes objectives, policies, and programs to assist the City of Carlsbad in achieving state-mandated housing goals. The city’s implementation of these policies and programs includes future amendments to other elements of the General Plan and the rezoning of several sites in the inventory of potential sites for meeting the city’s RHNA obligation. No formal land use changes or physical development is proposed at this time and future changes would require environmental evaluation as potential impacts are location-specific and cannot be assessed in a meaningful way until a project site and development proposal are identified. Pursuant to Government Code section 65583(c)(1), these actions will be accomplished within three years of the City of Carlsbad’s adoption of the draft Housing Element Update. As required by Government Code Section 65583(c)(8), the draft Housing Element Update provides a timeline for processing each of the amendments to the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance and other land use documents which implement the draft Housing Element Update. In considering the potential environmental impacts of the draft Housing Element Update, the City has determined that the EIR certified for the 2015 General Plan update (General Plan & Climate Action Plan Environmental Impact Report, State Clearinghouse Number 211011004, dated June 2015) is of continuing informational value. The City also has determined that the potential environmental impacts (both direct and indirect impacts) of the draft Housing Element Update are within the scope of the previously certified EIR and that none of the conditions requiring subsequent or supplemental environmental review under CEQA Guidelines section 15162 exists. Based on the information and analysis provided below, the City has determined that only minor or technical changes to the previously certified EIR are necessary and that that preparation of an Addendum pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15164 is appropriate.