diff --git a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/Materials/Types/BasePBR_ForwardPass.azsl b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/Materials/Types/BasePBR_ForwardPass.azsl
index be0fcd7250..96318f2284 100644
--- a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/Materials/Types/BasePBR_ForwardPass.azsl
+++ b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/Materials/Types/BasePBR_ForwardPass.azsl
@@ -180,7 +180,6 @@ PbrLightingOutput ForwardPassPS_Common(VSOutput IN, bool isFrontFace)
 }
 
 
-[earlydepthstencil]
 ForwardPassOutput BasePbr_ForwardPassPS_EDS(VSOutput IN, bool isFrontFace : SV_IsFrontFace)
 {
     ForwardPassOutput OUT;
diff --git a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/LightingOptions.azsli b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/LightingOptions.azsli
index 35d9bced0d..9febc6a9f7 100644
--- a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/LightingOptions.azsli
+++ b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/LightingOptions.azsli
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+// --- Note: About this file ---
+// This file uses #defines to completely strip out certain lighting features from shaders
+// This enables us to avoid code duplication and write an uber-esque shader code and then
+// be able to adjust the code for different use cases (for example basic materials can strip
+// away transimission related code used for foliage). These are different from shader options
+// in that shader options allow more user flexibility to adjust materials at runtime, whereas
+// these #define options are for customizing and optimizing material types (like BasePBR)
+
 // --- Light Defines ---
 
 #ifndef ENABLE_AREA_LIGHT_VALIDATION
diff --git a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/Surfaces/StandardSurface.azsli b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/Surfaces/StandardSurface.azsli
index 34d05ecb05..cf4edba923 100644
--- a/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/Surfaces/StandardSurface.azsli
+++ b/Gems/Atom/Feature/Common/Assets/ShaderLib/Atom/Features/PBR/Surfaces/StandardSurface.azsli
@@ -20,10 +20,6 @@ class Surface
     ClearCoatSurfaceData clearCoat;
 #endif
 
-#if ENABLE_TRANSMISSION
-    TransmissionSurfaceData transmission; // This is not actually used for Standard PBR, but must be present for common lighting code to compile
-#endif
-
     // ------- BasePbrSurfaceData -------
     
     precise float3 position;    //!< Position in world-space