BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 49
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 49 (Gatto) - As Amended: March 24, 2011
SUBJECT : Development: expedited permit review
SUMMARY : Reestablishes the Office of Permit Assistance (OPA)
under the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to
help facilitate state and local review of commercial and
industrial development projects.
EXISTING LAW requires, under the Permit Streamlining Act (PSA),
each state agency and local agency to compile one or more lists
that specify in detail the information that will be required
from any applicant for a development project, and requires a
public agency that is the lead agency for a development project,
or a public agency which is a responsible agency for a
development project that has been approved by the lead agency,
to approve or disapprove the project within applicable periods
of time.
THIS BILL :
1)Establishes the OPA within OPR and requires OPA to be located
exclusively in Sacramento and have no more than four staff
through 2013.
2)Requires OPA to develop guidelines providing technical
assistance to local agencies for the establishment and
operation of an expedited development permit process.
3)Requires the guidelines to include, but not be limited to, all
of the following components of a local permit process:
a) An administrative entity in each city or county with a
population of 100,000 or more that shall serve as an
applicant's single point of contact with the city or county
with respect to all applications and permits required by
the city or county for the applicant's commercial or
industrial development project;
b) A referral process that may do any or all of the
following:
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i) Refer the applicant to the appropriate local
agencies and local agency officials to resolve problems
and to fulfill requirements;
ii) Refer the applicant to cities within the county
which have review, comment, or conditional permit power
over the proposed project; or,
iii) Assign the local agency's administrative entity, or
another individual or entity designated by the local
agency, to be responsible for guiding the applicant
through all local permitting requirements;
c) A consolidated project information form that will
collect the information required to complete all permits
for the development project;
d) A method for tracking the progress of development permit
applications through the permitting process that may
include the identification of a staff person responsible
for monitoring permits;
e) A process for determining whether the consolidated
project information form is complete upon its submission;
f) Timetables for action on specified types of permit
applications;
g) An expedited appeal process to ensure fair treatment to
the applicant using existing agencies, staffs, commissions,
or boards, where possible; and,
h) A variety of administrative mechanisms that describe the
least costly approaches for implementing these guidelines
in a variety of local circumstances.
4)Requires OPA, in developing the guidelines, to recognize local
variations in population, rate of growth, types of proposed
development projects, geography, and local government
structure.
5)Specifically states that the guidelines developed by OPA are
advisory in nature and are not a mandate on local agencies.
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6)Provides that upon appropriation by the Legislature, OPA shall
provide grants and technical assistance to cities and counties
for the establishment of an expedited development permit
process.
7)Requires any city or county receiving a grant to enact an
ordinance adopting an expedited development permit process
according to the guidelines within 10 months of the date of
receipt of the grant.
8)Requires OPA to do all of the following:
a) Provide information to developers explaining the permit
approval process at the state and local levels, or
assisting them in meeting the requirements of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Specifies
that the assistance provided by OPA on CEQA is purely
technical in nature, and neither OPA nor the state shall
incur any liability.
b) Assist state and local agencies in streamlining the
permit approval process at the state and local levels.
c) Assist an applicant in identifying any permit required
by a state agency for the proposed project.
9)Authorizes OPA to call a conference of parties at the state
level to resolve questions or mediate disputes arising from a
permit application for a proposed development project.
10)Authorizes OPA to charge an applicant for a development
project a fee not to exceed the estimated reasonable cost of
providing the services performed.
11)Requires OPA, prior to levying or charging a fee, to adopt or
amend regulations to provide for the fee in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act.
12)Requires OPA, upon request, to make available data indicating
the cost, or estimated cost, of providing the services
performed and the revenue sources anticipated to cover the
cost of performing the services, including any general or
special fund revenues.
13)Requires OPA, in consultation with the Natural Resources
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Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency, to
develop a consolidated project information form to be used by
applicants for development projects.
14)Requires the form to collect sufficient information to allow
OPA to determine the state agencies that have permitting
requirements applicable to the development project for which
the form was submitted.
15)Defines "administrative entity" as a person or agency
designated by the legislative body of a city, county, or city
and county.
16)Requires, upon the request of an applicant, a city, county,
or city and county with a population of 100,000 or more to
designate, and provide for, an administrative entity to serve
as the applicant's single point of contact with the local
agency with respect to all applications and permits required
by the local agency for the applicant's commercial or
industrial development project.
17)Requires the administrative entity to provide the applicant
information regarding the status of, and coordinate the review
and decision making process with respect to, the applications
and permits required by the local agency for the development
project.
18)Requires, upon the request of the applicant, the
administrative entity to coordinate with OPA with respect to
any applications or permits required by the state for the
development project.
19)Authorizes a city, county, or city and county to charge a fee
to defray costs incurred by the administrative entity that are
directly attributable to the services it provides to an
applicant.
20)Authorizes a city, county, or city and county to adopt, by
resolution or ordinance, procedures for the implementation of
this measure.
21)Contains an urgency clause.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
1)Background. The PSA requires each state agency and local
agency to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the
information that will be required from any applicant for a
development project, and requires a public agency that is the
lead agency for a development project, or a public agency
which is a responsible agency for a development project that
has been approved by the lead agency, to approve or disapprove
the project within applicable periods of time.
In addition to mandating criteria and setting deadlines, the
PSA previously required OPR to coordinate the state
government's help to applicants. OPR set up the OPA in 1977
which the Legislature later codified ŬSB 992 (Garamendi),
Chapter 1263, Statutes of 1983]. The Legislature later moved
OPA to the State Trade and Commerce Agency ŬAB 2351, (Assembly
Ways and Means Committee), Chapter 56, Statutes of 1993].
CalEPA set up regional Permit Assistance Centers which the
Legislature institutionalized in 1999 ŬAB 1102 (Jackson),
Chapter 65, Statutes of 1999]. Then, in 2003, the Legislature
repealed the requirements for CalEPA's permit assistance
centers and abolished the State Technology, Trade, and
Commerce Agency ŬAB 1756, (Assembly Budget Committee), Chapter
228, Statutes of 2003]. Although the OPA no longer exists,
the PSA still requires agencies to adopt criteria and meet
statutory deadlines.
2)One-stop shopping. This bill reestablishes the OPA within OPR
in order to help facilitate state and local level review of
commercial and industrial development projects. OPR already
serves as the coordinating agency for statewide planning
efforts and as a clearinghouse for all CEQA related documents,
so it seems an appropriate host for the additional duty of
serving as a one-stop shop for coordinating the state and
local level review of specified development projects.
3)Prior legislation. This bill is identical to the final
version of SB 959 (Ducheny), which passed this committee last
year, but was later vetoed by the Govenor. Governor
Schwarzenegger contended that the duties this bill gives to
OPA should instead be the responsibility of the Governor's
Office of Economic Development, which he established in 2010
via executive order.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092