BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 890
                                                                  Page 1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 890 (Olsen and Perea)
          As Amended  August 24, 2012
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |54-9 |(January 26,    |SENATE: |33-2 |(August 29,    |
          |           |     |2012)           |        |     |2012)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:   NAT. RES.  
           
          SUMMARY  :  Exempts from the California Environmental Quality Act 
          (CEQA) repair, maintenance, and minor alterations of existing 
          roadways, provided the project is carried out by a city or 
          county to improve public safety, does not cross a waterway, and 
          involves negligible or no expansion of an existing use.  The 
          exemption sunsets January 1, 2016.

           The Senate amendments  :

          1)Limit the size of cities and counties eligible to claim the 
            exemption to those with a population under 100,000.

          2)Define "waterway" to mean a bay, estuary, lake, pond, river, 
            slough, or a perennial, intermittent, or ephemeral stream, 
            lake, or estuarine-marine shoreline.

          3)Exclude projects:

             a)   On state roadways.

             b)   On sites containing wetlands, riparian areas, and 
               significant wildlife habitat value.

             c)   That harm any protected species, impact cultural 
               resources, or affect scenic resources.

          4)Require the lead agency to: 

             a)   Mitigate potential vehicular traffic and safety impacts, 
               and bicycle and pedestrian safety impacts.

             b)   Hold a noticed public hearing on the project to hear and 
               respond to public comments.








                                                                  AB 890
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          5)Require any state or local agency claiming an exemption 
            pursuant to the bill to file a notice with the Office of 
            Planning and Research.

           EXISTING LAW  requires lead agencies with the principal 
          responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed project 
          to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative 
          declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this 
          action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes 
          various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions 
          in the CEQA guidelines).

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill exempted from CEQA repair, 
          maintenance, and minor alterations of existing roadways, 
          provided the project is initiated by a city or county to improve 
          public safety, does not cross a waterway, and involves 
          negligible or no expansion of an existing use.  The exemption 
          sunsets January 1, 2016.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee, negligible state costs.

           COMMENTS :  CEQA provides a process for evaluating the 
          environmental effects of applicable projects undertaken or 
          approved by public agencies.  If a project is not exempt from 
          CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether the 
          project may have a significant effect on the environment.  If 
          the initial study shows that there would not be a significant 
          effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a 
          negative declaration.  If the initial study shows that the 
          project may have a significant effect on the environment, the 
          lead agency must prepare an EIR.

          Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed project, 
          identify and analyze each significant environmental impact 
          expected to result from the proposed project, identify 
          mitigation measures to reduce those impacts to the extent 
          feasible, and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to the 
          proposed project.  Prior to approving any project that has 
          received environmental review, an agency must make certain 
          findings.  If mitigation measures are required or incorporated 
          into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring 
          program to ensure compliance with those measures.









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          According to the author:  

                In recent years, CEQA has slowed or halted many 
               public and private projects.  It is important to 
               understand the environmental impacts of a public 
               works project, but to slow or halt a public 
               roadway project that improves public safety is 
               illogical.  Cities and counties need to be able to 
               quickly perform some public works projects.  
               Public safety must be the number one priority of 
               the state, and CEQA has hindered cities and 
               counties from performing their basic duty?AB 890 
               streamlines the process for minor roadway 
               improvements for cities and counties to improve 
               road safety.
                
           It should be noted that CEQA already provides alternatives to 
          comprehensive environmental review for minor projects.  First, 
          the CEQA Guidelines provide a categorical exemption for work on 
          existing facilities where there is negligible expansion of an 
          existing use, specifically including "(e)xisting highways and 
          streets, sidewalks, gutters, bicycle and pedestrian trails, and 
          similar facilities," (CEQA Guidelines, Section 15301(c)).  
          Second, if the project is not exempt from CEQA, but the initial 
          study shows that it would not result in a significant effect on 
          the environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative 
          declaration, and no EIR is required.  According to statistics 
          compiled by the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, the 
          vast majority of projects subject to CEQA review result in a 
          negative declaration.  As amended, this bill is consistent with 
          the existing categorical exemption for minor work on existing 
          roads.  
           
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916) 
          319-2092 


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