BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 931
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 931
AUTHOR: Dickinson
AMENDED: September 7, 2011
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE:
September 8, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:
Randy Pestor
SUBJECT : CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
SUMMARY :
Existing law under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA):
1) Requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility
for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary
project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated
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). (Public
Resources Code §21000 et seq.). A statutory exemption for
a residential project on an infill site under certain
conditions defines "residential" to be either: a)
residential units only; or b) residential units and
primarily neighborhood-serving goods, services, or retail
uses that do not exceed 15% of the total project floor
area. (§21159.24).
2) Allows a "transit priority project" to be subject to
certain environmental review procedures pursuant to SB 375
(Steinberg) Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008. (§21155.2).
This bill, as approved by the Committee July 6, 2011 (April
15, 2011 version) revises the residential infill exemption by
increasing the amount of allowable neighborhood-serving goods,
services, or retail uses from 15% to 25% of the building
square footage.
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September 2, 2011, and September 7, 2011, amendments : a)
allow a "transit proximity project" (as defined) to be subject
to certain environmental review procedures contained in SB 375
until adoption of a sustainable communities strategy, and
sunsets January 1, 2015; b) allow an "employment priority
project" (as defined) to also be subject to those
environmental review procedures; and c) allow an "employment
priority project" to also be subject to those environmental
review procedures until adoption of a sustainable communities
strategy, and sunsets January 1, 2015.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, AB 931 "seeks to
increase the amount of commercial in a development seeking
Ýa residential infill exemption]. Existing law allows only
15% of a project to be commercial, based upon the total
floor space. This will increase that limit to 25%." The
most recent amendments also revise certain environmental
review procedures contained in SB 375 (Steinberg) Chapter
728, Statutes of 2008, resulting in this bill being
referred to the Environmental Quality Committee pursuant to
Senate Rule 29.10.
2) Brief background on CEQA . CEQA provides a process for
evaluating the environmental effects of a project, and
includes statutory exemptions, as well as categorical
exemptions in the CEQA guidelines. If a project is not
exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine
whether a 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
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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.
If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant
effects in addition to those that would be caused by the
proposed project, the effects of the mitigation measure
must be discussed but in less detail than the significant
effects of the proposed project.
1) Revising infill provisions . SB 1925 (Sher) Chapter 1039,
Statutes of 2002, consolidated provisions relating to
housing, established a residential infill exemption,
revised affordable housing exemptions, and revised certain
definitions, terms and conditions.
The SB 1925 residential infill exemption applies if certain
conditions are met (e.g., project site is not more than 4
acres, project does not contain more than 100 residential
units, project promotes higher density development). Under
this exemption, "residential" is either: a) residential
units only; or b) residential units and primarily
neighborhood-serving goods, services, or retail uses that
do not exceed 15% of the total project floor area.
SB 375 (Steinberg) Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, contains
provisions in CEQA for certain projects that are consistent
with a sustainable communities strategy or alternative
planning strategy, including a provision where a
residential or mixed-use project consists of at least 75%
of the total building square footage for residential use
(§21159.28). By increasing the SB 1925 residential infill
exemption percentage from 15% to 25% for the allowable
non-residential uses, AB 931 makes this provision more
consistent with the percentage specified under SB 375.
SB 375 also allows a "transit priority project" to be reviewed
through a sustainable communities environmental assessment
or an EIR that meets certain requirements. AB 931 allows a
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"transit proximity project" (which includes a major transit
stop as part of the project, or is located within mile
of an existing major transit stop or existing high-quality
transit corridor) to be subject to that same environmental
review process. This provision applies to a project
located within a metropolitan planning organization, no
longer applies when a sustainable communities plan is
adopted, and sunsets January 1, 2015.
AB 931 also allows an "employment priority project" (which is
a project located on property zoned for commercial uses
with a specified floor area ratio and that is located with
mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit
corridor included in a regional transportation plan) to be
reviewed through these SB 375 environmental review
procedures. The project must be located within a
metropolitan planning organization and designated as an
employment priority project in an approved sustainable
community strategy or alternative planning strategy.
AB 931 also allows an employment priority project to be
reviewed under the above SB 375 environmental review
procedures until a sustainable community plan is adopted,
and under these procedures a transit proximity project or
employment priority project must incorporate all feasible
mitigation measures or best practices recommended for
protection of public health by the local air pollution
control district.
2) Related legislation . The provision in AB 931 relating to a
transit proximity project is similar to a provision in SB
226 (Simitian), except that AB 931 adds "employment
priority projects" to this provision.
3) Technical issue . On page 6, line 8, "project" should be
inserted after "priority." This technical omission can be
corrected in a Committee omnibus bill in 2012.
SOURCE : California State Association of Counties
SUPPORT : County of Sacramento Board of Supervisors
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OPPOSITION : American Council of Engineering Companies,
California Building Industry Association,
California Business Properties Association,
California Chamber of Commerce