BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 226 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 226 (Simitian) - As Introduced: February 9, 2011 Policy Committee: Natural ResourcesVote:9-0 Local Government 9-0 Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill authorizes procedural changes that allow referrals required under the Planning and Zone Law to occur concurrent with a meeting required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Specifically, this bill authorizes a planning agency to refer to a city or county, concurrent with the required scoping meeting, a proposed action that adopts or substantially amends a general plan. FISCAL EFFECT Negligible state costs, if any. COMMENTS 1)Rationale. The author contends the streamlining measures proposed by this bill will maintain existing legal requirements concerning proposed actions to modify general plans while better facilitating participation by interested parties. 2)Background. Proposed adoptions of amendments to general plans are likely to be affected by two areas of law-the Planning and Zoning Law and CEQA. The Planning and Zoning Law requires a planning agency to refer a proposed action to adopt or substantially amend a general plan to certain entities for comment before the legislative body takes action on the general plan adoption or amendment. These entities include any city and county within or abutting the area covered by the proposal. SB 226 Page 2 CEQA requires a lead agency, meaning an agency with principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project, to hold at least one scoping meeting for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or area-wide significance. The lead agency must notify certain entities of at the scoping meeting, including any county or city bordering a county or city within which the project is located. Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081