BILL NUMBER: SB 735 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Price
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 185034.4 to the Public Utilities
Code, relating to high-speed rail. An act to amend
Sections 21167.1, 21167.4, 21167.6, and 21167.8 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to environmental qu ality.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 735, as amended, Price. High-speed rail: contracts.
Environmental quality: CEQA: judicial review:
procedures.
(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a
lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and
certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a
project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a
significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative
declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect.
CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative
declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the
environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that
effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as
revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.
Existing law requires a court to commence a hearing of an action
or proceeding brought to challenge an agency action on the grounds of
noncompliance with CEQA within one year of the date of the filing of
the action or proceeding.
This bill would require the hearing to commence within 9 months of
the date of the filing of the action or proceeding.
(2) Existing law requires the court to establish a briefing
schedule and a hearing date upon the filing of a request for hearing
by a petitioner. Existing law requires the briefing to be completed
within 90 days from the date of the filing of the request, to the
extent feasible. Existing law authorizes the court to extend the
briefing schedule upon a showing of good cause.
This bill would require the briefing to be completed within 90
days from the date of filing unless determined infeasible by the
court. The bill would require the court to limit any extension of the
briefing schedule for good cause to the shortest feasible period.
(3) Existing law requires a person filing an action or proceeding
alleging noncompliance with CEQA to file a request with the public
agency for the preparation of the administrative record subject to
the challenge. Existing law requires the public agency to prepare and
certify the administrative record within 60 days from the date of
the request. Existing law authorizes the court to grant an extension
for the preparation of the record. Existing law provides that the
extension is to be liberally granted by the court.
This bill would instead require the public agency to prepare and
distribute the administrative record to all parties for review within
45 days from the date of the request. Because the bill would require
a public agency to distribute the administrative record, thereby
increasing the level of service provided by the public agency, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would
require the parties to complete the review and the public agency to
certify the record not later than 15 days after the distribution of
the record for review. The bill would provide that the extension is
to be granted in limited circumstances.
(4) Existing law requires a settlement meeting be held among the
parties not later than 45 days after the filing of the action of
proceeding alleging noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would shorten that time period to 30 days.
(5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the California High-Speed Rail Act, creates the
High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail
system in the state, with specified powers and duties. Existing law,
pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the
November 4, 2008, general election, provides for the issuance of
$9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and
related purposes. Under federal law, funding is made available for
allocation nationally to high-speed rail and other related projects.
This bill would require the authority, in awarding contracts for
the construction of the high-speed rail system, to require that 25%
of the workforce used at each worksite be from the local workforce.
The bill would require the authority to also grant an additional
contract price preference of 2.5% of the bid amount to qualified
state-certified microbusinesses that are local to a worksite. The
bill would require the Department of Housing and Community
Development to evaluate the effect of these requirements and to
submit quarterly reports to the authority in that regard. The bill
would require the authority to include the findings of the department
in its business plan.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 21167.1 of the
Public Resources Code is amended to read:
21167.1. (a) In all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to
Sections 21167, 21168, and 21168.5, including the hearing of an
action or proceeding on appeal from a decision of a lower court, all
courts in which the action or proceeding is pending shall give the
action or proceeding preference over all other civil actions, in the
matter of setting the action or proceeding for hearing or trial, and
in hearing or trying the action or proceeding, so that the action or
proceeding shall be quickly heard and determined. The court shall
regulate the briefing schedule so that, to the extent
feasible unless determined infeasible by the court
, the court shall commence hearings on an appeal within
one year nine months of the date of the
filing of the appeal.
(b) To ensure that actions or proceedings brought pursuant to
Sections 21167, 21168, and 21168.5 may be quickly heard and
determined in the lower courts, the superior courts in all counties
with a population of more than 200,000 shall designate one or more
judges to develop expertise in this division and related land use and
environmental laws, so that those judges will be available to hear,
and quickly resolve, actions or proceedings brought pursuant to
Sections 21167, 21168, and 21168.5.
(c) In an action or proceeding filed pursuant to this chapter that
is joined with any other cause of action, the court, upon a motion
by any party, may grant severance of the actions. In determining
whether to grant severance, the court shall consider such matters as
judicial economy, administrative economy, and prejudice to any party.
SEC. 2. Section 21167.4 of the Public
Resources Code , as amended by Section 5 of Chapter 496 of
the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
21167.4. (a) In any an action or
proceeding alleging noncompliance with this division, the petitioner
shall request a hearing within 90 days from the date of filing the
petition or shall be subject to dismissal on the court's own motion
or on the motion of any a party
interested in the action or proceeding.
(b) The petitioner shall serve a notice of the request for a
hearing on all parties at the time that the petitioner files the
request for a hearing.
(c) Upon the filing of a request by the petitioner for a hearing
and upon application by any a party,
the court shall establish a briefing schedule and a hearing date. In
the absence of good cause, briefing shall be completed within 90 days
from the date that the request for a hearing is filed, and the
hearing, to the extent feasible unless
determined infeasible by the court , shall be held within 30
days thereafter. Good cause may include, but shall not be limited to,
the conduct of discovery, determination of the completeness of the
record of proceedings, the complexity of the issues, and the length
of the record of proceedings and the timeliness of its production.
The court shall limit any extension of the briefing schedule for
good cause to the shortest feasible period. The parties may
stipulate to a briefing schedule or hearing date that differs from
the schedule set forth in this subdivision if the stipulation is
approved by the court.
(d) In an action or proceeding alleging noncompliance with this
division, the Attorney General may file a motion with the court
seeking an expedited schedule for resolution of the case upon the
grounds that it would be in the public interest to do so. This
subdivision does not affect the rights of any
a party under existing law to seek an expedited schedule for
resolution of the case.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2016, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Section 21167.4 of the Public
Resources Code , as added by Section 6 of Chapter 496 of
the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
21167.4. (a) In any action or proceeding alleging noncompliance
with this division, the petitioner shall request a hearing within 90
days from the date of filing the petition or shall be subject to
dismissal on the court's own motion or on the motion of any party
interested in the action or proceeding.
(b) The petitioner shall serve a notice of the request for a
hearing on all parties at the time that the petitioner files the
request for a hearing.
(c) Upon the filing of a request by the petitioner for a hearing
and upon application by any party, the court shall establish a
briefing schedule and a hearing date. In the absence of good cause,
briefing shall be completed within 90 days from the date that the
request for a hearing is filed, and the hearing, to the
extent feasible unless determined infeasible by the
court , shall be held within 30 days thereafter. Good cause may
include, but shall not be limited to, the conduct of discovery,
determination of the completeness of the record of proceedings, the
complexity of the issues, and the length of the record of proceedings
and the timeliness of its production. The court shall limit any
extension of the briefing schedule for good cause to the shortest
feasible period. The parties may stipulate to a briefing
schedule or hearing date that differs from the schedule set forth in
this subdivision if the stipulation is approved by the court.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
SEC. 4. Section 21167.6 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21167.6. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to
Section 21167, except those involving the Public Utilities
Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a) At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the
plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent
public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the
subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the
complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public
agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action
or proceeding was filed.
(b) (1) The public agency shall prepare and certify
distribute the record of proceedings to all
parties for review not later than 60
45 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision
(a) was served upon the public agency , and the parties shall
complete the review and the public agency shall certify the record
not later than 15 days after the public agency distributed the record
for review . Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge
a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve
on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been
certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any
reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of
proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2) The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of
proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of
preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of
its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified
in this subdivision.
(c) The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended
only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly
served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court.
Extensions shall be liberally granted in
limited circumstances by the court when
if the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible
compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of
extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension
shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer
extension is in the public interest.
(d) If the public agency fails to prepare , distribute,
and certify the record within the time limit
limits established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any
continuances of that those time
limit limits , the plaintiff or
petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that
motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e) The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited
to, all of the following items:
(1) All project application materials.
(2) All staff reports and related documents prepared by the
respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the
substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with
respect to the action on the project.
(3) All staff reports and related documents prepared by the
respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted
by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding
considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this
division.
(4) Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the
decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony
on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any
transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the
respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking
body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the
project.
(5) All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply
with this division or with any other law governing the processing and
approval of the project.
(6) All written comments received in response to, or in connection
with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including
responses to the notice of preparation.
(7) All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or
transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to
compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8) Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the
decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or
the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9) The documentation of the final public agency decision,
including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative
declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition
to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the
findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted
pursuant to this division.
(10) Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public
agency's compliance with this division or to its decision on the
merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any
environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released
for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied
upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and
either made available to the public during the public review period
or included in the respondent public agency's files on the project,
and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and
memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11) The full written record before any inferior administrative
decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior
administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f) In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing
the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the
scope of the record.
(g) The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the
clerk's transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date
that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in
the clerk's transcript was filed with the superior court, if the
party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the
clerk's transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of
court. Nothing in this This subdivision
precludes does not preclude an
election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the
California Rules of Court.
(h) Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal
may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the
court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on
appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation
of an opening brief, and one 30-day extension for the preparation of
a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer
extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a
substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity
of completing the appeal.
(i) At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the
appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of
briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the
appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 5. Section 21167.8 of the Public
Resources Code , as amended by Section 7 of Chapter 496 of
the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
21167.8. (a) Not later than 20 days from the date of service upon
a public agency of a petition or complaint brought pursuant to
Section 21167, the public agency shall file with the court a notice
setting forth the time and place at which all parties shall meet and
attempt to settle the litigation. The meeting shall be scheduled and
held not later than 45 30 days from the
date of service of the petition or complaint upon the public agency.
The notice of the settlement meeting shall be served by mail upon
the counsel for each party. If the public agency does not know the
identity of counsel for a party, the notice shall be served by mail
upon the party for whom counsel is not known.
(b) At the time and place specified in the notice filed with the
court, the parties shall meet and confer regarding anticipated issues
to be raised in the litigation and shall attempt in good faith to
settle the litigation and the dispute that forms the basis of the
litigation. The settlement meeting discussions shall be comprehensive
in nature and shall focus on the legal issues raised by the parties
concerning the project that is the subject of the litigation.
(c) The settlement meeting may be continued from time to time
without postponing or otherwise delaying other applicable time limits
in the litigation. The settlement meeting, or a mediation proceeding
that is conducted pursuant to Chapter 9.3 (commencing with Section
66030) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, is intended
to be conducted concurrently with any judicial proceedings.
(d) If the litigation is not settled, the court, in its
discretion, may, or at the request of a party, shall, schedule a
further settlement conference before a judge of the superior court.
If the petition or complaint is later heard on its merits, the judge
hearing the matter shall not be the same judge conducting the
settlement conference, except in counties that have only one judge of
the superior court.
(e) The failure of a party, who was notified pursuant to
subdivision (a), to participate in the litigation settlement process,
without good cause, may result in an imposition of sanctions by the
court.
(f) Not later than 30 days from the date that notice of
certification of the record of proceedings was filed and served in
accordance with Section 21167.6, the petitioner or plaintiff shall
file and serve on all other parties a statement of issues that the
petitioner or plaintiff intends to raise in a brief or at a hearing
or trial. Not later than 10 days from the date on which the
respondent or real party in interest has been served with the
statement of issues from the petitioner or plaintiff, each respondent
and real party in interest shall file and serve on all other parties
a statement of issues which that party intends to raise in a brief
or at a hearing or trial.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2016, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 6. Section 21167.8 of the Public
Resources Code , as added by Section 8 of Chapter 496 of
the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
21167.8. (a) Not later than 20 days from the date of service upon
a public agency of a petition or complaint brought pursuant to
Section 21167, the public agency shall file with the court a notice
setting forth the time and place at which all parties shall meet and
attempt to settle the litigation. The meeting shall be scheduled and
held not later than 45 30 days from the
date of service of the petition or complaint upon the public agency.
The notice of the settlement meeting shall be served by mail upon
the counsel for each party. If the public agency does not know the
identity of counsel for any party, the notice shall be served by mail
upon the party for whom counsel is not known.
(b) At the time and place specified in the notice filed with the
court, the parties shall meet and confer regarding anticipated issues
to be raised in the litigation and shall attempt in good faith to
settle the litigation and the dispute which forms the basis of the
litigation. The settlement meeting discussions shall be comprehensive
in nature and shall focus on the legal issues raised by the parties
concerning the project that is the subject of the litigation.
(c) The settlement meeting may be continued from time to time
without postponing or otherwise delaying other applicable time limits
in the litigation. The settlement meeting is intended to be
conducted concurrently with any judicial proceedings.
(d) If the litigation is not settled, the court, in its
discretion, may, or at the request of any party, shall, schedule a
further settlement conference before a judge of the superior court.
If the petition or complaint is later heard on its merits, the judge
hearing the matter shall not be the same judge conducting the
settlement conference, except in counties that have only one judge of
the superior court.
(e) The failure of any a party, who
was notified pursuant to subdivision (a), to participate in the
litigation settlement process, without good cause, may result in an
imposition of sanctions by the court.
(f) Not later than 30 days from the date that notice of
certification of the record of proceedings was filed and served in
accordance with Section 21167.6, the petitioner or plaintiff shall
file and serve on all other parties a statement of issues which the
petitioner or plaintiff intends to raise in any brief or at any
hearing or trial. Not later than 10 days from the date on which the
respondent or real party in interest has been served with the
statement of issues from the petitioner or plaintiff, each respondent
and real party in interest shall file and serve on all other parties
a statement of issues which that party intends to raise in any brief
or at any hearing or trial.
(g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 185034.4 is added to the
Public Utilities Code, to read:
185034.4. (a) (1) The authority, in awarding contracts for the
construction of the high-speed rail system, shall require that 25
percent of the workforce used at each worksite be from the local
workforce.
(2) The authority, in awarding contracts for the construction of
the high-speed rail system, shall grant an additional price
preference of 2.5 percent of the bid amount to qualified
state-certified microbusinesses that are local to a worksite.
(b) The Department of Housing and Community Development shall
evaluate the effect of the requirements in subdivision (a), and shall
submit quarterly reports to the authority in that regard. The
findings of the department shall be included in the authority's
business plan prepared pursuant to Section 185033.
(c) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Local workforce" means residents of the local workforce
development area in which the worksite is located.
(2) "Local workforce development area" means one of 49 such areas
in the state with a local board designated by the Governor pursuant
to Section 14200 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(3) "Microbusiness" means a microbusiness as defined in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (d) of Section 14837 of the Government Code.