AB 543, as amended, Campos. California Environmental Quality Act: translation.
Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act, referred to as CEQA, requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report 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.
This bill would require a lead agency to translate, as specified, certain notices required by the act and a summary
of any negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report whenbegin delete the impacted community has a substantial numberend deletebegin insert a groupend insert of non-English-speaking people, as definedbegin insert, comprises at least 5% of the population within the lead agency’s jurisdiction and the project is proposed to be located at or near an area where the group of non-English-speaking people comprises at least 5% of the residents of that areaend insert. By requiring a lead agency to translate these notices and documents, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 21097 is added to the Public Resources
2Code, to read:
(a) begin deleteA end deletebegin insertWhen a group of non-English-speaking people
4comprises at least 5 percent of the population within a lead
5agency’s jurisdiction, and a project is proposed to be located at
6or near an area where the group of non-English-speaking people
7comprises at least 5 percent of the residents of that area, a end insertlead
8agency shall translate each of the following begin deletewhen the impacted begin insert into the language spoken by
9community has a substantial numberend delete
10that groupend insert
of non-English-speaking people:
11(1) Any notice required pursuant to Section 21083.9, 21092,
1221152, 21161 or any notice authorized pursuant to subdivision (b)
13of Section 21108 or subdivision (b) of Section 21152.
14(2) A summary of any negative declaration, mitigated negative
15declaration, or environmental impact report.
16(b) A document described pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
17translated into all languages understood by a
substantial number
18of non-English-speaking people.
19(c)
end delete
20begin insert(b)end insert For the purposes of this section,begin delete “substantial numberend deletebegin insert end insertbegin insert“groupend insert
21 of non-English-speaking people” meansbegin delete members ofend delete a groupbegin delete whoend delete
22begin insert
whose members end insert either do not speak English or who are unable to
23effectively communicate in English because it is not their native
24languagebegin delete, and who comprise 5 percent or more of the people who
P3 1are likely to be affected by the project
within the jurisdiction of
2the lead agencyend delete
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
4Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
5a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
6charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
7level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
817556 of the Government Code.
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