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 when a group of non-English-speaking people, as defined, comprises at leastbegin delete 5%end deletebegin insert 25%end insert 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 leastbegin delete 5%end deletebegin insert 25%end insert of the residents of that area. 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) When a group of non-English-speaking people
4comprises at leastbegin delete 5end deletebegin insert 25end insert percent of the population within a lead
5agency’s jurisdiction, and a project is proposed to be located at or
6near an area where the group of non-English-speaking people
7comprises at leastbegin delete 5end deletebegin insert 25end insert percent of the residents of that area, a lead
8agency shall translate each of the following into the language
9spoken by that
group of non-English-speaking people:
10(1) Any notice required pursuant to Section 21083.9, 21092,
1121152, 21161 or any notice authorized pursuant to subdivision (b)
12of Section 21108 or subdivision (b) of Section 21152.
13(2) A summary of any negative declaration, mitigated negative
14declaration, or environmental impact report.
15(b) For the purposes of this section, “group of
16non-English-speaking people” means a group
whose members
17either do not speak English or who are unable to effectively
18communicate in English because it is not their native language.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
20Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
21a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
22charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
P3 1level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
217556 of the Government Code.
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