SB 633, as introduced, Pavley. CEQA: environmental impact reports.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify 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. CEQA prescribes certain requirements for the review of draft EIRs, as specified. CEQA prohibits a lead agency or responsible agency from requiring a subsequent or supplemental EIR when an EIR has been prepared for a project pursuant to its provisions, unless one or more of specified events occurs, including, among other things, that new information, which was not known and could not have been known at the time the EIR was certified as complete, becomes available.
This bill would specifically require that the new information that becomes available was not known and could not have been known by the lead agency or any responsible agency at the time the EIR was certified as complete.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 21166 of the Public Resources Code is
2amended to read:
When an environmental impact report has been prepared
4for a project pursuant to this division, no subsequent or
5supplemental environmental impact report shall be required by the
6lead agency or by any responsible agency, unless one or more of
7the following events occurs:
8(a) Substantial changes are proposed in the projectbegin delete whichend deletebegin insert thatend insert
9 will require major revisions of the environmental impact report.
10(b) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances
11under which the project is being
undertakenbegin delete whichend deletebegin insert thatend insert will require
12major revisions in the environmental impact report.
13(c) New information, which was not known and could not have
14been knownbegin insert by the lead agency or any responsible agencyend insert at the
15time the environmental impact report was certified as complete,
16becomes available.
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