BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair SB 633 (Pavley) - CEQA. Amended: May 6, 2013 Policy Vote: EQ 8-0 Urgency: No Mandate: Yes Hearing Date: May 13, 2013 Consultant: Marie Liu This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 633 would require the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to create a categorical exemption to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for projects involving minor temporary uses of land and public gatherings that have no significant impact on the environment. This bill would also clarify when a subsequent or supplemental environmental impact report may be required. Fiscal Impact: One-time costs of approximately $50,000 from the General Fund to OPR to create a new categorical exemption for minor temporary uses of land and public gatherings. Background: CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of a project. Several exemptions to CEQA are made in both the statute (statutory exemptions) and in the CEQA guidelines (categorical exemptions). Categorical exemptions are descriptions of types of projects which the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency has determined do not usually have a significant effect on the environment. Existing categorical exemptions relating to special events include minor public or private alterations to land, water, or vegetation and normal operations of existing facilities for public gatherings for which the facility was designed. OPR is required under existing law to prepare and develop guidelines for the implementation of CEQA, which are reviewed and certified by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency. At least every two years, OPR must review the guidelines and recommend changes to the secretary. CEQA limits lead agencies or responsible agencies from requiring a subsequent or supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) to specific situations, including when new information that SB 633 (Pavley) Page 1 could not have been known becomes available. Proposed Law: This bill would require the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to include in its California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines, by July 1, 2015, a class of projects involving minor temporary uses of land and public gatherings that have no significant impact on the environment and are therefore exempt from CEQA. The Secretary of the Natural Resources agency would be required to certify and adopt the related changes to the CEQA guidelines by January 1, 2016. This bill would clarify that a subsequent or supplemental EIR can be requested if there is new information available, if that new information could not have been known by the lead or responsible agency. Staff Comments: This bill would require OPR to create a new categorical exemption for temporary uses of land that have negligible or no permanent effects on the environment in addition to the existing exemption for minor public or private alterations to land. According to OPR, creating the categorical exemption requires establishing substantial evidence to support that minor temporary uses of land have no significant impact. Staff notes that this categorical exemption is very similar to the existing categorical exemption for minor alterations of land.