BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 674
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 674
AUTHOR: Corbett
AMENDED: January 6, 2014
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: January 15,
2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Joanne Roy
SUBJECT : CEQA EXEMPTION: HOUSING PROJECTS
SUMMARY :
Existing law under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), requires lead agencies with the principal
responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed
discretionary project to prepare a negative declaration,
mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report
(EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA.
(Public Resources Code §21000 et seq.).
A residential project on an infill site is exempted from CEQA
under specified conditions. "Residential" is defined to be
either:
1) Residential units only; or
2) Residential units and primarily neighborhood-serving
goods, services, or
retail uses that do not exceed 15% of the total
project floor area. (§21159.24).
This bill revises the residential infill exemption by
increasing the amount of allowable neighborhood-serving goods,
services, or retail uses from 15% of the total project floor
area to 25% of the total building square footage.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "Over the last
decade, smart growth planning principles have continued to
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encourage the integration of residents' day-to-day needs
within close proximity of those same residences. This type
of design encourages lower vehicle miles traveled (VMT) due
to local residents' ability to access these services by
walking or biking instead of traveling by car. Lowering
VMT improves air quality, reduces greenhouse gas emissions,
lessens the need for new roads and extends the life of
existing roads. One method pursued by many local
jurisdictions to implement these VMT-reducing policies in
an urbanized setting is to encourage building design that
incorporates ground-floor neighborhood-servicing uses on
the bottom floor, with residential housing on the floors
above. This means that for projects using this design, the
current 15% limit for neighborhood-serving uses confines
the use of this exemption to only those projects that are
at least seven stories tall. This is much taller than many
jurisdictions allow, even though the project would
otherwise meet all other infill and environmental review
requirements. An increase to 25% of the total building
square footage would allow for a four-story project of this
type to meet the exemption requirements."
2) Brief background on CEQA . CEQA provides a process for
evaluating the environmental effects of a project, and
includes statutory exemptions as well as categorical
exemptions in the CEQA guidelines. If a project is not
exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine
whether a project may have a significant effect on the
environment. If the initial study shows that there would
not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead
agency must prepare a negative declaration. If the initial
study shows that the project may have a significant effect
on the environment, then the lead agency must prepare an
EIR.
Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed
project, identify and analyze each significant
environmental impact expected to result from the proposed
project, identify mitigation measures to reduce those
impacts to the extent feasible, and evaluate a range of
reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. Prior to
approving any project that has received an environmental
review, an agency must make certain findings. If
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mitigation measures are required or incorporated into a
project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring
program to ensure compliance with those measures.
If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant
effects in addition to those that would be caused by the
proposed project, the effects of the mitigation measure
must be discussed but in less detail than the significant
effects of the proposed project.
3) Revising infill provisions . SB 1925 (Sher), Chapter 1039,
Statutes of 2002, consolidated provisions relating to
housing, established a residential infill exemption,
revised affordable housing exemptions, and revised certain
definitions, terms and conditions.
The SB 1925 residential infill exemption applies if certain
conditions are met (e.g., project site is not more than
four acres, project does not contain more than 100
residential units, project promotes higher density
development). Under this exemption, "residential" is
either: a) residential units only; or b) residential units
and primarily neighborhood-serving goods, services, or
retail uses that do not exceed 15% of the total project
floor area.
SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, contains
provisions in CEQA for certain projects that are consistent
with a sustainable communities strategy or alternative
planning strategy, including a provision where a
residential or mixed-use project consists of at least 75%
of the total building square footage for residential use
(§21159.28). By increasing the SB 1925 residential infill
exemption percentage from 15% to 25% for the allowable
non-residential uses, SB 674 makes this provision more
consistent with the percentage specified under SB 375.
4) Previous legislation . SB 674 is similar to SB 359
(Corbett), Chapter 415, Statutes of 2013, as it was heard
in this committee last year. Subsequent amendments adopted
in the Assembly deleted the CEQA-related contents of SB 359
to instead provide money for California Air Resources Board
projects aimed at encouraging the deployment of
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zero-emission and hybrid vehicles.
AB 931 (Dickinson) (2011), relating to a transit proximity
project and included a revision of a CEQA exemption for
residential infill by increasing the amount of allowable
neighborhood-serving goods, services, or retail uses. AB
931 failed in Senate Environmental Quality Committee (1-5).
SUPPORT : American Planning Association, California
Chapter
California State Association of Counties
Urban Counties Caucus
OPPOSITION : None on file