BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 731 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 21, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair SB 731 (Steinberg) - As Amended: August 6, 2013 Policy Committee: Natural Resources Vote: 6-1 Local Government 7-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill enacts the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Modernization Act of 2013 and makes a series of definitions, findings and revisions to CEQA law. Specifically, this bill: 1)Establishes, until January 1, 2017, the position of Advisor on Renewable Energy Facilities in the Governor's Office. 2)Modifies the existing residential exemption to limit what is considered new information that would invalidate the exemption. 3)States the intent of the Legislature to appropriate the sum of $30 million in the annual Budget Act beginning in the 2014-15 fiscal year, to the Strategic Growth Council to provide competitive grants to local agencies for planning activities related to implementing SB 375. 4)Authorizes a project applicant for a renewable energy project to present environmental or health benefits to the public agency as specified. 5)Requires a public agency to make draft findings available for public review as specified 15 days prior to project approval. 6)Requires the lead agency to prepare and electronically post annual mitigation compliance reports until all mitigation measures are completed. 7)Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) SB 731 Page 2 to prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, revisions to the CEQA Guidelines to establish prescribed thresholds of significance for noise and transportation impacts for residential, mixed-use residential, or employment center projects or infill sites within transit priority areas. Requires OPR to circulate a draft of this revision on or before July 1, 2014. 8)Prohibits aesthetic and parking impacts of a residential, mixed-use residential, or employment center project on an infill site within a transit priority area from being considered significant impacts on the environment. States that the provisions do not affect the authority of a lead agency to consider aesthetic impacts pursuant to local design review ordinances or other discretionary powers provided by other laws or policies and establish more stringent thresholds of significance for projects subject to these provisions. 9)Allows the statute of limitations for bringing a CEQA lawsuit to be tolled for successive periods up to four years by agreement of the parties as specified. 10)Authorizes a lead agency, for certain projects and upon a project applicant's request, to prepare concurrently with the administrative process the record of proceedings, as specified that would be used in a judicial challenge. The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of specified notices. 11)Requires the record of proceedings for the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other specified documents to meet the concurrent preparation requirements under certain circumstances for specified projects. 12)Requires the California Research Bureau, subject to the availability of funds and other conditions, to annually submit a report to the Legislature as specified. 13)Requires, when a court finds that a public agency has not complied with CEQA, that the court issue a peremptory writ of mandate specifying what action is necessary to comply. FISCAL EFFECT SB 731 Page 3 1)One-time GF costs to OPR of approximately $500,000 to develop threshold standards for noise, transportation, and parking impacts. 2)Ongoing GF costs of approximately $120,000 for the creation of the Advisor on Renewable Energy Facilities within the Office of the Governor. 3)GF Cost pressure of $30 million local assistance grants for planning activities administered by the Strategic Growth Council. 4)Unknown cost pressures for the California Research Bureau to report annually. COMMENTS 1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill makes several substantive changes that will modernize CEQA by making it more efficient to aid California's economic growth. The author intends this bill to strengthen protection of the environment and reduce both project litigation and delays in project approval. This bill is the result of months of negotiations with key experts from the business, organized labor and environmental communities following the identification of key issues by a CEQA working group convened last fall. 2)Work-in-Progress. The author continues to meet and negotiate with numerous business, environmental, governmental and other interests to address concerns. Broad concerns have been raised by local agencies about the provisions in the bill. Local governments serve as the lead agencies on most projects under CEQA. Local Agencies are concerned that many provisions of the bill will lead to increased litigation, thus increasing costs for local agencies and delaying projects. Supporters, such as the Center for sustainable Neighborhoods, argue that the bill will reduce the barriers to building more sustainable development and improve California's social, environmental and economic well-being. The majority of the stakeholders continue to seek amendments. SB 731 Page 4 Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081