BILL NUMBER: AB 291	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Medina

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2015

   An act to amend Section 21152 of, and to add Section 21152.2 to,
the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 291, as introduced, Medina. California Environmental Quality
Act: local agencies: notice of determination: water.
   The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead
agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify
the 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 requires a local agency that approves or determines to carry
out a project subject to CEQA to file a notice of the approval or
determination with the county clerk of each county in which the
project will be located and requires the county clerk to make the
notice available for public inspection.
   This bill would authorize a local agency, for certain water
projects, to file the notice with the county clerk of the county in
which the local agency's principal office is located in lieu of the
county clerk of each county in which the project is located and
would, if the local agency exercises this authorization, require the
local agency to file the notice with the Office of Planning and
Research.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 21152 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   21152.  (a)  If   Except as provided in
Section 21152.2, if  a local agency approves or determines to
carry out a project that is subject to this division, the local
agency shall file notice of the approval or the determination within
five working days after the approval or determination becomes final,
with the county clerk of each county in which the project will be
located. The notice shall identify the person or persons in
subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21065, as reflected in the agency's
record of proceedings, and indicate the determination of the local
agency whether the project will, or will not, have a significant
effect on the environment and shall indicate whether an environmental
impact report has been prepared pursuant to this division. The
notice shall also include certification that the final environmental
impact report, if one was prepared, together with comments and
responses, is available to the general public.
   (b) If a local agency determines that a project is not subject to
this division pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 21080 or
pursuant to Section 21172, and the local agency approves or
determines to carry out the project, the local agency or the person
specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21065 may file a
notice of the determination with the county clerk of each county in
which the project will be located. A notice filed pursuant to this
subdivision shall identify the person or persons in subdivision (b)
or (c) of Section 21065, as reflected in the agency's record of
proceedings. A notice filed pursuant to this subdivision by a person
specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21065 shall have a
certificate of determination attached to it issued by the local
agency responsible for making the determination that the project is
not subject to this division pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
21080 or Section 21172. The certificate of determination may be in
the form of a certified copy of an existing document or record of the
local agency.
   (c) A notice filed pursuant to this section shall be available for
public inspection, and shall be posted within 24 hours of receipt in
the office of the county clerk. A notice shall remain posted for a
period of 30 days. Thereafter, the clerk shall return the notice to
the local agency with a notation of the period it was posted. The
local agency shall retain the notice for not less than 12 months.
  SEC. 2.  Section 21152.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   21152.2.  (a) For purposes of this section, "water project" means
an activity undertaken pursuant to Sections 1011, 1011.5, and 1211
of, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250), Chapter 6.6 (commencing
with Section 1435), Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 1700) and
Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section 1725) of Part 2 of Division 2
of, the Water Code.
   (b) A local agency that is required to file a notice pursuant to
Section 21152 for a water project may, in lieu of the filing
requirements of that section, file the notice in the form required by
that section with the county clerk of the county in which the local
agency's principal office is located.
   (c) If the lead agency files a notice pursuant to this section,
the local agency shall also file the notice with the Office of
Planning and Research.
   (d) (1) The county clerk receiving a notice pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall comply with subdivision (c) of Section 25112.
   (2) (A) All notices filed pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be
available for public inspection, and a list of those notices shall be
posted on a weekly basis in the Office of Planning and Research.
Each list shall remain posted for a period of 30 days.
   (B) Failure to file the notice pursuant to subdivision (c) does
not affect the validity of a project.