Amended in Assembly April 23, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 15, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 291


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 amended, 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 completionbegin delete of,end deletebegin insert ofend insert an environmental impact report 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 locatedbegin delete inend delete and with the Office of Planning and Research, and to mail a copy of the notice to the county clerks of the counties in which the water project is located, as specified. The bill would require the notices to be available for public inspection or posted, as provided.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 21152 of the Public Resources Code is
2amended to read:

3

21152.  

(a) Except as provided in Section 21152.2, if a local
4agency approves or determines to carry out a project that is subject
5to this division, the local agency shall file notice of the approval
6or the determination within five working days after the approval
7or determination becomes final, with the county clerk of each
8county in which the project will be located. The notice shall
9identify the person or persons in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section
1021065, as reflected in the agency’s record of proceedings, and
11indicate the determination of the local agency whether the project
12will, or will not, have a significant effect on the environment and
13 shall indicate whether an environmental impact report has been
14prepared pursuant to this division. The notice shall also include
15certification that the final environmental impact report, if one was
16prepared, together with comments and responses, is available to
17the general public.

18(b) If a local agency determines that a project is not subject to
19this division pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 21080 and the
20local agency approves or determines to carry out the project, the
21local agency or the person specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of
22Section 21065 may file a notice of the determination with the
23county clerk of each county in which the project will be located.
24A notice filed pursuant to this subdivision shall identify the person
25or persons in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21065, as reflected
26in the agency’s record of proceedings. A notice filed pursuant to
27this subdivision by a person specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of
28Section 21065 shall have a certificate of determination attached
P3    1to it issued by the local agency responsible for making the
2determination that the project is not subject to this division pursuant
3to subdivision (b) of Section 21080. The certificate of
4determination may be in the form of a certified copy of an existing
5document or record of the local agency.

6(c) A notice filed pursuant to this section shall be available for
7public inspection, and shall be posted within 24 hours of receipt
8in the office of the county clerk. A notice shall remain posted for
9a period of 30 days. Thereafter, the clerk shall return the notice to
10the local agency with a notation of the period it was posted. The
11local agency shall retain the notice for not less than 12 months.

12

SEC. 2.  

Section 21152.2 is added to the Public Resources Code,
13to read:

14

21152.2.  

(a) For purposes of this section, “water project”
15means an activity undertaken pursuant to Sections 1011, 1011.5,
16and 1211 of, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250), Chapter
176.6 (commencing with Section 1435), Chapter 10 (commencing
18with Section 1700), and Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section
191725) of Part 2 of Division 2 of, the Water Code.

20(b) Within five working days after a local agency has approved
21or made a determination to carry out a water project, a local agency,
22in lieu of the notice filing requirements of subdivision (a) of
23Section 21152 for that water project, may take all of the following
24actions:

25(1) File the notice in the form required by subdivision (a) of
26Section 21152 with the county clerk of the county in which the
27local agency’s principal office is located.

28(2) File the notice with the Office of Planning and Research.

29(3) Mailbegin delete copiesend deletebegin insert a copyend insert of the notice through the United States
30mail, first-class postage prepaid with return receipt requested, to
31the county clerk ofbegin delete all the countiesend deletebegin insert each countyend insert in which the water
32 project will be located.

33(c) (1) The county clerk receiving a notice pursuant to paragraph
34(1) of subdivision (b) shall comply with subdivision (c) of Section
3521152.

36(2) All notices filed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
37(b) shall be available for public inspection, and a list of those
38notices shall be posted on a weekly basis in the Office of Planning
39and Research. Each list shall remain posted for a period of 30 days.

P4    1(3) As promptly as possible, a county clerk that receives a copy
2of a notice pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall post
3that copy and shall not require an original of that notice or any
4additional information from the local agency.

5(d) The filing date of the notice specified in subdivisions (b) to
6(e), inclusive, of Section 21167, Section 21167.10, and Section
721177 shall be the date on which the notice is filed with the Office
8of Planning and Research pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
9(b).

10(e) Nothing in this section affects the application of Section
1121092.2.



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