BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1500
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1500
(Maienschein) - As Amended April 16, 2015
SUBJECT: California Environmental Quality Act: priority
housing projects: exemption
SUMMARY: Exempts from CEQA any "priority housing project," as
defined, regardless of the size or location of the project.
EXISTING LAW:
1)CEQA requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility
for carrying out or approving a proposed project to prepare a
negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or
environmental impact report (EIR) for this action, unless the
project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory
exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA
guidelines).
2)Exempts from CEQA any residential development project,
including any subdivision, or any zoning change that is
undertaken to implement and is consistent with a specific plan
for which an EIR has been certified after January 1, 1980,
unless substantial changes or new information require the
preparation of a supplemental EIR for the specific plan, in
which case the exemption applies once the supplemental EIR is
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certified.
3)Requires cities and counties to accommodate their need for
emergency shelters on sites where the use is allowed without a
conditional use permit (i.e., approval is non-discretionary,
and therefore not subject to CEQA) and requires cities and
counties to treat transitional and supportive housing projects
as a residential use of property. [SB 2 (Cedillo), Chapter
633, Statutes of 2007]
4)Exempts from CEQA specified residential housing projects which
meet detailed criteria established to ensure the project does
not have a significant effect on the environment. [SB 1925
(Sher), Chapter 1039, Statutes of 2002] The SB 1925
exemptions are available to:
a) affordable agricultural housing projects not more than
45 units within a city, or 20 units within an agricultural
zone, on a site not more than five acres in size;
b) urban affordable housing projects not more than 100
units on a site not more than five acres in size; and,
c) urban infill housing projects not more than 100 units on
a site not more than four acres in size which is within
one-half mile of a major transit stop.
5)Requires metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to include
a sustainable communities strategy (SCS), as defined, in their
regional transportation plans, or an alternative planning
strategy (APS), for the purpose of reducing GHG emissions,
aligns planning for transportation and housing, and creates
specified incentives for the implementation of the strategies,
including CEQA exemption or abbreviated review for residential
or mixed-use residential "transit priority projects" if the
project is consistent with the use designation, density,
building intensity, and applicable policies specified for the
project area in either an approved SCS or APS. [SB 375
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(Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008]
6)Establishes abbreviated CEQA review procedures for specified
infill projects, where only specific or more significant
effects on the environment which were not addressed in a prior
planning-level EIR need be addressed. An EIR for such a
project need not consider alternative locations, densities,
and building intensities or growth-inducing impacts. Infill
projects may include residential, retail, commercial, transit
station, school, or public office building projects located
within an urban area. [SB 226 (Simitian), Chapter 469,
Statutes of 2011] SB 226 requires OPR to develop CEQA
guidelines to implement its infill provisions, including
statewide standards to promote smart growth, reduction of
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduction in water use, energy
efficiency improvements and protection of public health.
7)Exempts from CEQA residential, mixed-use, and "employment
center" projects, as defined, located within "transit priority
areas," as defined, if the project is consistent with an
adopted specific plan and specified elements of a SCS or APS
adopted pursuant to SB 375. [SB 743 (Steinberg), Chapter 386,
Statutes of 2013]
THIS BILL:
1)Exempts from CEQA a "priority housing project" if all the
following conditions are met:
a) The project does not result in a net loss in the
number of affordable housing units in the project area.
b) The lead agency has filed a notice of determination
with OPR.
c) The city or county has adopted a housing element
approved by the Department of Housing and Community
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Development and is in compliance with the housing element
portion of its annual general plan report.
2)Defines "priority housing project" as any activity or approval
necessary for, or incidental to, the development, planning,
design, site acquisition, subdivision, financing, leasing,
construction, operation, or maintenance of an emergency
shelter, transitional housing, supportive housing, low-income
housing, or associated development, including any accessory
roadway, utility, or other improvement to that shelter,
housing, or associated development.
3)Defines "low-income housing" as housing with at least 20% of
the units affordable to low, very low, or extremely low income
households.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Background. CEQA provides a process for evaluating the
environmental effects of applicable projects undertaken or
approved by public agencies. If a project is not exempt from
CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether the
project may have a significant effect on the environment. If
the initial study shows that the project would not have 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, 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
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the proposed project. Prior to approving any project that has
received environmental review, an agency must make certain
findings. If mitigation measures are required or incorporated
into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or
monitoring program to ensure compliance with those measures.
CEQA includes various statutory exemptions, as well as
categorical exemptions in the CEQA Guidelines. SB 1925 (2002)
established CEQA exemptions for certain residential projects
providing affordable urban or agricultural housing, or located
on an infill site within an urbanized area, and meeting
specified unit and acreage criteria. The stated intent of the
Legislature in enacting those provisions included "creating a
streamlined procedure for agricultural employee housing,
affordable housing, and urban infill housing projects that do
not have an adverse effect on the environment." For purposes
of qualifying for the CEQA exemption for affordable housing,
among other criteria projects must be located within an
urbanized area, not more than five acres in area, and fewer
than 100 units.
Since then, additional legislation has provided CEQA
exemptions and streamlining for residential (not specific to,
but including, affordable housing) and certain other projects
in infill areas. SB 375 (2008) provided a CEQA exemption for
a narrow set of eligible residential projects in infill areas
adjacent to transit. SB 226 (2011) provided abbreviated CEQA
review procedures for a broader set of urban infill projects,
including retail, commercial, and public buildings. SB 743
(2013) established a new exemption for residential, mixed-use
and "employment center" projects located within one-half mile
of a major transit stop, if the project is consistent with an
adopted specific plan and specified elements of a SB 375
strategy. SB 743 also required OPR to propose revisions to
the CEQA Guidelines for transportation impacts to better
support infill development.
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This bill provides a complete exemption for priority housing
projects, regardless of location or size. Priority housing
includes emergency shelters, transitional housing, supportive
housing, low-income housing, and associated development. A
housing project consisting of at least 20% low-income housing
is eligible, though the entire project, including as much as
80% non-affordable housing, would be exempt. The bill is
unclear regarding what "associated development" might include
and whether mixed-use or other projects that include housing
and non-housing development would be covered by the exemption.
2)Author's statement:
California has the largest population of persons
experiencing homelessness of any state in the country. The
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported
that on a single night in 2008, California communities
counting people living on the streets or in shelters
reported a total of 157,277 homeless persons. Over 380,000
people are homeless for some period of time during the
course of each year in California. The state has one of
the highest rates of homelessness, with one in every 230
residents homeless at any point in time, and one in every
95 residents homeless at some point during the course of a
year. In the rest of the country, most homeless people are
sheltered, temporarily living in shelters or in
transitional housing. In California, 70 percent of
homeless people live unsheltered, the largest percentage in
the nation.
An LAO report entitled "California's High Housing Costs:
Causes and Consequences" was published on March 17th, 2015
and identified CEQA as a major contributor to the state's
high cost of housing. Unlike other major development
projects, homeless complex projects do not have a high
potential for profits upon completion and are less worth
the costs incurred with CEQA challenges.
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According to the San Jose Mercury news, when the city
shutdown the notorious homeless encampment known as "The
Jungle," they discovered that many of its inhabitants were
actually receiving housing subsidies but were unable to
find housing to use the subsidies for. The severe shortage
of affordable housing and shelters has resulted in many
homeless people across the state who are not being helped
even though they are eligible and receiving benefits
designed to get them off the streets and into stable
housing.
3)LAO housing report. The LAO report cited by the author
includes the following statements in a section entitled "Why
Do Coastal Areas Not Build Enough Housing?":
(CEQA) requires local governments to conduct a detailed
review of the potential environmental effects of new
housing construction (and most other types of development)
prior to approving it. The information in these reports
sometimes results in the city or county denying proposals
to develop housing or approving fewer housing units than
the developer proposed. In addition, CEQA's complicated
procedural requirements give development opponents
significant opportunities to continue challenging housing
projects after local governments have approved them.
Our review of CEQA documents submitted to the state by
California's ten largest cites between 2004-2013 indicates
that local agencies took, on average, around two and a half
years to approve housing projects that required an EIR.
The CEQA process also, in some cases, results in developers
reducing the size and scope of a project in response to
concerns discovered during the review process.
The LAO report did not include any specific examples or data.
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It also makes no reference to the vast majority of housing
projects that do not require an EIR, because they are exempt
from CEQA or approved via a negative declaration.
4)OPR survey indicates CEQA is not a significant barrier to
infill projects. OPR's "2012 Annual Planning Survey Results"
asked city and county planners to explain the primary barriers
their jurisdiction has experienced to implementing infill
projects. Based on 238 responses, 25% of jurisdictions
reported that infrastructure constraints were a primary
barrier to implementing infill projects. Just under 25%
reported that they had problems with assembling parcels of the
right size and configuration for infill development. Only 4%
of respondents identified CEQA as a barrier.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Housing Consortium
Opposition
Brandt-Hawley Law Group
California Labor Federation
California State Pipe Trades Council
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Center for Biological Diversity
Environmental Defense Center
Natural Resources Defense Council
Planning and Conservation League
Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger LLP
Sierra Club California
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
Analysis Prepared by:Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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