Amended in Assembly March 14, 2016

Amended in Assembly February 24, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1589

Introduced by Assembly Member Mathis

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brough, Chang, Gallagher, Harper, Olsen, and Steinorth)

(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Berryhill, and Huff)

January 6, 2016

An act to add Section 21080.47 to the Public Resources Code, relating to the environment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1589, as amended, Mathis. California Environmental Quality Act: begin delete exemption. end delete begin insert exemption: drought mitigation. end insert

(1) 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 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 exempts certain projects from its requirements.

The California Emergency Services Act authorizes the Governor, during a state of emergency, to issue a proclamation of a state of emergency and to suspend any regulatory statute where the Governor determines and declares that strict compliance with the statute would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the emergency.

This bill would, for the duration of a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor due to begin delete drought, flood, or fire, end delete begin insert drought conditions, end insert exempt from the requirements of CEQA begin insert certain end insert projects that are undertaken, carried out, or approved by a public agency to mitigate begin delete the effects of, or conditions caused by, drought, flood, or fire. end delete begin insert those drought conditions. end insert

Because a public agency would be required to determine whether this exemption applies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 21080.47 is added to the Public Resources
Code, to read:

21080.47.  

(a) This division begin delete shall end delete begin insert does end insert not apply to projects
begin insert specified in subdivision (b) end insert that are undertaken, carried out, or
approved by a public agency to mitigate begin delete the effects of, or conditions
caused by, drought, flood, or fire end delete begin insert drought conditions end insert for which a
state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor pursuant
to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.

begin insert

(b) The section applies to projects to do any of the following:

end insert begin insert

(1) Connect existing residential users facing critical water
shortages to community water systems.

end insert begin insert

(2) Provide interconnections between existing community water
systems to improve drought resilience for existing residential users.

end insert begin insert

(3) Involve the construction or expansion of stormwater
infiltration or recycled water treatment facilities.

end insert begin insert

(4) Involve the construction or expansion of recycled water
distribution infrastructure within existing rights of way.

end insert begin insert

(5) Implement specific directives for which the Governor, in the
proclamation of a state of emergency, has suspended compliance
with this division pursuant to Section 8571 of the Government
Code.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  This section is operative only while a state of emergency
due to begin delete drought, flood, or fire end delete begin insert drought conditions end insert is in effect.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.