Amended in Assembly April 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 20, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1749

Introduced by Assembly Member Mathis

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Harper and Olsen)

(Coauthor: Senator Cannella)

February 2, 2016

An act to begin delete amend Section 21080.08 end delete begin insert add and repeal Section 21080.06 end insert of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1749, as amended, Mathis. California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: recycled water pipeline.

Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act, 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. The act 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. The act exempts from its requirements projects consisting of the construction or expansion of recycled water pipeline and directly related infrastructure within existing rights of way, and directly related groundwater replenishment, if the project does not affect wetlands or sensitive habitat, and where the construction impacts are fully mitigated, and undertaken for the purpose of mitigating drought conditions for which a state of emergency was proclaimed by the Governor on a certain date. The act provides that this exemption remains operative until the state of emergency has expired or until January 1, 2017, whichever occurs first.

This bill would begin delete extend that date to January 1, 2019. end delete begin insert exempt from the act’s requirements projects for the construction of recycled water treatment facilities and directly related pipelines approved or carried out by a public agency prior to July 1, 2017, for the purpose of mitigating drought conditions that meet certain requirements. The bill would provide that this exemption remains operative until the state of emergency is terminated or until January 1, 2018, whichever occurs first. end insert

Because a lead begin delete agency’s end delete begin insert agency would have the end insert duty to determine the applicability of this begin delete exemption would potentially be extended, end delete begin insert exemption, end insert this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

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

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 21080.08 of the Public Resources Code
is amended to read:

21080.08.  

(a) This division does not apply to a project that
satisfies both of the following:

(1) The project is approved or carried out by a public agency
for the purpose of mitigating drought conditions for which a state
of emergency was proclaimed by the Governor on January 17,
2014, pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of
Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(2) The project consists of construction or expansion of recycled
water pipeline and directly related infrastructure within existing
rights of way, and directly related groundwater replenishment, if
the project does not affect wetlands or sensitive habitat, and where
the construction impacts are fully mitigated consistent with
applicable law.

(b) This section shall remain operative until the state of
emergency due to drought conditions declared by the Governor in
the proclamation issued on January 17, 2014, has expired or until
January 1, 2019, whichever occurs first, and as of January 1, 2019,
is repealed unless a subsequent statute amends or repeals that date.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 21080.06 is added to the end insert begin insert Public Resources
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 21080.06. end insert   

(a) This division does not apply to a project that
satisfies both of the following:

(1) The project is approved or carried out by a public agency
prior to July 1, 2017, for the purpose of mitigating drought
conditions for which a state of emergency was proclaimed by the
Governor on January 17, 2014, pursuant to Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.

(2) The project consists of construction of a recycled water
treatment facility located on city-owned property and directly
related pipelines that are less than a mile in length and located
within existing developed rights-of-way, the project does not affect
wetlands or sensitive habitat, and where the construction impacts
are fully mitigated consistent with applicable law.

(b) This section shall remain operative until the state of
emergency due to drought conditions declared by the Governor
in the proclamation issued on January 17, 2014, is terminated or
until January 1, 2018, whichever occurs first, and, as of January
1, 2108, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes
operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends the
dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

end insert

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.

SEC. 3.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

To ensure the begin delete continued end delete expeditious construction begin delete or expansion end delete
of recycled water begin delete pipeline end delete begin insert treatment facilities end insert and directly related
begin delete infrastructure end delete begin insert pipelines end insert to mitigate drought conditions for which
the Governor has declared a state of emergency, it is necessary for
this measure to take effect immediately.