California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2438

Introduced by Assembly Members Waldron and Nazarian

February 19, 2016

An act to add and repeal Section 21080.21.5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2438, as introduced, Waldron. California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: recycled water pipelines.

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 specified pipeline projects from the above requirements.

This bill would, until January 1, 2020, additionally exempt from CEQA a project for the construction and installation of a new pipeline or the maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation, replacement, removal, or demolition of an existing pipeline, not exceeding 8 miles in length, for the distribution of recycled water within a public street, highway, or right-of-way and would require the lead agency to undertake specified activities, including the filing of a notice of exemption for the project with the Office of Planning and Research and the office of the county clerk of each county in which the project is located. The bill would require the lead agency, before determining the applicability of the exemption, to hold a noticed public hearing to consider and adopt mitigation measures for potential traffic impacts of the project. Because the lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for that exemption, and undertake specified activities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the county clerk to post the notice of exemption within 24 hours of receipt, thereby imposing 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.

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California is experiencing its worst water shortage crisis in
modern history and increasing the use of recycled water, a supply
that is not dependent on precipitation, is critical to increasing the
flexibility of, and expanding, the state’s available water supply.

(b) The pressures on the Bay-Delta ecosystem, climate change,
and continuing population growth have increased the challenges
to the state in providing clean water needed for a healthy population
and economy.

(c) Recycled water has been beneficially used in California for
the past century for a variety of purposes, including agriculture,
landscape irrigation, seawater barrier, industrial purposes, and
groundwater recharge.

(d) Recycled water can significantly stretch California’s potable
water supplies and help increase local water supply reliability.
Currently, more than 3.5 million acre-feet of recyclable water is
discharged annually to the ocean.

(e) The Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife,
in March 2012, reported that the level of water supplies that could
potentially be derived from recycled water is substantial.

(f) The National Academy of Sciences, in Water Reuse: Potential
for Expanding the Nation’s Water Supply Through Reuse of
Municipal Wastewater, states that “in the U.S. approximately 12
billion gallons of municipal wastewater effluent is discharged each
day to an ocean or estuary and that reusing these coastal discharges
could directly augment public supplies by 27 percent.”

(g) The National Academy of Sciences further found that, unlike
water that is discharged into a stream and potentially used by
another downstream party, water discharged to the ocean is
considered “‘irrecoverable’ and thus constitutes ‘new supply.’”

(h) In 2010, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted
a recycled water policy for California with a goal of creating an
additional 2.5 million acre-feet of recycled water by 2030.

(i) The delivery of shovel-ready recycled water projects can
provide immediate drought relief to California’s struggling
communities.

(j) Recycled water projects could and should be expedited by
providing relief from the time consuming provisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), while still
complying with all state and local laws and providing notice to
the public and appropriate local and state agencies.

SEC. 2.  

Section 21080.21.5 is added to the Public Resources
Code, to read:

21080.21.5.  

(a) This division does not apply to a project of
less than eight miles in length within a public street, highway, or
right-of-way for the construction and installation of a new recycled
water pipeline, or the maintenance, repair, restoration,
reconditioning, relocation, replacement, removal, or demolition
of an existing recycled water pipeline.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “pipeline” means subsurface
pipelines and subsurface or surface accessories or appurtenances
to a pipeline, such as mains, traps, vents, cables, conduits, vaults,
valves, flanges, manholes, and meters.

(c) For a project described in subdivision (a), the lead agency
shall do all of the following:

(1) Before determining the applicability of this section to a
project, hold a noticed public hearing to consider and adopt
mitigation measures for potential traffic impacts of the project.

(2) File a notice of exemption of the project from this division
with the Office of Planning and Research and in the office of the
county clerk of each county in which the project is located within
20 days of the approval of the project. The county clerk shall post
the notice within 24 hours of receipt.

(3) Ensure that the overlaying property owner has given
permission to access the property, in the case of a right-of-way
over private property, if access is not granted in the express terms
of the right-of-way.

(4) Ensure the restoration of the public street, highway, or
right-of-way to a condition consistent with all applicable local
laws or regulations, or a negotiated agreement.

(d) The project applicant shall comply with all applicable laws
and regulations, including Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
60301) of Division 4 of Title 22 of the California Code of
Regulations.

(e) This section does not apply to any of the following:

(1) A project that is a part of a larger project for the construction
and installation of a new recycled water pipeline, or the
maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation,
replacement, removal, or demolition of an existing recycled water
pipeline, that exceeds the length limitation set forth in subdivision
(a).

(2) A project that is adjacent to another project for which a claim
of exemption pursuant to this section has been made.

(3) A project that is located in a resource area, such as a park,
open space, protected habitat area, or lands subject to a
conservation easement.

(4) A project for which an excavation activity that is more than
one-half mile in length at any one time will be undertaken.

(f)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 3.  

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.