BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2565
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 2565 (Ammiano) - As Amended: April 5, 2010
SUBJECT : CEQA: lead agency: documents.
SUMMARY : Authorizes a lead agency to publish on its website any
documents required under the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA). Requires the lead agency to provide a copy of a
CEQA document to any member of the public or a public agency
upon request.
EXISTING LAW , 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 for this action,
unless the project is exempt from CEQA. CEQA requires lead
agencies to make these documents, and other documents, including
notices, comments, and responses, available to the public,
including specified individuals and agencies, such as residents
adjacent to a proposed project, and the State Clearinghouse for
projects reviewed by state agencies, and provide documents
directly to individuals upon request.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the bill. According to the author:
While hardcopies of CEQA documents are certainly necessary for
Planning Departments to review and mark-up documents, as well
as for members of the public who do not have access to a
computer, under some circumstances, digital copies of CEQA
documents would be appropriate to save paper and the cost of
implementing CEQA reporting. The San Francisco Planning
Department processed 41 Major/Area Environmental Impact
Reports in 2009.
There are more than 300 city planning agencies throughout
California reviewing environmental impact reports every year.
Allowing a portion of CEQA reports to be administered
digitally would eliminate significant paper waste in
AB 2565
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California. For example, the San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission could reduce roughly 20% of the paper used for
environmental impact reports by submitting digital copies in
lieu of hardcopies.
This legislation provides the option for lead agencies
required to comply with CEQA regulation to make CEQA documents
available on the agency's website of through other digital
formats (compact discs, e-mail attachments, or other digital
transfers) to interested and responsible parties.
2)Clarification of existing law?
Publication of documents via website, email, and other digital
media is recognized currently under CEQA statute and
guidelines. CEQA does not specifically require lead agencies
to produce an unreasonable number of paper documents. This
bill clarifies that lead agencies may offer digital documents,
while retaining the public's right to receive paper documents
upon request, which seems consistent with CEQA and a
reasonable approach to avoid wasteful and/or burdensome
printing obligations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (sponsor)
Association of California Water Agencies
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092