BILL NUMBER: SB 959 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Ducheny
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Caballero )
FEBRUARY 5, 2010
An act to add and repeal Article 3.5 (commencing with Section
65946) of Chapter 4.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government
Code, relating to development , and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 959, as amended, Ducheny. Development: expedited permit review.
(1) Existing law requires various applications and permits in
connection with land use and development. Existing law requires a
public agency that is the lead agency for a development project to
approve or disapprove the project within certain periods. Existing
law creates the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's
Office.
This bill , until January 1, 2012, would
require the Office of Planning and Research, or its successor agency,
in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency and the California
Environmental Protection Agency, to develop a consolidated project
information form that may be used by applicants for development
projects. The bill would permit applicants for development projects
to submit the form to the Office of Planning and Research for
distribution to appropriate agencies, which the office would be
required to do within 3 days of receipt. The bill would require
agencies, within 30 days of receipt of the form from the Office of
Planning and Research, to notify the office, in writing, if a permit
from that agency may be required and to send the office the
appropriate permit forms. The bill would require the office, within
15 days of receipt of the completed form from an agency, to notify
the applicant for a development project, in writing, of any permits
required and to send the applicant the appropriate permit application
forms received by the office. The bill would permit the office to
charge a reasonable fee for these services, as specified.
The bill would also require the Office of Planning and Research
to develop guidelines that would provide technical assistance to
counties and cities in establishing and operating an expedited
development permit process, as specified. The bill would require
every city, county, or city and county to provide for coordination of
review and decisionmaking and the provision of information regarding
the status of all applications and permits for residential,
commercial, and industrial developments by a single administrative
entity, as defined. By creating a new duty for local agencies, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would
permit the administrative entity to coordinate the review and
decisionmaking process with other affected entities.
(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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect
immediately as an urgency statute.
(3) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare
a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session
for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a
fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on
January 8, 2010.
This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency
declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 8, 2010,
pursuant to the California Constitution.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 65946) is added to
Chapter 4.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to
read:
Article 3.5. Expedited Permit Review
65946. (a) The Office of Planning and Research, or its successor
agency, in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency and the
California Environmental Protection Agency, shall develop a
consolidated project information form that may be used by applicants
for development projects. This form shall provide for sufficient
information to allow state agencies to determine whether or not the
project will be subject to the requirements for a permit from the
agency.
(b) Applicants for development projects may submit the form
provided by subdivision (a) to the Office of Planning and Research
for distribution to state agencies that have permit responsibilities
for development projects. The Office of Planning and Research shall
send copies of the form to the appropriate agency within three days
of receipt.
(c) Within 30 days of receipt of the form, each agency shall
notify the Office of Planning and Research, in writing, whether or
not a permit from that agency may be required and it shall send the
Office of Planning and Research the appropriate permit application
forms.
(d) Within 15 days of receipt of the completed form from an
agency, the Office of Planning and Research shall notify the
applicant for a development project, in writing, of any permits
required for the project specified, and it shall send the applicant
the appropriate permit application forms received from the state
agencies.
(e) The Office of Planning and Research, in consultation with the
Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection
Agency, shall develop a consolidated project application form that
may be used by applicants for development projects.
(f) Each state agency may develop an agency consolidated project
application form that may be used by applicants for development
projects. The application form shall contain sufficient information
to allow the agency and any department, commission, board, or other
administrative division within that agency to act on a permit.
(g) The Office of Planning and Research may charge an applicant
for a development project a fee not to exceed the estimated
reasonable cost of providing the services performed pursuant to this
section. Before levying or charging a fee, the Office of Planning and
Research shall adopt or amend regulations pursuant to the
Administrative Procedures Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2). The Office of Planning
and Research shall make available to the public, upon request, data
indicating the amount of cost, or estimated cost, required to provide
the service and the revenue sources anticipated to provide the
service, including general or special fund revenues.
65947. The Office of Planning and Research shall develop
guidelines to provide technical assistance to counties and cities in
establishing and operating an expedited development permit process.
In developing the guidelines, local variations in population rate of
growth, types of proposed development projects, geography, and
differences in local government structure shall be recognized. The
guidelines for a local permit process shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following elements:
(a) A central contact point with a public agency where all permit
applications can be filed and information on all permit requirements
can be obtained.
(b) A referral process that provides for one or a combination of
the following elements:
(1) Refers the applicant to the appropriate functional area for
resolution of problems and fulfillment of requirements.
(2) Refers the applicant to cities within the county in whose
sphere of influence the proposed project lies for review, comment, or
imposition of condition permits.
(3) Assigns an individual from the local government to be
responsible for guiding the application through all local permit
bodies.
(c) A master permit document that covers permits for all
functional areas and that could be used for obtaining the approvals
of the various functional areas.
(d) A method of tracking progress on various permit applications,
that may include identifying a staff person responsible for
monitoring permits.
(e) A determination as to the completeness of the master permit
document upon its submission and a written statement of specific
information that is missing, if any.
(f) Timetables for action on individual permits.
(g) A variety of administrative mechanisms that will describe the
least costly approaches for implementation in a variety of local
circumstances.
65948. (a) Every city, county, or city and county shall provide
for coordination of review and decisionmaking and the provision of
information regarding the status of all applications and permits for
residential, commercial, and industrial developments, as required by
the city, county, or city and county, by a single administrative
entity. For the purposes of this section, "administrative entity"
means a person or agency designated by the legislative body of the
city, county, or city and county to coordinate the review and
decisionmaking and provide information regarding the status of all
permits or applications required by the local agency.
(b) A city, county, or city and county may adopt, by resolution or
ordinance, procedures for the implementation of this section by the
designated administrative entity.
(c) At the request of an applicant, the administrative entity may
coordinate the review and decisionmaking process with affected
special districts and the administrative entity designated by the
legislative body of any other city, county, or city and county in the
jurisdiction of which the application for approval of the
development is also being made, in order to provide concurrent
processing within those jurisdictions.
65949. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
SEC. 3. This act addresses the fiscal emergency
declared by the Governor by proclamation on January 8, 2010,
pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 10 of Article IV of the
California Constitution.
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:
The continued economic crisis in the state requires immediate
attention, in order to provide an expedited permit process that will
allow long stalled development projects to commence, and serve as a
nexus for new economy stimulating development in the state.