BILL ANALYSIS
SB 959
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SB 959 (Ducheny) - As Amended: June 22, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 31-3
SUBJECT : Development: expedited permit review
SUMMARY : Reestablishes the Office of Permit Assistance (OPA)
under the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to
help facilitate state and local review of commercial and
industrial development projects.
EXISTING LAW requires, under the Permit Streamlining Act (PSA),
each state agency and local agency to compile one or more lists
that specify in detail the information that will be required
from any applicant for a development project, and requires a
public agency that is the lead agency for a development project,
or a public agency which is a responsible agency for a
development project that has been approved by the lead agency,
to approve or disapprove the project within applicable periods
of time.
THIS BILL :
1)Establishes the OPA within OPR.
2)Requires OPA to develop guidelines providing technical
assistance to local agencies for the establishment and
operation of an expedited development permit process.
3)Requires the guidelines to include, but not be limited to, all
of the following components of a local permit process:
a) An administrative entity in each city or county with a
population of 100,000 or more that shall serve as an
applicant's single point of contact with the city or county
with respect to all applications and permits required by
the city or county for the applicant's commercial or
industrial development project;
b) A referral process that may do any or all of the
following:
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i) Refer the applicant to the appropriate local
agencies and local agency officials to resolve problems
and to fulfill requirements;
ii) Refer the applicant to cities within the county
which have review, comment, or conditional permit power
over the proposed project; or,
iii) Assign the local agency's administrative entity, or
another individual or entity designated by the local
agency, to be responsible for guiding the applicant
through all local permitting requirements;
c) A consolidated project information form that will
collect the information required to complete all permits
for the development project;
d) A method for tracking the progress of development permit
applications through the permitting process that may
include the identification of a staff person responsible
for monitoring permits;
e) A process for determining whether the consolidated
project information form is complete upon its submission;
f) Timetables for action on specified types of permit
applications;
g) An expedited appeal process to ensure fair treatment to
the applicant using existing agencies, staffs, commissions,
or boards, where possible; and,
h) A variety of administrative mechanisms that describe the
least costly approaches for implementing these guidelines
in a variety of local circumstances.
4)Requires OPA, in developing the guidelines, to recognize local
variations in population, rate of growth, types of proposed
development projects, geography, and local government
structure.
5)Specifically states that the guidelines developed by OPA are
advisory in nature and are not a mandate on local agencies.
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6)Provides that upon appropriation by the Legislature, OPA shall
provide grants and technical assistance to cities and counties
for the establishment of an expedited development permit
process.
7)Requires any city or county receiving a grant to enact an
ordinance adopting an expedited development permit process
according to the guidelines within 10 months of the date of
receipt of the grant.
8)Requires OPA to do both of the following:
a) Provide information to developers explaining the permit
approval process at the state and local levels, or
assisting them in meeting the requirements of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and,
b) Assist state and local agencies in streamlining the
permit approval process at the state and local levels.
9)Specifies that the assistance provided by OPA on CEQA is
purely technical in nature, and neither OPA nor the state
shall incur any liability.
10)Authorizes OPA to call a conference of parties at the state
level to resolve questions or mediate disputes arising from a
permit application for a proposed development project.
11)Authorizes OPA to charge an applicant for a development
project a fee not to exceed the estimated reasonable cost of
providing the services performed.
12)Requires OPA, prior to levying or charging a fee, to adopt or
amend regulations to provide for the fee in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act.
13)Requires OPA, upon request, to make available data indicating
the cost, or estimated cost, of providing the services
performed and the revenue sources anticipated to cover the
cost of performing the services, including any general or
special fund revenues.
14)Requires OPA, in consultation with the Natural Resources
Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency, to
develop a consolidated project information form to be used by
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applicants for development projects.
15)Requires the form to collect sufficient information to allow
each state agency with development project permitting
responsibilities to use the form to determine whether or not
the project will be subject to its permitting requirements.
16)Authorizes an applicant for a development project to submit a
completed consolidated project information form to OPA for
distribution to the state agencies that have permitting
requirements for development projects.
17)Requires OPA to send copies of the completed form to the
appropriate agencies within 15 days of receipt.
18)Requires, within 30 days of receipt of the completed form
from OPA, each agency to notify OPA in writing of its
determination as to whether a permit is potentially required
from that agency.
19)Provides that if a permit is potentially required from an
agency, the agency shall send OPA the appropriate permit
application forms.
20)Requires OPA, within 15 days of receipt of all the agencies'
determinations, and the appropriate permit application forms,
if any, to notify the applicant in writing of any permits
required by those agencies for the project, and to send the
applicant any permit application forms received.
21)Requires, upon the request of an applicant, a city, county,
or city and county with a population of 100,000 or more to
designate, and provide for, an administrative entity to serve
as the applicant's single point of contact with the local
agency with respect to all applications and permits required
by the local agency for the applicant's commercial or
industrial development project.
22)Requires the administrative entity to provide the applicant
information regarding the status of, and coordinate the review
and decision making process with respect to, the applications
and permits required by the local agency for the development
project.
23)Requires, upon the request of the applicant, the
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administrative entity to coordinate with OPA with respect to
any applications or permits required by the state for the
development project.
24)Authorizes a city, county, or city and county to charge a fee
to defray costs incurred by the administrative entity that are
directly attributable to the services it provides to an
applicant.
25)Authorizes a city, county, or city and county to adopt, by
resolution or ordinance, procedures for the implementation of
this measure.
26)Contains an urgency clause.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, $125,000 from the General Fund in 2010/11 for
development of OPR guidelines.
COMMENTS :
1)Background. The PSA requires each state agency and local
agency to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the
information that will be required from any applicant for a
development project, and requires a public agency that is the
lead agency for a development project, or a public agency
which is a responsible agency for a development project that
has been approved by the lead agency, to approve or disapprove
the project within applicable periods of time.
In addition to mandating criteria and setting deadlines, the
PSA previously required OPR to coordinate the state
government's help to applicants. OPR set up the OPA in 1977
which the Legislature later codified [SB 992 (Garamendi),
Chapter 1263, Statutes of 1983]. The Legislature later moved
OPA to the State Trade and Commerce Agency [AB 2351, (Assembly
Ways and Means Committee), Chapter 56, Statutes of 1993].
CalEPA set up regional Permit Assistance Centers which the
Legislature institutionalized in 1999 [AB 1102 (Jackson),
Chapter 65, Statutes of 1999]. Then, in 2003, the Legislature
repealed the requirements for CalEPA's permit assistance
centers and abolished the State Technology, Trade, and
Commerce Agency [AB 1756, (Assembly Budget Committee), Chapter
228, Statutes of 2003]. Although the OPA no longer exists,
the PSA still requires agencies to adopt criteria and meet
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statutory deadlines.
2)One-stop shopping. SB 959 reestablishes the OPA within OPR in
order to help facilitate state and local level review of
commercial and industrial development projects. OPR already
serves as the coordinating agency for statewide planning
efforts and as a clearinghouse for all CEQA related documents,
so it seems an appropriate host for the additional duty of
serving as a one-stop shop for coordinating the state and
local level review of specified development projects.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Apartment Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092