BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1444
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Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1444 (Feuer) - As Amended: May 1, 2012
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:7-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires preparation of a California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) record of proceeding concurrent with the
administrative process. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the lead agency for review of a project pursuant to
the CEQA to, upon request of a project applicant, prepare the
record of proceeding concurrently with the CEQA administrative
process.
2)Conditions this requirement upon the applicant's agreement,
prior to the lead agency's release of the draft environmental
document, to bear the costs resulting from concurrent
preparation of the record of proceeding and related
requirements required by this bill.
3)Sunsets the preceding requirements as of January 1, 2016.
4)Requires the court to schedule a hearing within 30 days of a
respondent filing the statement of issues in relation to a
CEQA decision.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are lead
CEQA permitting agencies for projects for which applicants
request concurrent preparation of the record of proceeding, to
concurrently prepare record of proceeding, various funds.
These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants
who request the record of proceedings to be prepared
concurrently with the administrative process.
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2)Unknown, potentially significant one-time GF and special fund
costs to state agencies, to the extent they are lead CEQA
permitting agencies for applicable projects, to upgrade
electronic data management capabilities to allow for the
functionality required by this bill, such as posting
downloadable forms online and making draft environmental
documents available electronically. For example, the
Department of Fish and Game estimates costs well over $150,000
to upgrade its information technology system, which the
department describes as antiquated.
3)Potential GF costs, potentially significant, to the
state-funded court system to process and hear challenges to a
project's environmental review within the timeframes
prescribed by the bill.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author intends to expedite the process by
which parties disputing a CEQA proceeding come to agreement on
the precise issues in dispute, thereby reducing the time
needed to resolve CEQA litigation.
2)Background. CEQA obligates public officials to consider the
environmental effects of their decisions. The lead agency that
proposes to approve a project must conduct an initial study to
determine if the project may have significant, adverse
environmental effects. If not, the lead agency issues a
negative declaration and, after a 30-day review period,
proceeds with its review and decision. If the lead agency
finds minor effects that can be mitigated, it issues a
mitigated negative declaration and then proceeds. If the lead
agency finds that the effects of the project may be
significant, it prepares an environmental impact report (EIR),
a document that show public officials how to avoid or mitigate
the project's environmental effects.
Preparing the EIR begins when the lead agency sends notice of
preparation to other public agencies, soliciting advice on the
EIR's scope. If the project is of statewide, regional, or
area-wide significance, the lead agency holds a scoping
meeting with the other agencies. The lead agency circulates
its draft EIR and invites public comments during a 45-day
review period.
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After this public review, the lead agency issues a final EIR
that responds to the comments that it received. After
certifying the final EIR, the lead agency files notice to
allow the project to proceed.
Challenges of CEQA decisions generally must be filed within
30-35 days and be heard by the Superior Court. The courts are
required to give CEQA actions preference over all other civil
actions. However, statute provides no timeline within which
the court must decide upon a CEQA case.
Current law requires a lead agency to prepare a CEQA record of
proceeding-typically including all documents relevant to the
agency's CEAQ action-within 60 day s of receiving a
plaintiff's request to do so. Last fall, the Legislature
passed two bills-AB 900, Buchannan (Chapter 354) and SB 292
(Simitian)-which provided expedited judicial procedures for a
limited set of large scale projects meeting certain criteria
for environmental protection or enhancements. Among those
expedited procedures was the requirement that the lead agency
concurrently prepare the record of proceeding and the
administrative process.
3)Related Legislation. This bill is similar to AB 1570 (Perea)
and SB 984 (Simitian), both of which affect the same statutory
code as this bill. AB 1570 is pending before this committee.
SB 984 passed the Senate 37-0 and is awaiting assignment in
the Assembly.
4)Support. This bill is supported by California Manufacturers
and Technology Association.
5)There is no opposition formally registered to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081