BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1570 (Perea) - California Environmental Quality Act: record
of proceedings.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: EQ 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 16, 2012
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: AB 1570 would require the lead agency, under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to prepare and
certify the record of proceeding concurrently with the
administrative process, upon the request of a project applicant.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown potential upfront costs to state agencies to
upgrade information technology systems, potentially in the
hundreds of thousands (various funds). For example, the
Department of Fish and Game indicates that its information
technology capabilities are limited and would need to be
improved to feasibly post the required information in a
timely manner.
Minor ongoing costs to state agencies to make information
available to the public, most likely offset by fee revenues
(various funds).
Background: The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
requires the evaluation of the potential environmental impacts
of a proposed project. If a project does not have a statutory
CEQA exemption, a lead agency must prepare an initial study to
determine whether a project may have a significant impact on the
environment. If the initial study indicates the project may have
a negative impact on the environment, the lead agency is
required to prepare an environmental impact report. Generally,
lead agencies must require mitigation for any significant
impacts on the environment. However, a lead agency can make a
finding of overriding consideration if economic, legal, or
technical considerations make the identified mitigation measures
infeasible.
AB 1570 (Perea)
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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 days of receiving a plaintiff's
request to do so.
Proposed Law: AB 1570 would require the lead agency, under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to prepare and
certify the record of proceeding concurrently with the
administrative process, under certain circumstances.
The bill would specify the timelines for the applicant to make
such a request of a lead agency and the manner in which the lead
agency must make the record of proceeding available to the
public. The bill would require lead agencies to make public
comments on the CEQA document available to the public within
five business days.
The bill would require the project applicant to reimburse the
lead agency for costs incurred to comply with the requirements
of the bill.
The bill has a January 1, 2016 sunset date.
Related Legislation: SB 984 (Simitian) is substantially similar
to this bill. That bill is in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
Staff Comments: No reimbursement is required under the bill
because local agencies have the authority to levy fees to offset
their costs.
Proposed author's amendments would narrow the bill.
Proposed committee amendments would add additional technical
cleanup language to existing CEQA law.
AB 1570 (Perea)
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