BILL NUMBER: AB 2564 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 40051 of Sections
21080.21, 21100.2, and 21168.6 of, and to add Section 21063.5 to,
the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste
environmental quality .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2564, as amended, Ma. Solid waste: management.
Environmental quality: pipelines: project applicants.
(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a
lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and
certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a
project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a
significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative
declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect.
CEQA exempts a project of less than one mile in length within a
public street or highway or any other public right-of-way for the
installation of a new pipeline, as defined, or the maintenance,
repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation, replacement,
removal, or demolition of an existing pipeline.
This bill would revise that exemption for pipeline projects to
instead exempt a project of less than 8 miles in length, but would
restrict the exemption to activities that do not take place along
more than one mile at any one time. The bill would also revise the
definition of the term pipeline for purposes of this exemption to
delete the exclusion for surface facilities related to the operation
of the underground facility.
The bill would also require a public agency to establish a process
that would allow an applicant for a natural gas pipeline safety
enhancement project, as defined, to elect to pay additional fees to
be used by the public agency in determining whether to approve that
project by entering into a contract with one or more 3rd parties to
assist the public agency to perform the analysis. The bill would
impose a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon
local agencies.
(2) CEQA requires, for purposes of actions against the Public
Utilities Commission, the writ of mandate to lie only from the
Supreme Court to the commission.
This bill would require, in an action or proceeding against a
public agency involving a natural gas pipeline safety enhancement
project, the writ of mandate to lie only from the Supreme Court to
the public agency.
(3) 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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery and local agencies, when implementing the California
Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, to promote certain waste
management practices in a specified order of priority.
This bill would make a technical nonsubstantive change to those
requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) It is a matter of statewide concern to achieve the timely
completion of natural gas pipeline safety enhancements, including
programs for maintenance and operation enhancements, and to
contribute to the public's confidence in the safety of natural gas
pipelines and their ongoing maintenance and operation.
(b) It is in the public interest to accelerate the permitting
process for natural gas pipeline safety enhancements, including
programs for maintenance and operation enhancements, and for
permitting agencies to give these projects priority in processing
permits.
(c) It is in the public interest to enable state agencies to
better carry out their permitting responsibilities by providing
applicants an option for enhancing available resources for permit
processing.
SEC. 2. Section 21063.5 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
21063.5. "Natural gas pipeline safety enhancement project" means
an activity undertaken by a public utility as part of a program to
enhance the safety of intrastate natural gas pipelines in accordance
with a decision, rule, or regulation adopted by the Public Utilities
Commission.
SEC. 3. Section 21080.21 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21080.21. (a) This division does not apply
to any project of less than one mile eight
miles in length within a public street or highway or any other
public right-of-way for the installation of a new pipeline or the
maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation,
replacement, removal, or demolition of an existing pipeline ,
if the activity does not take place along more
than one mile at any one time . For
(b) For purposes of
this section, "pipeline" includes subsurface facilities but
does not include any surface facility related to the operation of the
underground facility any valve, flange, meter, or
other piece of equipment that is directly attached to the pipeline
.
SEC. 4. Section 21100.2 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21100.2. (a) (1) For projects described in subdivision (c) of
Section 21065, each state agency shall establish, by resolution or
order, time limits that do not exceed the following:
(A) One year for completing and certifying environmental impact
reports.
(B) One hundred eighty days for completing and adopting negative
declarations.
(2) The time limits specified in paragraph (1) shall apply only to
those circumstances in which the state agency is the lead agency for
a project. These resolutions or orders may establish different time
limits for different types or classes of projects, but all limits
shall be measured from the date on which an application requesting
approval of the project is received and accepted as complete by the
state agency.
(3) No application for a project may be deemed incomplete for lack
of a waiver of time periods prescribed in state regulations.
(4) The resolutions or orders required by this section may provide
for a reasonable extension of the time period in the event that
compelling circumstances justify additional time and the project
applicant consents thereto.
(b) If a draft environmental impact report, environmental impact
report, or focused environmental impact report is prepared under a
contract to a state agency, the contract shall be executed within 45
days from the date on which the state agency sends a notice of
preparation pursuant to Section 21080.4. The state agency may take
longer to execute the contract if the project applicant and the state
agency mutually agree to an extension of the time limit provided by
this subdivision.
(c) (1) A public agency shall establish a process that would allow
a natural gas pipeline safety enhancement project applicant to elect
to pay additional fees to be used by the public agency in
determining whether to approve a natural gas pipeline safety
enhancement project by entering into a contract with one or more
third parties to assist the public agency to perform the analysis,
consistent with Article VII of the California Constitution and
Section 19130 of the Government Code and the charter of a chartered
city or county, as applicable. The public agency may, but is not
required to, offer a project applicant the option to pay those fees
and subject a project to this process.
(2) The amount of the fees charged by the public agency pursuant
to this subdivision shall be conditioned upon the natural gas
pipeline safety enhancement project applicant agreeing to that amount
and electing to proceed with the retention of a third party pursuant
to this subdivision.
(3) All fees paid by a natural gas pipeline safety enhancement
project applicant shall be used exclusively for analysis of that
applicant's application for certification.
SEC. 5. Section 21168.6 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21168.6. In any action or proceeding under Sections 21168 or
21168.5 against the Public Utilities Commission or in an action
or proceeding against a public agency involving a natural gas
pipeline safety enhancement project, the writ of mandate shall
lie only from the Supreme Court to such that
commission or public agency .
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 40051 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
40051. In implementing this division, the department and local
agencies shall do both of the following:
(a) Promote the following waste management practices in order of
priority:
(1) Source reduction.
(2) Recycling and composting.
(3) Environmentally safe transformation and environmentally safe
land disposal, at the discretion of the city or county.
(b) Maximize the use of all feasible source reduction, recycling,
and composting options in order to reduce the amount of solid waste
that must be disposed of by transformation and land disposal. For
wastes that cannot feasibly be reduced at their source, recycled, or
composted, the local agency may use environmentally safe
transformation or environmentally safe land disposal, or both of
those practices.