BILL NUMBER: SB 52 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Buchanan and Gordon )
DECEMBER 15, 2010
An act to amend Sections 21178, 21180, 21181, 21183, 21185,
21187, and 21189.2 of the Public Resources Code, relating to
water, and making an appropriation therefor.
environmental quality, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 52, as amended, Steinberg. Water quality: Sacramento
Regional County Sanitation District. Environmental
quality: jobs and economic improvement.
(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 also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative
declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the
environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that
effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as
revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.
CEQA establishes procedures for creating the administrative record
and judicial review procedure for any action or proceeding brought
to challenge the lead agency's decision to certify the EIR or to
grant project approvals.
The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership
Act of 2011 establishes alternative procedures for creating the
administrative record and specified judicial review procedures for
the judicial review of the EIR and approvals granted for a leadership
project related to the development of a residential, retail,
commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use
project, or clean renewable energy or clean energy manufacturing
project. The act authorizes the Governor, upon application, to
certify a leadership project for streamlining pursuant to the act if
certain conditions are met.
The act requires that the project result in a minimum investment
of $100,000,000 in California upon completion of construction and not
result in any net additional emission of greenhouse gases, including
greenhouse gas emissions from employee transportation.
This bill would require instead that a project result in a minimum
investment of $100,000,000 spent on planning, design, and
construction of the project. The bill, in order to maximize public
health, environmental, and employment benefits, would require a lead
agency to place the highest priority on feasible measures that will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the project site and in the
neighboring communities of the project site.
(2) The act requires a party seeking judicial review of the EIR to
bring concurrently other claims alleging a public agency has granted
land use approvals or a leadership project in violation of relevant
laws.
This bill would repeal this provision.
(3) The act requires the Judicial Council to report to the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2015, on the effects of the act,
including specific information on benefits, costs, and detriments.
The bill would require instead that the Judicial Council report to
the Legislature on the effects of the act on the administration of
justice. The bill also would make technical and clarifying changes.
Because a lead agency would be required to perform additional
actions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(4) 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.
(5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
The Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006, a
bond act approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide
general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of
$4,090,000,000 for the purposes of financing disaster preparedness
and flood prevention projects. Of those funds, $300,000,000 is
available to the Department of Water Resources, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, for grants for storm water flood management
projects that meet prescribed requirements.
The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control,
River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative bond act
approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide general
election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of
$5,388,000,000 for the purposes of financing a safe drinking water,
water quality and supply, flood control, and resource protection
program. Of those funds, $130,000,000 is available to the department
for grants to implement water quality improvement projects that meet
prescribed requirements.
This bill would appropriate $50,000,000 to the department from the
above bond acts, as specified, to provide financial assistance to
the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District to offset rate
increases associated with the costs of capital improvements to the
district's regional sewage treatment plant as a result of the
issuance of a specified national pollutant discharge elimination
system permit and waste discharge requirements.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
yes no . Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 21178 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21178. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The overall unemployment rate in California is 12 percent, and
in certain regions of the state that rate exceeds 13 percent.
(b) The California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code) 21000)) requires that the environmental
impacts of development projects be identified and mitigated.
(c) The act also guarantees the public an opportunity to review
and comment on the environmental impacts of a project and to
participate meaningfully in the development of mitigation measures
for potentially significant environmental impacts.
(d) There are large public and private projects under
consideration in various regions of the state that would replace old
and outmoded facilities with new job-creating facilities to meet
those regions' needs while also establishing new, cutting-edge
environmental benefits to those regions.
(e) These projects are publicly financed, privately
financed , or financed from revenues generated from the
projects themselves and that do not
require taxpayer financing.
(f) These projects further will generate thousands of full-time
jobs during construction and thousands of additional permanent jobs
once they are constructed and operating.
(g) These projects also present an unprecedented opportunity to
implement nation-leading innovative measures that will significantly
reduce traffic, air quality pollution ,
and other significant environmental impacts, and fully mitigate the
greenhouse gas emissions resulting from passenger vehicle trips
attributed to the project.
(h) These pollution reductions will be the best in the nation
compared to other comparable projects in the United States.
(i) The purpose of this act is to provide unique and unprecedented
streamlining benefits under the California Environmental Quality Act
for projects that provide the benefits described above for a limited
period of time to put people to work as soon as possible.
SEC. 2. Section 21180 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21180. For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Applicant" means a public or private entity or its
affiliates, or a person or entity that undertakes a public works
project , that or proposes a project
, and its successors, heirs, and assignees.
(b) "Environmental leadership development project," "leadership
project," or "project" means a project as described in Section 21065
that is one the following:
(1) A residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural,
entertainment, or recreational use project that is designed to
be certified as LEED silver or better by the United States
Green Building Council and , where applicable,
that achieves and maintains a 10-percent greater standard
for transportation efficiency than for comparable projects. These
projects must shall be located on an
infill site. For a project that is within a metropolitan planning
organization for which a sustainable communities strategy or
alternative planning strategy is in effect, the infill project shall
be consistent with the general use designation, density, building
intensity, and applicable policies specified for the project area in
either a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning
strategy, for which the State Air Resources Board, pursuant to
subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 65080
of the Government Code, has accepted a metropolitan planning
organization's determination that the sustainable communities
strategy or the alternative planning strategy would, if implemented,
achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
(2) A clean renewable energy project that generates electricity
exclusively through wind or solar, but not including waste
incineration or conversion.
(3) A clean energy manufacturing project that manufactures
products, equipment, or components used for renewable energy
generation, energy efficiency, or for the production of clean
alternative fuel vehicles.
(c) "Transportation efficiency" means the number of
vehicle private automobile trips by employees,
visitors, or customers of the residential, retail, commercial,
sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use project divided
by the total number of employees, visitors, and customers.
SEC. 3. Section 21181 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21181. This chapter does not apply to a project if the applicant
fails to notify a lead agency prior to the release of the draft
environmental impact report for public comment that the applicant is
electing to proceed pursuant to this chapter. The lead agency shall
notify the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency if the applicant
fails to provide provides notification
pursuant to this section chapter .
SEC. 4. Section 21183 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21183. The Governor may not certify a leadership
project for streamlining pursuant to this chapter if
unless all the following conditions are met:
(a) The project will result in a minimum investment of one hundred
million dollars ($100,000,000) in California upon
completion of construction spent on planning,
design, and construction of the project .
(b) The project creates high-wage, highly skilled jobs that pay
prevailing wages and living wages and provide construction jobs and
permanent jobs for Californians, and helps reduce unemployment.
(c) The project does not result in any net additional emission of
greenhouse gases, including greenhouse gas emissions from employee
transportation, as determined by the State Air Resources Board
pursuant to Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the
Health and Safety Code. To maximize public health,
environmental, and employment benefits, the lead agency shall place
the highest priority on feasible measures that will reduce greenhouse
gas emissions on the project site and in the neighboring communities
of the project site. Offset credits shall be employed by
the applicant only after feasible local emission reduction measures
have been implemented. The applicant shall, to the extent feasible,
place the highest priority on the purchase of offset credits that
produce emission reductions within the boundaries of an
applicable air pollution control district or air quality
management district.
(d) The project applicant has entered into a binding and
enforceable agreement that all mitigation measures required pursuant
to this division to certify the project under this chapter shall be
conditions of approval of the project, and those conditions will be
fully enforceable by the lead agency or another agency designated by
the lead agency. In the case of environmental mitigation measures,
the applicant agrees, as an ongoing obligation, that those measures
will be monitored and enforced by the lead agency for the life of the
obligation.
(e) The project applicant agrees to pay the costs of the Court of
Appeal in hearing and deciding any case, including payment of the
costs for the appointment of a special master if
deemed appropriate by the court, in a form and manner specified by
the Judicial Council, as provided in the Rules of Court adopted by
the Judicial Council pursuant to subdivision (f)
(b) of Section 21185.
(f) The project applicant agrees to pay the costs of preparing the
administrative record for the project concurrent with review and
consideration of the project pursuant to this division, in a form and
manner specified by the lead agency for the project.
SEC. 5. Section 21185 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21185. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, any action or
proceeding alleging that a public lead
agency or has approved or is undertaking a
leadership project certified by the Governor in violation of this
division shall be conducted in accordance with the following
streamlining benefits:
(1) The action or proceeding shall be filed in the Court of Appeal
with geographic jurisdiction over the project.
(2) Any party bringing such a claim shall also file concurrently
any other claims alleging that a public agency has granted land use
approvals for the leadership project in violation of the law. The
Court of Appeal shall have original jurisdiction over all those
claims.
(3)
(2) The Court of Appeal shall issue its decision in the
case within 175 days of the filing of the petition.
(4)
(3) The court may appoint a master to assist the court
in managing and processing the case.
(5)
(4) The court may grant order
extensions of time only for good cause shown
and in order to promote the interests of justice.
(b) On or before July 1, 2012, the Judicial Council shall adopt
Rules of Court to implement this chapter.
SEC. 6. Section 21187 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21187. The draft and final environmental impact report shall
include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
"THIS EIR IS SUBJECT TO CHAPTER 6.5 (COMMENCING WITH SECTION
21178) OF DIVISION 13 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH
PROVIDES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT ANY JUDICIAL ACTION CHALLENGING
THE CERTIFICATION OF THE EIR OR THE APPROVAL OF THE PROJECT DESCRIBED
IN THE EIR IS SUBJECT TO THE PROCEDURES SET FORTH IN
SECTION 21178.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE CHAPTER
6.5 AND MUST BE FILED WITH THE COURT OF APPEAL. A COPY OF
CHAPTER 6.5 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE IS
INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIX TO THIS EIR."
SEC. 7. Section 21189.2 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21189.2. The Judicial Council shall report to the Legislature on
or before January 1, 2015, on the effects of this chapter ,
which shall include, but not be limited to, a description of the
benefits, costs, and detriments of the certification of leadership
projects pursuant to this chapter on the
administration of justice .
SEC. 8. 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.
SEC. 9. 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 and the expedited processes provided by this legislation
for projects that provide important environmental and economic
benefits will serve as a basis for new and increased economic
development in the state.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares
that the costs of improving water quality and protecting the
beneficial uses of water in the area known as the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta are a shared responsibility that should be borne by all
beneficiaries of water resources from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, and not solely by businesses and residents of the Sacramento
region. To that end, it is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting
this act, to appropriate funds for the purpose of financing
improvements to the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District
regional sewage treatment plant.
SEC. 2. The sum of fifty million dollars
($50,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Water
Resources to provide financial assistance to the Sacramento Regional
County Sanitation District to offset rate increases associated with
the costs of capital improvements to the district's regional sewage
treatment plant as a result of the issuance of a national pollutant
discharge elimination system permit and waste discharge requirements
for the regional sewage treatment plant that were adopted by the
California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley
Region, on December 9, 2010, in accordance with the following
schedule:
(a) Thirteen million dollars ($13,000,000) from the funds made
available pursuant to Section 5096.827 of the Public Resources Code
for a grant to the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District for
the purposes of this section.
(b) Thirty-seven million dollars ($37,000,000) from the funds made
available pursuant to, and consistent with, Section 75029 of the
Public Resources Code for a grant to the Sacramento Regional County
Sanitation District for the purposes of this section.