BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 226
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 6, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                SB 226 (Simitian) - As Introduced:  February 9, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Natural 
          ResourcesVote:9-0
                        Local Government                      9-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes procedural changes that allow referrals 
          required under the Planning and Zone Law to occur concurrent 
          with a meeting required under the California Environmental 
          Quality Act (CEQA).  Specifically, this bill authorizes a 
          planning agency to refer to a city or county, concurrent with 
          the required scoping meeting, a proposed action that adopts or 
          substantially amends a general plan.

           FISCAL EFFECT 

          Negligible state costs, if any.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale.   The author contends the streamlining measures 
            proposed by this bill will maintain existing legal 
            requirements concerning proposed actions to modify general 
            plans while better facilitating participation by interested 
            parties.   

          2)Background.   Proposed adoptions of amendments to general plans 
            are likely to be affected by two areas of law-the Planning and 
            Zoning Law and CEQA.  The Planning and Zoning Law requires a 
            planning agency to refer a proposed action to adopt or 
            substantially amend a general plan to certain entities for 
            comment before the legislative body takes action on the 
            general plan adoption or amendment.  These entities include 
            any city and county within or abutting the area covered by the 
            proposal.  








                                                                 SB 226
                                                                  Page  2


              CEQA requires a lead agency, meaning an agency with principal 
             responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed 
             discretionary project, to hold at least one scoping meeting 
             for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or area-wide 
             significance.  The lead agency must notify certain entities 
             of at the scoping meeting, including any county or city 
             bordering a county or city within which the project is 
             located.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081