BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 226
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Date of Hearing: September 8, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 226 (Simitian) - As Amended: September 6, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-1
Agriculture 5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes exemption and limits to environmental
review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for
specified projects. Specifically, this bill:
1)Exempts from CEQA review the installation of a solar energy
system on the roof of an existing building or at an existing
parking lot.
2)Defines "solar energy system" to include specified associated
equipment, meeting certain environmental and permitting
criteria, that might be located on the same parcel of the
building or, for equipment that connects the system to the
electrical grid or the emergency responder equipment,
immediately adjacent to the parcel or immediately adjacent to
the parcel and separated only by an improved right-of-way.
3)Requires the Office of Planning and Research (OPR), by July 1,
2012, to develop and send to the Natural Resources Agency
proposed CEQA guidelines for statewide standards for the
review of infill projects that promote specified state
environmental, transportation and land use goals and requires
the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and
adopt the guidelines by January 1, 2013.
4)Provides that a project's greenhouse gas emissions shall not,
by themselves, cause the project to be ineligible for a
categorical exemption from CEQA review if the project complies
with regulations adopted to implement related statewide,
regional or local plans as provided in the CEQA guidelines.
5)Establishes interim abbreviated CEQA review procedures for
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specified transit proximity projects, as specified.
6)Provides that CEQA does not require a public agency to
consider written materials submitted after the close of the
public comment period, with exceptions for materials
addressing new information released after the close of the
public comment period and permits a lead agency to elect to
ignore written materials submitted after the close of the
public comment period and provides that such materials shall
not be raised in judicial review.
7)Authorizes referral of a proposed action to adopt or
substantially amend a general plan to an adjacent local
government to be conducted concurrently with a scoping meeting
required by CEQA for a project of statewide, regional or
area-wide significance, and authorizes a local agency to
submit its comments on the proposed general plan action at a
CEQA scoping meeting.
8)Authorizes the owner of a proposed solar thermal powerplant to
petition the California Energy Commission, by June 30, 2012,
to review an amendment to an existing and certified permit
application to convert the proposed project to solar
photovoltaic technology if the owner filed the original
application with the commission after August 15, 2007.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potential costs in 2011-12 to OPR to develop CEQA guidelines
and to the Secretary to certify and adopt them. If the work
of OPR is part of the normal CEQA guideline development
process then costs will be minor and absorbable. If, however,
the work happens outside of the normal CEQA guideline
development process then OPR will face one-time costs of as
much as $150,000, equivalent to one staff member. (General
Fund or special funds.)
2)Minor, absorbable costs the Energy Commission to review
amendments to qualifying applications for solar thermal
powerplants. (Special fund.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author contends the harm caused by the severe
economic recession, particularly to the construction industry,
necessitates actions, entailed by this bill, to expedite
construction projects that, pursuant to existing statute, seek
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to integrate land use planning, transportation investments and
climate policy.
2)Background.
a) The California Environmental Quality Act . 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.
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.
CEQA allows a lead agency to prepare a supplemental EIR,
instead of a completely new EIR, to account for minor
additions or changes to the project not covered in the
original EIR. Conversely, substantial changes to a project
would require a lead agency to prepare a new EIR.
b) SB 375 (Chapter 726, Statutes of 2008, Steinberg)
requires metropolitan planning organizations to (i) include
sustainable communities strategies in their regional
transportation plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
(ii) align planning for transportation and housing and
(iii) create incentives for the implementation of the
strategies.
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3)Support. At the time this analysis was prepared, the
committee had not received any formal notification of support
for this bill.
4)Opposition. This bill is opposed by the California Chamber of
Commerce, the California Building Industry Association and
other industry groups, who contend the bill's provisions
providing limited CEQA exemptions for infill projects make it
impossible for any infill project to qualify for the
exemption.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081