BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 226|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 226
Author: Simitian (D)
Amended: 9/9/11 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 3/21/11
AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 36-0, 4/14/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson,
Evans, Fuller, Hancock, Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La Malfa,
Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Rubio, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg,
Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Correa, Gaines, Harman, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 59-12, 9/9/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Environmental Quality
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill, under the California Environmental
Quality Act, revises the scoping procedures by authorizing
referral of a proposed action to adopt or substantially
amend a general plan to a city or county under Government
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Code Section 65352 to be conducted concurrently with the
scoping meeting, and authorizes the city or county to
submit its comments at the scoping meeting.
Assembly Amendments also establishes exemption and limits
to environmental review under the California Environmental
Quality Act for specified projects and provide that the
thermal powerplants certification process will be
applicable to owners of specified proposed solar thermal
powerplants who are proposing to convert the facility from
solar thermal technology to photovoltaic technology.
ANALYSIS : California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared,
and certify the completion of, an environmental impact
report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry
out or approve that may have a significant effect on the
environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration
if it finds that the project will not have that effect.
CEQA requires a lead agency to call a scoping meeting for a
project of statewide, regional, or area-wide significance,
and requires the lead agency to provide notice of at least
one of those scoping meetings to specified entities,
including a county or city that borders on a county or city
within which the project is located, unless otherwise
designated annually by agreement between the lead agency
and county or city.
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
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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. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
Background
CEQA . CEQA provides a process for evaluating the
environmental effects of a project, and includes statutory
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exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in CEQA's
guidelines. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an
initial study is prepared to determine whether a project
may have a significant effect on the environment. If the
initial study shows that there would not be a significant
effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a
negative declaration. If the initial study shows that the
project may have a significant effect on the environment,
the lead agency must prepare an environmental impact report
(EIR).
Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed
project, identify and analyze each significant
environmental impact expected to result from the proposed
project, identify mitigation measures to reduce those
impacts to the extent feasible, and evaluate a range of
reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. Prior to
approving any project that has received environmental
review, an agency must make certain findings. If
mitigation measures are required or incorporated into a
project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring
program to ensure compliance with those measures.
If a mitigation measure causes one or more significant
effects in addition to those that is caused by the proposed
project, the effects of the mitigation measure must be
discussed but in less detail than the significant effects
of the proposed project.
Comments
The author's office 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 to integrate land use planning,
transportation investments and climate policy.
Related Legislation
This bill is similar to SB 1464 (Simitian), 2009-10
Session, which was approved by the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee (7-0) on April 20, 2010, the Senate Floor
(Consent, 35-0) on April 26, 2010, the Assembly Natural
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Resources Committee (7-0) on June 22, 2010, and the
Assembly Floor (Consent, 76-0) on July 1, 2010. The bill
was then withdrawn from enrollment for purposes of adding
double-jointing amendments and was held at the Assembly
Desk.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 59-12, 9/9/11
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi,
Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Mitchell, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Solorio, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, John
A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Grove, Halderman, Harkey, Logue, Mansoor,
Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Swanson, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Fong, Gorell, Monning,
Morrell, Nestande, Skinner, Smyth, Yamada
DLW:do 10/4/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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