BILL NUMBER: SB 250 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 15, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Rubio
FEBRUARY 10, 2011
An act to amend Section 21086 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to environmental quality. An act to add
Section 85320.5 to the Water Code, relating to the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 250, as amended, Rubio. Environment quality: CEQA:
categorical exemptions: addition and deletion.
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Delta Plan: conveyance facility.
Existing law imposes requirements on the Department of Water
Resources in connection with the preparation of a Bay Delta
Conservation Plan (BDCP).
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 requires the
Delta Stewardship Council to consider the BDCP for inclusion in a
specified Delta Plan, and requires the incorporation of the BDCP into
the Delta Plan if the BDCP meets certain requirements, including a
requirement that the BDCP include a comprehensive review and analysis
of a range of Delta conveyance alternatives, including
through-Delta, dual conveyance, and isolated conveyance alternatives
and capacity and design options of specified canals and pipelines.
This bill would require that the department's development of
certain Delta conveyance facilities be completed on or before
February 15, 2013, and would require that the construction of those
facilities be completed by December 31, 2025.
The California Environmental Quality Act requires the Office of
Planning and Research to adopt guidelines that include criteria for
public agencies to follow in determining whether or not a proposed
project may have a significant effect on the environment and a list
of classes of projects that are exempted from the act's requirements.
The act establishes procedures for the certification and adoption of
the guidelines. The act authorizes a public agency to request, in
writing, the addition or deletion of a class of projects to the list.
The office is required to review each request and, as soon as
possible, submit its recommendation to the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the
provision regarding the addition or deletion of a class of projects.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) California's water system is antiquated and straining to meet
the needs of its residents, farms, businesses, and environment.
Designed more than 50 years ago to serve a population of 16 million
residents, the state's major water infrastructure now serves more
than 36 million residents. California must upgrade the way it moves
its water while making the necessary investment to improve habitat in
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
(b) The Department of Water Resources is authorized to construct,
operate, and maintain the State Water Resources Development System
and the Feather River Project, commonly known as the State Water
Project.
(c) Seismologists predict a 66-percent probability of an
earthquake of greater than 6.5 magnitude by 2032. Experts have
concluded that a major earthquake in the Delta could cause multiple
levee failures, destroy local habitat and the economy, and cut off
water supplies to the 25 million Californians that live in areas
served with water conveyed through the Delta. Improving conveyance in
the Delta would protect against these possible disasters.
(d) Existing state policy is to improve the water conveyance
system in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 requires the Delta Stewardship
Council to incorporate the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) into
the Delta Plan if the BDCP meets certain requirements, including a
requirement that the BDCP include a comprehensive review and analysis
of a range of Delta conveyance alternatives, including
through-Delta, dual conveyance, and isolated conveyance alternatives
and capacity and design options of specified canals and pipelines.
SEC. 2. Section 85320.5 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
85320.5. The department's development of Delta conveyance
facilities, including facilities developed as part of the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan process or any other appropriate planning process,
and pursuant to this chapter, shall be completed on or before
February 15, 2013, and the construction of the facilities shall be
completed by December 31, 2025.
SECTION 1. Section 21086 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
21086. (a) A public agency may, at any time, request the addition
or deletion of a class of projects, to the list designated pursuant
to Section 21084. That request shall be made in writing to the Office
of Planning and Research and shall include information supporting
the public agency's position that the class of projects does, or does
not, have a significant effect on the environment.
(b) The Office of Planning and Research shall review each request
and, as soon as possible, shall submit its recommendation to the
Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency pursuant to Sections 21083
and 21084. Following the receipt of that recommendation, the
Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency may add or delete the class
of projects to the list of classes of projects designated pursuant
to Section 21084 that are exempt from the requirements of this
division.
(c) The addition or deletion of a class of projects, as provided
in this section, to the list specified in Section 21084 shall
constitute an amendment to the guidelines adopted pursuant to Section
21083 and shall be adopted in the manner prescribed in Sections
21083 and 21084.