BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 880
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 880
AUTHOR: Corbett
AMENDED: March 21, 2011
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 4, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Randy Pestor
SUBJECT : CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), sets various notice requirements and:
1) Requires an agency to mail specified notices to any person
who has filed a written request for notices with either the
governing body clerk or the agency director. The agency
may require requests for notices to be annually renewed and
may charge a fee for providing the service. Notices to be
provided include the notice of preparation of an EIR (NOP),
scoping meeting notice, and a notice of determination
(NOD). (Public Resources Code �21092.2).
2) Requires a copy of a notice of completion of an EIR (NOC)
to be provided by the State Clearinghouse to any legislator
in whose district the project has an environmental impact
if the legislator requests the notice and the State
Clearinghouse has received it. (Public Resources Code
�21162).
This bill :
1) Requires a NOC to also be mailed to any person who has
filed a written request for notices.
2) Repeals the legislator NOC notice requirement, adds this
requirement under �21092.2, and also requires an NOP to be
provided to a legislator under the same conditions as for
receipt of a NOC.
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COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . Under current law, a person may file a
written request with an agency to receive certain CEQA
notices. However, this provision does not reference the
NOC. Current law also enables a legislator to receive a
NOC for a project in their district that has an
environmental impact, but there is no reference to the NOP.
According to the author, SB 880 "enables a person requesting
CEQA notices from public agencies to receive NOCs, along
with other notices required under current law." The author
also notes that SB 880 "provides an opportunity for
legislators to be aware of proposed projects having an
environmental impact in their district early in the CEQA
process - when there is an NOP for an EIR, rather than when
the NOC is filed. CEQA is an extremely important law in
California. SB 880 will help the Legislature learn more
about the projects under review in their districts."
2) Brief background on CEQA . CEQA provides a process for
evaluating the environmental effects of a project, and
includes statutory exemptions, as well as categorical
exemptions in the CEQA 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 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
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project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring
program to ensure compliance with those measures.
If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant
effects in addition to those that would be 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.
SOURCE : Senator Corbett
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file