BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: SB
1520
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 1520 Author: Calderon
As Introduced: February 24, 2012
Hearing Date: April 24, 2012
Consultant: Paul Donahue
SUBJECT
Streamlined Permit Review Team
DESCRIPTION
This bill establishes a Streamlined Permit Review Team,
consisting of the Secretary of Business, Transportation and
Housing, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and
the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Review Team, when requested by a permit
applicant, to convene a hearing of the permitting
agencies having jurisdiction over the project, to
coordinate actions on permits to help reduce or eliminate
unnecessary delay and paperwork, and to ensure that the
permitting agencies have necessary information.
2)Requires a permitting agency to determine the
completeness of an application within 30 days, or request
additional information from the applicant, and act on a
permit as soon as possible, but in any case no later than
the time permitted by law.
3)Specifies that if a permitting agency fails to act on a
completed permit application for a project as soon as
reasonably possible, the permit shall be deemed approved,
after which the agency must provide public notice of the
approval action in the same form and manner as it would
SB 1520 (Calderon) continued
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under existing law.
4)Provides that these time limits may be extended upon
mutual written agreement of the lead agency and a
permitting agency, and do not apply if federal laws or
rules establish different time schedules that may affect
the disposition of the project.
5)Declares that, except as otherwise provided, these
provisions do not affect in any manner the requirements,
duties, or authority of a permitting agency established
by statute.
6)Declares that the regulatory provisions of the Permit
Streamlining Act and this bill do not affect the
authority of an agency to adopt regulations.
7)Except for a report to the Governor and the Legislature
due on March 1, 2015, this urgency bill sunsets on
January 1, 2014.
8)Requires a statement of reasons for adoption of a
regulation to include a standardized impact analysis for
each major regulation<1> proposed after November 1, 2013,
instead of January 1, 2013 as provided in existing law.
EXISTING LAW
1)Prescribes specific procedures for the review and
approval of permits for development projects in the
state. The Permit Streamlining Act (PSA):
a) Requires public agencies to provide detailed
information that will be required from an applicant
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<1> A "major regulation" is one that will have an economic
impact on California business enterprises and individuals
in an amount exceeding $50 million, as estimated by the
agency adopting the regulation.
SB 1520 (Calderon) continued
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for a development project.<2>
b) Requires a lead agency for a development project to
approve or disapprove the project within 6 months
after the Environmental Impact Report is certified, or
within 3 months from the date of adoption of a
Negative Declaration or a determination by the lead
agency that the development project is exempt from
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), unless
the project proponent requests an extension of time.
c) If no action is taken within the allotted time
after CEQA review is complete, the project may be
deemed approved, except that an application can only
be deemed approved as a result of that failure to act
if specified requirements for public notice and review
have been satisfied.
2)The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) establishes
rulemaking procedures and standards for the adoption,
amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies,
including a requirement that an agency adopting a major
regulation to release a standardized economic impact
analysis.
BACKGROUND
1) Author's purpose : The author states that, from a
substantive regulatory standpoint, this bill would create
a "one-stop shop" permitting process, which has been
modeled on trailblazing legislation that aided recovery
from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The author states
that the agency secretaries on the Streamlined Permit
Review Team would be authorized to convene appropriate
state-level boards and departments in a single unified
process to expedite permitting and resolve interagency
inconsistencies or overlap.
2) Streamlined Permit Review Team : This bill adds Article
5.5 to the existing Permit Streamlining Act (PSA). It
establishes a permit review team comprised of 3 state
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<2> A "development" means placement of any solid material
or structure on land or water; discharge of dredged
material or any gas, liquid, or solid waste; mining or
extraction of any materials; change in land use or water
use; timber operations; and removal of vegetation or kelp
harvesting. (Govt. Code � 65927)
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agency heads. Upon request of a development project
applicant, the team would convene a hearing of the
permitting agencies having jurisdiction over the project,
to coordinate actions on permits to help reduce or
eliminate unnecessary inconsistencies, delay,
duplication, overlap or paperwork associated with the
issuance of multiple permits.
Some of the provisions in this bill are very similar
to existing law found in the PSA. For instance, this
bill specifies that if a permitting agency fails to act
on a completed permit application for a project no later
than the time specified in the PSA, the failure to act
shall be deemed approval of the permit application for
the project, in accordance with the requirements of the
PSA. However, the permitting agency must provide public
notice when the project is deemed approved.<3>
The PSA specifies that, in the event that a lead
agency or a responsible agency fails to act to approve or
to disapprove a development project within the required
time limits, the failure to act shall be deemed approval
of the permit application for the development project.
However, the permit shall be deemed approved only if
public notice has occurred. �Govt. Code � 65956 (b)]
Another provision in this bill states that the
specified time limits shall not apply if federal
statutes, regulations, or delegation agreements establish
time schedules that differ from those time limits, and
failure to comply with federal time schedules could
affect the disposition of the project. <4> The PSA states
that the "time limits established by this article shall
not apply in the event that federal statutes or
regulations require time schedules which exceed such time
limits." �Govt. Code � 65954]
Finally, this bill declares that it does not affect
in any manner the requirements, duties, or authority of a
permitting agency established by statute. In addition,
the bill declares that nothing in the PSA shall be
construed to affect the authority or requirement for an
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<3> See proposed Section 65958.5(d) (2) on page 9
<4> See proposed Section 65958.5(f) on page 9
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agency to adopt regulations as provided by statute.<5>
As noted above, some provisions of this bill
essentially recast existing law within the PSA. It would
seem that a clearer approach would be to incorporate by
reference the existing provisions of the PSA. To that
end, the author and the Committee may wish to consider
amendments to the bill that leave intact provisions
enacting the permit review team and defining its
functions, delete subdivisions (c) through (h) of
proposed Govt. Code � 65958.5. �Page 8, line 39 and 40,
and page 9, line 1 through 31, inclusive], and in place
of these provisions, incorporate by reference the
relevant provisions of the PSA.
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<5> See proposed Section 65958.5(g) and (h) on page 9
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PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 617 (Calderon) Chapter 496, Statutes of 2011 . Revises
various provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act
(APA) and requires each state agency to prepare a
standardized regulatory impact analysis, as specified, with
respect to the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a major
regulation, proposed on or after November 1, 2013.
AB 49 (Gatto) 2011-2012 Session . Would have required the
Office of Permit Assistance to provide information to
developers explaining the permit approval process at the
state and local levels, or assisting them in meeting
statutory environmental quality requirements. (Held in
Assembly Appropriations)
SB 959 (Ducheny) 2009-2010 Session . Among other things,
would have required the Office of Permit Assistance to
provide information to developers explaining the permit
approval process at the state and local levels, or
assisting them in meeting statutory environmental quality
requirements. (Vetoed)
AB 1805 (Calderon) and SB 1010 (Correa) 2009-2010 Session .
Would have created a CEQA litigation protection pilot
program that would have allowed the BT&H agency to exempt
100 projects over four years from judicial review based on
CEQA. (Failed passage in Assembly Natural Resources and
Senate Environmental Quality Committees, respectively)
AB 8 XX (Nestande) Chapter 6, Statutes of 2009 .
Temporarily established an expedited permit streamlining
procedure for specified projects by accelerating permit
review, issuance, or denial of permits for the projects
without affecting the underlying authority of permitting
agencies.
SUPPORT:
None on file
OPPOSE:
None on file
DUAL REFERRAL: Senate Environmental Quality Committee
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FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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