BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1520
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 1520 (Calderon) - As Amended:  May 30, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Business and 
          Professions  Vote:                            9 - 0 

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to 
          provide information to a permit applicant regarding the permit 
          process for a proposed development project, revises an 
          implementation date, and makes other conforming changes.  
          Specifically, this bill:   

          1)Requires OPR to provide information to an applicant for a 
            permit explaining the permit approval process.

          2)Authorizes OPR to call a conference of parties, at the state 
            level, to resolve questions or mediate disputes arising from a 
            permit application for a development project.

          3)Allows OPR to charge a permit applicant for a proposed 
            development project a fee that does not exceed estimated 
            reasonable costs of providing the service.

          4)Requires a statement of reasons for the adoption, amendment or 
            repeal of a regulation to include a standardized impact 
            analysis for each major regulation proposed after November 1, 
            2013, instead of January 1, 2013, under existing law. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          On-going costs, likely in the range of $200,000 to $400,000 GF, 
          for the additional workload associated with providing permit 
          assistance. Those costs may be partially offset with a fee. 

          COMMENTS  









                                                                  SB 1520
                                                                 Page  2

           1)Purpose  . The author states that this bill is an attempt to 
            encourage a quicker review of applications for pending 
            California development and other projects to expedite review 
            and processing under applicable California law. 

           2)Background  . In the 1980s through the early 2000s, the state 
            had a unit for permit     assistance-first the Office of 
            Permit Assistance within OPR and later with the Department of 
            Permit Assistance within the Trade and Commerce Agency. In 
            2003, when the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency was 
            abolished, the state's permit assistance responsibilities were 
            repealed (AB 1757, Committee on Budget) Chapter 229, Statutes 
            of 2003. 

           3)Related Legislation  . There have been several attempts to 
            reestablish a different version of an Office of Permit 
            Assistance within OPR, including SB 959 (Ducheny) 2010, which 
            was vetoed and AB 49 (Gatto) 2011 and AB 1549 (Gatto) 2011, 
            which were both held by this committee.
           

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081