BILL NUMBER: AB 2605 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nazarian
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 488 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to public utilities. Sections 65460.5 and
65923.8 of, and to repeal Section 66033 of, the Government Code, to
amend Section 25199.7 of, and to repeal Section 25199.4
of, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 25616 of the
Public Resources Code, relating to state government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2605, as amended, Nazarian. Public utilities: tariff
schedules. State government: Office of Permit
Assistance.
Previously existing law established the Office of Permit
Assistance within the Trade and Commerce Agency to, among other
things, provide information to developers relating to the permit
approval process. Under existing law, a state agency which is the
lead agency for a development project is required to inform the
applicant for a permit that the Office of Permit Assistance has been
created for this purpose.
This bill would instead require a state agency that is a lead
agency for a development project to inform the applicant for a permit
that the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development has
been created for this purpose. The bill would also delete various
obsolete provisions relating to the Office of Permit Assistance.
Existing law establishes procedures for a land use decision by a
local agency concerning a specified hazardous waste facility project,
as defined. Existing law requires the Office of Permit Assistance to
take specified actions with regard to land use decisions regarding a
proposed hazardous waste facility project.
This bill would transfer these duties to the Department of Toxic
Substances Control.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including common carriers, as
defined, subject to the preemptive authority of Congress pursuant to
the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The Public
Utilities Act requires the tariff schedules of carriers to be
produced and made available for inspection upon the demand of any
person.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
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. Section 65460.5 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
65460.5. A city or county establishing a district and preparing a
plan pursuant to this article shall: shall
be eligible for available transportation funding.
(a) Be eligible for available transportation funding.
(b) Receive assistance from the Office of Permit Assistance,
pursuant to Section 15399.53, in establishing an expedited permit
process pursuant to Section 15399.50, at the request of the city or
county.
SEC. 2. Section 65923.8 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
65923.8. Any state agency which is the lead agency for a
development project shall inform the applicant for a permit that the
Office of Permit Assistance Governor's Office
of Business and Economic Development has been created
in the Office of Planning and Research to assist, and
provide information to, developers relating to the permit approval
process.
SEC. 3. Section 66033 of the Government
Code is repealed.
66033. (a) At the end of the mediation, the mediator shall file a
report with the Office of Permit Assistance, consistent with Chapter
2 (commencing with Section 1115) of Division 9 of the Evidence Code,
containing each of the following:
(1) The title of the action.
(2) The names of the parties to the action.
(3) An estimate of the costs avoided, if any, because the parties
used mediation instead of litigation to resolve their dispute.
(b) The sole purpose of the report required by this section is the
collection of information needed by the office to prepare its report
to the Legislature pursuant to Section 66036.
SEC. 4. Section 25199.4 of the Health
and Safety Code is repealed.
25199.4. The Office of Permit Assistance in the Office of
Planning and Research shall, for any proposed hazardous waste
facility project, do all of the following:
(a) Assist in identifying state and local permits required for
the proposed hazardous waste facility project.
(b) Convene meetings or conferences, as necessary, prior to the
submittal of applications for permits to state and local agencies,
for the purpose of determining the scope of the hazardous waste
facility project, identifying the questions that state and local
agencies will have concerning the project, and determining
decisionmaking schedules.
(c) Assist state and local agencies in consolidating public
meetings and hearings permitted or required by law or regulation for
approval of the permits for the project.
(d) Encourage the joint review and processing of applications for
permits.
(e) Work with the applicant and public agencies to ensure that
decisionmaking deadlines are met.
(f) Call meetings or conferences to resolve questions or mediate
disputes arising from applications for a permit for a hazardous waste
facility project.
SEC. 5. Section 25199.7 of the Health
and Safety Code is amended to read:
25199.7. (a) At least 90 days before filing an application for a
land use decision for a specified hazardous waste facility project
with a local agency, the proponent shall file a notice of intent to
make the application with the Office of Permit Assistance in
the Office of Planning and Research Department of
Toxic Substances Control and with the applicable city or
county. The notice of intent shall specify the location to which the
notice of intent is applicable and shall contain a complete
description of the nature, function, and scope of the project. The
Office of Permit Assistance Department of
Toxic Substances Control shall immediately notify affected
state agencies of the notice of intent. The local agency shall
publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area
affected by the proposed project, shall post notices in the location
where the proposed project is located, and shall notify, by a direct
mailing, the owners of contiguous property, as shown in the latest
equalized assessment roll. A notice of intent filed with a local
agency shall be accompanied by a fee which shall be set by the local
agency in an amount equal to the local agency's cost of processing
the notice of intent and carrying out the notification requirements
of this subdivision. A notice of intent is not transferable to a
location other than the location specified in the notice and shall
remain in effect for one year from the date it is filed with a local
agency or until it is withdrawn by the proponent, whichever is
earlier.
(b) A notice of intent is not effective and a proponent may not
file an application for a land use decision for a specified hazardous
waste facility project with a local agency unless the proponent has
first complied with subdivision (a).
(c) Within 90 days after a notice of intent is filed with the
Office of Permit Assistance Department of
Toxic Substances Control pursuant to subdivision (a), the
office department shall convene a
public meeting in the affected city or county to inform the public on
the nature, function, and scope of the proposed specified hazardous
waste facility project and the procedures that are required for
approving applications for the project.
(d) The legislative body of the affected local agency shall
appoint a seven member local assessment committee to advise it in
considering an application for a land use decision for a specified
hazardous waste facility project. The members of the local assessment
committee may be appointed at any time after the notice of intent is
filed with the local agency but shall be appointed not later than 30
days after the application for the land use decision is accepted as
complete by the local agency. The local agency shall charge the
project proponent a fee to cover the local agency's costs of
establishing and convening the local assessment committee. The fee
shall accompany the application for a land use decision.
(1) The membership of the committee shall be broadly constituted
to reflect the makeup of the community, and shall include three
representatives of the community at large, two representatives of
environmental or public interest groups, and two representatives of
affected businesses and industries. Members of local assessment
committees selected pursuant to this subdivision shall have no direct
financial interest, as defined in Section 87103 of the Government
Code, in the proposed specified hazardous waste facility project.
(2) The local assessment committee shall, as its primary function,
advise the appointing legislative body of the affected local agency
of the terms and conditions under which the proposed hazardous waste
facility project may be acceptable to the community. To carry out
this function, the local assessment committee shall do all of the
following:
(A) Enter into a dialogue with the proponent for the proposed
hazardous waste facility project to reach an understanding with the
proponent on both of the following:
(i) The measures that should be taken by the proponent in
connection with the operation of the proposed hazardous waste
facility project to protect the public health, safety, and welfare,
and the environment of the city or county.
(ii) The special benefits and remuneration the facility proponent
will provide the city or county as compensation for the local costs
associated with the operation of the facility.
(B) Represent generally, in meetings with the project proponent,
the interests of the residents of the city or county and the
interests of adjacent communities.
(C) Receive and expend any technical assistance grants made
available pursuant to subdivision (g).
(D) Adopt rules and procedures which are necessary to perform its
duties.
(E) Advise the legislative body of the city or county of the
terms, provisions, and conditions for project approval which have
been agreed upon by the committee and the proponent, and of any
additional information which the committee deems appropriate. The
legislative body of the city or county may use this advice for its
independent consideration of the project.
(3) The legislative body of the affected jurisdiction shall
provide staff resources to assist the local assessment committee in
performing its duties.
(4) A local assessment committee established pursuant to this
subdivision shall cease to exist after final administrative action by
state and local agencies has been taken on the permit applications
for the project for which the committee was convened.
(e) A local agency shall notify the Office of Permit
Assistance Department of Toxic Substances Control
within 10 days after an application for a land use decision for
a specified hazardous waste facility project is accepted as complete
by the local agency and, within 60 days after receiving this notice,
the Office of Permit Assistance Department
of Toxic Substances Control shall convene a meeting of the lead
and responsible agencies for the project, the proponent, the local
assessment committee, and the interested public, for the purpose of
determining the issues which concern the agencies that are required
to approve the project and the issues which concern the public. The
meeting shall take place in the jurisdiction where the application
has been filed.
(f) Following the meeting required by subdivision (e), the
proponent and the local assessment committee appointed pursuant to
subdivision (d) shall meet and confer on the specified hazardous
waste facility project proposal for the purpose of establishing the
terms and conditions under which the project will be acceptable to
the community.
(g) (1) If the local assessment committee finds that it requires
assistance and independent advice to adequately review a proposed
hazardous waste facility project, it may request technical assistance
grants from the local agency to enable the committee to hire a
consultant. The committee may use technical assistance grant funds
made available to it to hire a consultant to do either, or both, of
the following:
(A) Assist the committee in reviewing and evaluating the
application for the project, the environmental documents prepared for
the project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code) and any other documents, materials, and information that are
required by a public agency in connection with the application for a
land use decision or a permit.
(B) Advise the local assessment committee in its meetings and
discussions with the facility proponent to seek agreement on the
terms and conditions under which the project will be acceptable to
the community.
(2) The local agency shall require the proponent of the proposed
hazardous waste facility project to pay a fee equal to the amount of
any technical assistance grant provided the local assessment
committee under paragraph (1). The funds received as a result of the
imposition of the fee shall be used to make technical assistance
grants exclusively for the purposes described in paragraph (1).
(3) The local agency shall deposit any fee imposed pursuant to
paragraph (2) in an account created in the city or county treasury,
maintain records of all expenditures from the account, and return any
unused funds and accrued interest to the project proponent upon
completion of the review of the proposed hazardous waste facility
project.
(h) If the local assessment committee and the proponent cannot
resolve any differences through the meetings, the Office of Permit
Assistance may assist in this resolution pursuant to Section 25199.4.
(i)
(h) This section applies only to a specified hazardous
waste facility project.
SEC. 6. Section 25616 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
25616. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage local
agencies to expeditiously review permit applications to site energy
projects, and to encourage energy project developers to consider all
cost-effective and environmentally superior alternatives that achieve
their project objectives.
(b) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated therefor,
the commission shall provide technical assistance and grants-in-aid
to assist local agencies to do either or both of the following:
(1) Site energy production or transmission projects which are not
otherwise subject to the provisions of Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 25500).
(2) Integrate into their planning processes, and incorporate into
their general plans, methods to achieve cost-effective energy
efficiency.
(c) The commission shall provide assistance at the request of
local agencies and shall coordinate that assistance with the
assistance provided by the Department of Permit Assistance, created
pursuant to Section 15399.50 of the Government Code.
agencies.
(d) As used in this section, an energy project is any project
designed to produce, convert, or transmit energy as one of its
primary functions.
SECTION 1. Section 488 of the Public Utilities
Code is amended to read:
488. (a) Subject to any rules the commission may prescribe, the
schedules of carriers shall be produced and made available for
inspection upon the demand of any person. The form of a schedule
shall be prescribed by the commission and shall conform, in the case
of any common carrier subject to federal regulation, as nearly as
possible to the form of schedules prescribed by the federal Surface
Transportation Board.
(b) Subdivision (a) is not applicable to network railroad
transportation.