SB 948: California Environmental Quality Act community plans.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.

The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2011 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2021, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet certain requirements for CEQA streamlining benefits provided by that act. The act defines environmental leadership development project to include certain kinds of projects, including residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use projects that meet specified requirements. The act authorizes the Governor to certify a project as an environmental leadership development project if the project meets certain conditions, including, among other things, that the project will result in a minimum investment of $100,000,000 in California upon completion of construction and the project will not result in any net additional emissions of greenhouse gases. The act requires a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings for a certified project concurrent with the preparation of certain environmental documents.

This bill would specify that a authorize the Governor to certify updates to a community plan and the accompanying ordinances meeting specified requirements are a certified environmental leadership development project qualifying for as being eligible for the CEQA streamlining benefits provided by the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2011.