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Bills

SB 270: California Environmental Quality Act: university housing development projects: exemption.

  • Session Year: 2023-2024
  • House: Senate

Current Status:

Failed

(2024-02-01: Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.)

Introduced

First Committee Review

First Chamber

Second Committee Review

Second Chamber

Enacted

Version:

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.

CEQA requires a lead agency to prepare an environmental impact report when designating a housing sustainability district to identify and mitigate, to the extent feasible, environmental impacts resulting from the designation.CEQA exempts from its requirements a housing project undertaken in a housing sustainability district designated by a local government if specified requirements are met, including that the lead agency has certified an environmental impact report for the district, and the Department of Housing and Community Development has approved the district, within 10 years of the lead agencys review of the housing project.This bill would instead allow the exemption to apply if the lead agency has certified an environmental impact report for the district, and the Department of Housing and Community Development has approved the district, within 12 years of the lead agencys review of the housing project.

Existing law, until January 1, 2030, exempts from CEQA a university housing development project carried out by a public university on real property owned by the public university if the project meets certain requirements, including that each building within the project is certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum or better by the United States Green Building Council. Existing law requires the lead agency, if the university housing development project is exempt from CEQA under the above provision, to file the LEED certificate for buildings within the project and a notice determining that the construction impacts of the project have been fully mitigated with the Office of Planning and Research and the county clerk of the county in which the project is located.

This bill would revise the exemption for a university housing development project to require each building within the project to be certified as LEED gold with a point total of 79 or better. Because the bill would result in additional university housing development projects being exempt from CEQA, thereby increasing the duties of the county clerk, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Discussed in Hearing

Assembly Standing Committee on Natural Resources13MIN
Mar 19, 2024

Assembly Standing Committee on Natural Resources

Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality4MIN
Apr 26, 2023

Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality

View Older Hearings

News Coverage:

SB 270: California Environmental Quality Act: university housing development projects: exemption. | Digital Democracy