SB 122: California Environmental Quality Act: record of proceedings.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Senate
- Latest Version Date: 2016-09-22
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)CEQA requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA for review and comment by state agencies in certain circumstances and a copy of those documents in electronic form, as prescribed. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to implement, utilizing existing resources, a public assistance program to, among other things, establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents, establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of certain notices provided to the office, and provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the office pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse those environmental documents in either a hard-copy or electronic form as prescribed by the office. The bill would instead require the office to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public. The bill would eliminate the requirement to provide copies of documents to the California State Library. The bill would require the office to submit to the Legislature a report, by July 1, 2017, describing the implementation of this requirement and a status report, by July 1, 2019.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)CEQA requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA for review and comment by state agencies in certain circumstances and a copy of those documents in electronic form, as prescribed. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to implement, utilizing existing resources, a public assistance program to, among other things, establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents, establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of certain notices provided to the office, and provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the office pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse those environmental documents in either a hard-copy or electronic form as prescribed by the office. The bill would instead require the office to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public. The bill would eliminate the requirement to provide copies of documents to the California State Library. The bill would require the office to submit to the Legislature a report, by July 1, 2017, describing the implementation of this requirement and a status report, by July 1, 2019.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)CEQA requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA for review and comment by state agencies in certain circumstances and a copy of those documents in electronic form, as prescribed. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to implement, utilizing existing resources, a public assistance program to, among other things, establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents, establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of certain notices provided to the office, and provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the office pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse those environmental documents in either a hard-copy or electronic form as prescribed by the office. The bill would instead require the office to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public. The bill would eliminate the requirement to provide copies of documents to the California State Library. The bill would require the office to submit to the Legislature a report, by July 1, 2016, 2017, describing the implementation of this requirement and a status report, by July 1, 2018. 2019.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)CEQA requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA for review and comment by state agencies in certain circumstances and a copy of those documents in electronic form, as prescribed. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to implement, utilizing existing resources, a public assistance program to, among other things, establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents, establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of certain notices provided to the office, and provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the office pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse those environmental documents in either a hard-copy or electronic form as prescribed by the office. The bill would instead require the office to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public. The bill would eliminate the requirement to provide copies of documents to the California State Library. The bill would require the office to submit to the Legislature a report, by July 1, 2016, describing the implementation of this requirement and a status report, by July 1, 2018.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)CEQA requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA for review and comment by state agencies in certain circumstances and a copy of those documents in electronic form, as prescribed. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to implement, utilizing existing resources, a public assistance program to, among other things, establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents, and establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of certain notices provided to the office, and provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the office pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse those environmental documents in the form either a hard-copy or electronic form as prescribed by the office. The bill would instead require the office to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public. The bill would eliminate the requirement to provide copies of documents to the California State Library. The bill would require the office to submit to the Legislature a report, by July 1, 2016, describing the implementation of this requirement and a status report, by July 1, 2018.
(3)This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to CEQA.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)CEQA requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA for review and comment by state agencies in certain circumstances and a copy of those documents in electronic form, as prescribed. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to implement, utilizing existing resources, a public assistance program to, among other things, establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents, and a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of certain notices provided to the office, and provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the office pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse environmental documents in the form prescribed by the office. The bill would instead require the office to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public. The bill would eliminate the requirement to provide copies of documents to the California State Library. The bill would require the office to submit to the Legislature a report, by July 1, 2016, describing the implementation of this requirement and a status report, by July 1, 2018.
(2)The
(3)This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing an electronic database clearinghouse of notices and environmental documents prepared pursuant to CEQA, establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to CEQA.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing an electronic database clearinghouse of notices and environmental document documents prepared pursuant to CEQA, establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to CEQA.
(1)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 (EIR) 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 establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agencys action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA.
This bill would require the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant and consent of the lead agency, to prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, EIR, or other environmental document for projects.
(2)The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing an electronic database clearinghouse of notices and environmental document prepared pursuant to CEQA, establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to CEQA.
(a)A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
(b)This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
(c)The lead agency shall do all of the following:
(1)Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
(2)Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
(3)As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
(4)Submit a sufficient number of copies, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, of the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies, if any of the following apply:
(A)A state agency is any of the following:
(i)The lead agency.
(ii)A responsible agency.
(iii)A trustee agency.
(B)A state agency otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project.
(C)The proposed project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to the guidelines certified and adopted pursuant to Section 21083.
SEC. 2.Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21091.(a)The public review period for a draft environmental impact report shall not be less than 30 days. If the draft environmental impact report is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 45 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(b)The public review period for a proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration shall not be less than 20 days. If the proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 30 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), if a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review and the period of review by the State Clearinghouse is longer than the public review period established pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review and comment by state agencies as established by the State Clearinghouse.
(2)The public review period and the state agency review period may, but are not required to, begin and end at the same time. Day one of the state agency review period shall be the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the CEQA document to state agencies.
(3)If the submittal of a CEQA document is determined by the State Clearinghouse to be complete, the State Clearinghouse shall distribute the document within three working days from the date of receipt. The State Clearinghouse shall specify the information that will be required in order to determine the completeness of the submittal of a CEQA document.
(d)(1)The lead agency shall consider comments it receives on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration if those comments are received within the public review period.
(2)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues that are received from persons who have reviewed the draft and shall prepare a written response pursuant to subparagraph (B). The lead agency may also respond to comments that are received after the close of the public review period.
(B)The written response shall describe the disposition of each significant environmental issue that is raised by commenters. The responses shall be prepared consistent with Section 15088 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice pursuant to Section 21080.4, the lead agency shall accept comments via electronic mail and shall treat electronic-mail comments as equivalent to written comments.
(B)Any law or regulation relating to written comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice received pursuant to Section 21080.4 shall also apply to electronic-mail comments received for those reasons.
(e)(1)Criteria for shorter review periods by the State Clearinghouse for documents that must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse shall be set forth in the written guidelines issued by the Office of Planning and Research and made available to the public.
(2)Those shortened review periods may not be less than 30 days for a draft environmental impact report and 20 days for a negative declaration.
(3)A request for a shortened review period shall only be made in writing by the decisionmaking body of the lead agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decisionmaking body may designate by resolution or ordinance a person authorized to request a shortened review period. A designated person shall notify the decisionmaking body of this request.
(4)A request approved by the State Clearinghouse shall be consistent with the criteria set forth in the written guidelines of the Office of Planning and Research.
(5)A shortened review period may not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to Section 21083.
(6)An approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice required pursuant to Section 21092.
(f)Prior to carrying out or approving a project for which a negative declaration has been adopted, the lead agency shall consider the negative declaration together with comments that were received and considered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
SEC. 3.Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21159.9.The Office of Planning and Research shall implement a public assistance and information program to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this division and to do both of the following:
(a)Establish a public education and training program for planners, developers, and other interested parties to assist them in implementing this division.
(b)(1)Establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents, notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the Office of Planning and Research. The database shall be available online to the public through the Internet. The Office of Planning and Research may coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the online database.
(2)The Office of Planning and Research may phase in the submission of electronic documents and use of the database by state and local public agencies.
(3)(A)Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the Office of Planning and Research shall, no later than July 1, 2017, submit to the Legislature a report describing how it plans to implement this subdivision, and shall provide an additional report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2019, describing the status of the implementation of this subdivision.
(B)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2023.
SEC. 4.Section 21167.6 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21167.6.Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 5.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS; DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE; AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1032 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
(a)A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
(b)This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
(c)The lead agency shall do all of the following:
(1)Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
(2)Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
(3)As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
(4)Submit a sufficient number of copies, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, of the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies, if any of the following apply:
(A)A state agency is any of the following:
(i)The lead agency.
(ii)A responsible agency.
(iii)A trustee agency.
(B)A state agency otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project.
(C)The proposed project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to the guidelines certified and adopted pursuant to Section 21083.
SEC. 2.Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21091.(a)The public review period for a draft environmental impact report shall not be less than 30 days. If the draft environmental impact report is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 45 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(b)The public review period for a proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration shall not be less than 20 days. If the proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 30 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), if a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review and the period of review by the State Clearinghouse is longer than the public review period established pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review and comment by state agencies as established by the State Clearinghouse.
(2)The public review period and the state agency review period may, but are not required to, begin and end at the same time. Day one of the state agency review period shall be the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the CEQA document to state agencies.
(3)If the submittal of a CEQA document is determined by the State Clearinghouse to be complete, the State Clearinghouse shall distribute the document within three working days from the date of receipt. The State Clearinghouse shall specify the information that will be required in order to determine the completeness of the submittal of a CEQA document.
(d)(1)The lead agency shall consider comments it receives on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration if those comments are received within the public review period.
(2)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues that are received from persons who have reviewed the draft and shall prepare a written response pursuant to subparagraph (B). The lead agency may also respond to comments that are received after the close of the public review period.
(B)The written response shall describe the disposition of each significant environmental issue that is raised by commenters. The responses shall be prepared consistent with Section 15088 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice pursuant to Section 21080.4, the lead agency shall accept comments via electronic mail and shall treat electronic-mail comments as equivalent to written comments.
(B)Any law or regulation relating to written comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice received pursuant to Section 21080.4 shall also apply to electronic-mail comments received for those reasons.
(e)(1)Criteria for shorter review periods by the State Clearinghouse for documents that must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse shall be set forth in the written guidelines issued by the Office of Planning and Research and made available to the public.
(2)Those shortened review periods may not be less than 30 days for a draft environmental impact report and 20 days for a negative declaration.
(3)A request for a shortened review period shall only be made in writing by the decisionmaking body of the lead agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decisionmaking body may designate by resolution or ordinance a person authorized to request a shortened review period. A designated person shall notify the decisionmaking body of this request.
(4)A request approved by the State Clearinghouse shall be consistent with the criteria set forth in the written guidelines of the Office of Planning and Research.
(5)A shortened review period may not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to Section 21083.
(6)An approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice required pursuant to Section 21092.
(f)Prior to carrying out or approving a project for which a negative declaration has been adopted, the lead agency shall consider the negative declaration together with comments that were received and considered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
SEC. 3.Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21159.9.The Office of Planning and Research shall implement a public assistance and information program to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this division and to do both of the following:
(a)Establish a public education and training program for planners, developers, and other interested parties to assist them in implementing this division.
(b)(1)Establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents, notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the Office of Planning and Research. The database shall be available online to the public through the Internet. The Office of Planning and Research may coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the online database.
(2)The Office of Planning and Research may phase in the submission of electronic documents and use of the database by state and local public agencies.
(3)(A)Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the Office of Planning and Research shall, no later than July 1, 2017, submit to the Legislature a report describing how it plans to implement this subdivision, and shall provide an additional report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2019, describing the status of the implementation of this subdivision.
(B)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2023.
SEC. 4.Section 21167.6 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21167.6.Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 5.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS; DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE; AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1032 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
(a)A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
(b)This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
(c)The lead agency shall do all of the following:
(1)Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
(2)Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
(3)As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
(4)Submit a sufficient number of copies, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, of the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies, if any of the following apply:
(A)A state agency is any of the following:
(i)The lead agency.
(ii)A responsible agency.
(iii)A trustee agency.
(B)A state agency otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project.
(C)The proposed project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to the guidelines certified and adopted pursuant to Section 21083.
SEC. 2.Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21091.(a)The public review period for a draft environmental impact report shall not be less than 30 days. If the draft environmental impact report is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 45 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(b)The public review period for a proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration shall not be less than 20 days. If the proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 30 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), if a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review and the period of review by the State Clearinghouse is longer than the public review period established pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review and comment by state agencies as established by the State Clearinghouse.
(2)The public review period and the state agency review period may, but are not required to, begin and end at the same time. Day one of the state agency review period shall be the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the CEQA document to state agencies.
(3)If the submittal of a CEQA document is determined by the State Clearinghouse to be complete, the State Clearinghouse shall distribute the document within three working days from the date of receipt. The State Clearinghouse shall specify the information that will be required in order to determine the completeness of the submittal of a CEQA document.
(d)(1)The lead agency shall consider comments it receives on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration if those comments are received within the public review period.
(2)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues that are received from persons who have reviewed the draft and shall prepare a written response pursuant to subparagraph (B). The lead agency may also respond to comments that are received after the close of the public review period.
(B)The written response shall describe the disposition of each significant environmental issue that is raised by commenters. The responses shall be prepared consistent with Section 15088 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice pursuant to Section 21080.4, the lead agency shall accept comments via electronic mail and shall treat electronic-mail comments as equivalent to written comments.
(B)Any law or regulation relating to written comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice received pursuant to Section 21080.4 shall also apply to electronic-mail comments received for those reasons.
(e)(1)Criteria for shorter review periods by the State Clearinghouse for documents that must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse shall be set forth in the written guidelines issued by the Office of Planning and Research and made available to the public.
(2)Those shortened review periods may not be less than 30 days for a draft environmental impact report and 20 days for a negative declaration.
(3)A request for a shortened review period shall only be made in writing by the decisionmaking body of the lead agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decisionmaking body may designate by resolution or ordinance a person authorized to request a shortened review period. A designated person shall notify the decisionmaking body of this request.
(4)A request approved by the State Clearinghouse shall be consistent with the criteria set forth in the written guidelines of the Office of Planning and Research.
(5)A shortened review period may not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to Section 21083.
(6)An approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice required pursuant to Section 21092.
(f)Prior to carrying out or approving a project for which a negative declaration has been adopted, the lead agency shall consider the negative declaration together with comments that were received and considered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
SEC. 3.Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21159.9.The Office of Planning and Research shall implement a public assistance and information program to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this division and to do both of the following:
(a)Establish a public education and training program for planners, developers, and other interested parties to assist them in implementing this division.
(b)(1)Establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents, notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the Office of Planning and Research. The database shall be available online to the public through the Internet. The Office of Planning and Research may coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the online database.
(2)The Office of Planning and Research may phase in the submission of electronic documents and use of the database by state and local public agencies.
(3)(A)Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the Office of Planning and Research shall, no later than July 1, 2016, 2017, submit to the Legislature a report describing how it plans to implement this subdivision, and shall provide an additional report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2018, 2019, describing the status of the implementation of this subdivision.
(B)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2022. 2023.
SEC. 4.Section 21167.6 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21167.6.Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 5.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS; DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE; AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1032 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
(a)A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
(b)This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
(c)The lead agency shall do all of the following:
(1)Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
(2)Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
(3)As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
(4)Submit a sufficient number of copies, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, of the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies, if any of the following apply:
(A)A state agency is any of the following:
(i)The lead agency.
(ii)A responsible agency.
(iii)A trustee agency.
(B)A state agency otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project.
(C)The proposed project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to the guidelines certified and adopted pursuant to Section 21083.
SEC. 2.Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21091.(a)The public review period for a draft environmental impact report shall not be less than 30 days. If the draft environmental impact report is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 45 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(b)The public review period for a proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration shall not be less than 20 days. If the proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 30 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), if a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review and the period of review by the State Clearinghouse is longer than the public review period established pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review and comment by state agencies as established by the State Clearinghouse.
(2)The public review period and the state agency review period may, but are not required to, begin and end at the same time. Day one of the state agency review period shall be the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the CEQA document to state agencies.
(3)If the submittal of a CEQA document is determined by the State Clearinghouse to be complete, the State Clearinghouse shall distribute the document within three working days from the date of receipt. The State Clearinghouse shall specify the information that will be required in order to determine the completeness of the submittal of a CEQA document.
(d)(1)The lead agency shall consider comments it receives on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration if those comments are received within the public review period.
(2)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues that are received from persons who have reviewed the draft and shall prepare a written response pursuant to subparagraph (B). The lead agency may also respond to comments that are received after the close of the public review period.
(B)The written response shall describe the disposition of each significant environmental issue that is raised by commenters. The responses shall be prepared consistent with Section 15088 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice pursuant to Section 21080.4, the lead agency shall accept comments via electronic mail and shall treat electronic-mail comments as equivalent to written comments.
(B)Any law or regulation relating to written comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice received pursuant to Section 21080.4 shall also apply to electronic-mail comments received for those reasons.
(e)(1)Criteria for shorter review periods by the State Clearinghouse for documents that must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse shall be set forth in the written guidelines issued by the Office of Planning and Research and made available to the public.
(2)Those shortened review periods may not be less than 30 days for a draft environmental impact report and 20 days for a negative declaration.
(3)A request for a shortened review period shall only be made in writing by the decisionmaking body of the lead agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decisionmaking body may designate by resolution or ordinance a person authorized to request a shortened review period. A designated person shall notify the decisionmaking body of this request.
(4)A request approved by the State Clearinghouse shall be consistent with the criteria set forth in the written guidelines of the Office of Planning and Research.
(5)A shortened review period may not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to Section 21083.
(6)An approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice required pursuant to Section 21092.
(f)Prior to carrying out or approving a project for which a negative declaration has been adopted, the lead agency shall consider the negative declaration together with comments that were received and considered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
SEC. 3.Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21159.9.The Office of Planning and Research shall implement a public assistance and information program to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this division and to do both of the following:
(a)Establish a public education and training program for planners, developers, and other interested parties to assist them in implementing this division.
(b)(1)Establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents, notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the Office of Planning and Research. The database shall be available online to the public through the Internet. The Office of Planning and Research may coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the online database.
(2)The Office of Planning and Research may phase in the submission of electronic documents and use of the database by state and local public agencies.
(3)The Office of Planning and Research shall develop a budget for the development, hosting, and maintenance of the database and shall submit the budget to the Department of Finance for consideration and approval.
(4)
(3)(A)Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the Office of Planning and Research shall, no later than July 1, 2016, submit to the Legislature a report describing how it plans to implement this subdivision, and shall provide an additional report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2018, describing the status of the implementation of this subdivision.
(B)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2022.
SEC. 4.Section 21167.6 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21167.6.Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 5.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS; DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE; AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1032 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
(a)A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
(b)This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
(c)The lead agency shall do all of the following:
(1)Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
(2)Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
(3)As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
(4)Submit a sufficient number of copies, in the form either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, of the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies, if any of the following apply:
(A)A state agency is any of the following:
(i)The lead agency.
(ii)A responsible agency.
(iii)A trustee agency.
(B)A state agency otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project.
(C)The proposed project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to the guidelines certified and adopted pursuant to Section 21083.
SEC. 2.Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21091.(a)The public review period for a draft environmental impact report may shall not be less than 30 days. If the draft environmental impact report is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 45 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in the form either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(b)The public review period for a proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration may shall not be less than 20 days. If the proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 30 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document, in the form either a hard-copy or electronic form as required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), if a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review and the period of review by the State Clearinghouse is longer than the public review period established pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review and comment by state agencies as established by the State Clearinghouse.
(2)The public review period and the state agency review period may, but are not required to, begin and end at the same time. Day one of the state agency review period shall be the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the CEQA document to state agencies.
(3)If the submittal of a CEQA document is determined by the State Clearinghouse to be complete, the State Clearinghouse shall distribute the document within three working days from the date of receipt. The State Clearinghouse shall specify the information that will be required in order to determine the completeness of the submittal of a CEQA document.
(d)(1)The lead agency shall consider comments it receives on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration if those comments are received within the public review period.
(2)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues that are received from persons who have reviewed the draft and shall prepare a written response pursuant to subparagraph (B). The lead agency may also respond to comments that are received after the close of the public review period.
(B)The written response shall describe the disposition of each significant environmental issue that is raised by commenters. The responses shall be prepared consistent with Section 15088 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice pursuant to Section 21080.4, the lead agency shall accept comments via email electronic mail and shall treat email electronic-mail comments as equivalent to written comments.
(B)Any law or regulation relating to written comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice received pursuant to Section 21080.4, 21080.4 shall also apply to email electronic-mail comments received for those reasons.
(e)(1)Criteria for shorter review periods by the State Clearinghouse for documents that must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse shall be set forth in the written guidelines issued by the Office of Planning and Research and made available to the public.
(2)Those shortened review periods may not be less than 30 days for a draft environmental impact report and 20 days for a negative declaration.
(3)A request for a shortened review period shall only be made in writing by the decisionmaking body of the lead agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decisionmaking body may designate by resolution or ordinance a person authorized to request a shortened review period. A designated person shall notify the decisionmaking body of this request.
(4)A request approved by the State Clearinghouse shall be consistent with the criteria set forth in the written guidelines of the Office of Planning and Research.
(5)A shortened review period may not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to Section 21083.
(6)An approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice required pursuant to Section 21092.
(f)Prior to carrying out or approving a project for which a negative declaration has been adopted, the lead agency shall consider the negative declaration together with comments that were received and considered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
SEC. 3.Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21159.9.The Office of Planning and Research shall implement a public assistance and information program, program to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this division, division and to do both of the following:
(a)Establish a public education and training program for planners, developers, and other interested parties to assist them in implementing this division.
(b)(1)Establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents, notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the office. Office of Planning and Research. The database shall be available online to the public through the Internet. The office Office of Planning and Research may coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the online database.
(2)The office Office of Planning and Research may phase in the submission of electronic documents and use of the database by state and local public agencies.
(3)The office Office of Planning and Research shall develop a budget for the development, hosting, and maintenance of the database and shall submit the budget to the Department of Finance for consideration and approval.
(4)(A)Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the office Office of Planning and Research shall, no later than July 1, 2016, submit to the Legislature a report describing how it plans to implement this subdivision, and shall provide an additional report to the Legislature no later than July 2018 1, 2018, describing the status of the implementation of this subdivision.
(B)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2022.
SEC. 4.Section 21167.6 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21167.6.Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief, brief and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 5.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS, PROCESS; DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE, SITE; AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1033 1032 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
SEC. 6.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report prepared pursuant to, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
(a)Any A draft environmental impact report, environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration prepared pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be prepared directly by, or under contract to, a public agency.
(b)This section is not intended to does not prohibit, and shall not be construed as prohibiting, any a person from submitting information or other comments to the public agency responsible for preparing an environmental impact report, draft environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. The information or other comments may be submitted in any format, shall be considered by the public agency, and may be included, in whole or in part, in any report or declaration.
(c)The lead agency shall do all of the following:
(1)Independently review and analyze any report or declaration required by this division.
(2)Circulate draft documents that reflect its independent judgment.
(3)As part of the adoption of a negative declaration or a mitigated negative declaration, or certification of an environmental impact report, find that the report or declaration reflects the independent judgment of the lead agency.
(4)Submit a sufficient number of copies copies, in the form required by the Office of Planning and Research, of the draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration, and a copy of the report or declaration in an electronic form as required by the guidelines adopted pursuant to Section 21083, declaration to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies, if any of the following apply:
(A)A state agency is any of the following:
(i)The lead agency.
(ii)A responsible agency.
(iii)A trustee agency.
(B)A state agency otherwise has jurisdiction by law with respect to the project.
(C)The proposed project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to the guidelines certified and adopted pursuant to Section 21083.
SEC. 2.Section 21091 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21091.(a)The public review period for a draft environmental impact report may not be less than 30 days. If the draft environmental impact report is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 45 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document document, in the form required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(b)The public review period for a proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration may not be less than 20 days. If the proposed negative declaration or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review, the review period shall be at least 30 days, and the lead agency shall provide a sufficient number of copies of the document document, in the form required by the Office of Planning and Research, to the State Clearinghouse for review and comment by state agencies.
(c)(1)Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), if a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration is submitted to the State Clearinghouse for review and the period of review by the State Clearinghouse is longer than the public review period established pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, the public review period shall be at least as long as the period of review and comment by state agencies as established by the State Clearinghouse.
(2)The public review period and the state agency review period may, but are not required to, begin and end at the same time. Day one of the state agency review period shall be the date that the State Clearinghouse distributes the CEQA document to state agencies.
(3)If the submittal of a CEQA document is determined by the State Clearinghouse to be complete, the State Clearinghouse shall distribute the document within three working days from the date of receipt. The State Clearinghouse shall specify the information that will be required in order to determine the completeness of the submittal of a CEQA document.
(d)(1)The lead agency shall consider comments it receives on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration if those comments are received within the public review period.
(2)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall evaluate comments on environmental issues that are received from persons who have reviewed the draft and shall prepare a written response pursuant to subparagraph (B). The lead agency may also respond to comments that are received after the close of the public review period.
(B)The written response shall describe the disposition of each significant environmental issue that is raised by commenters. The responses shall be prepared consistent with Section 15088 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)(A)With respect to the consideration of comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice pursuant to Section 21080.4, the lead agency shall accept comments via email and shall treat email comments as equivalent to written comments.
(B)Any law or regulation relating to written comments received on a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, proposed mitigated negative declaration, or notice received pursuant to Section 21080.4, shall also apply to email comments received for those reasons.
(e)(1)Criteria for shorter review periods by the State Clearinghouse for documents that must be submitted to the State Clearinghouse shall be set forth in the written guidelines issued by the Office of Planning and Research and made available to the public.
(2)Those shortened review periods may not be less than 30 days for a draft environmental impact report and 20 days for a negative declaration.
(3)A request for a shortened review period shall only be made in writing by the decisionmaking body of the lead agency to the Office of Planning and Research. The decisionmaking body may designate by resolution or ordinance a person authorized to request a shortened review period. A designated person shall notify the decisionmaking body of this request.
(4)A request approved by the State Clearinghouse shall be consistent with the criteria set forth in the written guidelines of the Office of Planning and Research.
(5)A shortened review period may not be approved by the Office of Planning and Research for a proposed project of statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance as determined pursuant to Section 21083.
(6)An approval of a shortened review period shall be given prior to, and reflected in, the public notice required pursuant to Section 21092.
(f)Prior to carrying out or approving a project for which a negative declaration has been adopted, the lead agency shall consider the negative declaration together with comments that were received and considered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
SEC. 3.Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21159.9.The Office of Planning and Research shall implement, utilizing existing resources, implement a public assistance and information program, to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this division, to do all both of the following:
(a)Establish a public education and training program for planners, developers, and other interested parties to assist them in implementing this division.
(b)Establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents.
(c)Establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the office, and make the notices available through the Internet. The office may coordinate with another state agency for that agency to make the notices available through the Internet.
(d)Provide to the California State Library copies of documents submitted in electronic format to the Office of Planning and Research pursuant to this division. The California State Library shall be the repository for those electronic documents, which shall be made available for viewing by the general public upon request.
(b)(1)Establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents, notices of exemption, notices of preparation, notices of determination, and notices of completion provided to the office. The database shall be available online to the public through the internet. The office may coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the online database.
(2)The office may phase in the submission of electronic documents and use of the database by state and local public agencies.
(3)The office shall develop a budget for the development, hosting, and maintenance of the database and shall submit the budget to the Department of Finance for consideration and approval.
(4)(A)Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the office shall, no later than July 1, 2016, submit to the Legislature a report describing how it plans to implement this subdivision, and shall provide an additional report to the Legislature no later than July 2018 describing the status of the implementation of this subdivision.
(B)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2022.
SECTION 1.SEC. 4.Section 21167.6 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:21167.6.Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief, and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 2.SEC. 5.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS, DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE, AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1033 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing an electronic database clearinghouse managed by the Office of Planning and Research of notices and documents required to be prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
SEC. 4.SEC. 6.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report prepared pursuant to, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
Notwithstanding any other law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief, and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 2.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within 5 business days of its receipt.
(F)Within 7 business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archaeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS, DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE, AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1033 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing an electronic database clearinghouse managed by the Office of Planning and Research containing of notices and documents required to be prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
SEC. 4.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report prepared pursuant to, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in all actions or proceedings brought pursuant to Section 21167, except as provided in Section 21167.6.2 or those involving the Public Utilities Commission, all of the following shall apply:
(a)At the time that the action or proceeding is filed, the plaintiff or petitioner shall file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings relating to the subject of the action or proceeding. The request, together with the complaint or petition, shall be served personally upon the public agency not later than 10 business days from the date that the action or proceeding was filed.
(b)(1)The public agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that the request specified in subdivision (a) was served upon the public agency. Upon certification, the public agency shall lodge a copy of the record of proceedings with the court and shall serve on the parties notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court. The parties shall pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
(2)The plaintiff or petitioner may elect to prepare the record of proceedings or the parties may agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency, within the time limit specified in this subdivision.
(c)The time limit established by subdivision (b) may be extended only upon the stipulation of all parties who have been properly served in the action or proceeding or upon order of the court. Extensions shall be liberally granted by the court when the size of the record of proceedings renders infeasible compliance with that time limit. There is no limit on the number of extensions that may be granted by the court, but no single extension shall exceed 60 days unless the court determines that a longer extension is in the public interest.
(d)If the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limit established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), or any continuances of that time limit, the plaintiff or petitioner may move for sanctions, and the court may, upon that motion, grant appropriate sanctions.
(e)The record of proceedings shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following items:
(1)All project application materials.
(2)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency with respect to its compliance with the substantive and procedural requirements of this division and with respect to the action on the project.
(3)All staff reports and related documents prepared by the respondent public agency and written testimony or documents submitted by any person relevant to any findings or statement of overriding considerations adopted by the respondent agency pursuant to this division.
(4)Any transcript or minutes of the proceedings at which the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency heard testimony on, or considered any environmental document on, the project, and any transcript or minutes of proceedings before any advisory body to the respondent public agency that were presented to the decisionmaking body prior to action on the environmental documents or on the project.
(5)All notices issued by the respondent public agency to comply with this division or with any other law governing the processing and approval of the project.
(6)All written comments received in response to, or in connection with, environmental documents prepared for the project, including responses to the notice of preparation.
(7)All written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from, the respondent public agency with respect to compliance with this division or with respect to the project.
(8)Any proposed decisions or findings submitted to the decisionmaking body of the respondent public agency by its staff, or the project proponent, project opponents, or other persons.
(9)The documentation of the final public agency decision, including the final environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration, and all documents, in addition to those referenced in paragraph (3), cited or relied on in the findings or in a statement of overriding considerations adopted pursuant to this division.
(10)Any other written materials relevant to the respondent public agencys compliance with this division or to its decision on the merits of the project, including the initial study, any drafts of any environmental document, or portions thereof, that have been released for public review, and copies of studies or other documents relied upon in any environmental document prepared for the project and either made available to the public during the public review period or included in the respondent public agencys files on the project, and all internal agency communications, including staff notes and memoranda related to the project or to compliance with this division.
(11)The full written record before any inferior administrative decisionmaking body whose decision was appealed to a superior administrative decisionmaking body prior to the filing of litigation.
(f)In preparing the record of proceedings, the party preparing the record shall strive to do so at reasonable cost in light of the scope of the record.
(g)The clerk of the superior court shall prepare and certify the clerks transcript on appeal not later than 60 days from the date that the notice designating the papers or records to be included in the clerks transcript was filed with the superior court, if the party or parties pay any costs or fees for the preparation of the clerks transcript imposed in conformance with any law or rules of court. Nothing in this subdivision precludes an election to proceed by appendix, as provided in Rule 8.124 of the California Rules of Court.
(h)Extensions of the period for the filing of any brief on appeal may be allowed only by stipulation of the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. Extensions for the filing of a brief on appeal shall be limited to one 30-day extension for the preparation of an opening brief, and one 30-day extension for the preparation of a responding brief, except that the court may grant a longer extension or additional extensions if it determines that there is a substantial likelihood of settlement that would avoid the necessity of completing the appeal.
(i)At the completion of the filing of briefs on appeal, the appellant shall notify the court of the completion of the filing of briefs, whereupon the clerk of the reviewing court shall set the appeal for hearing on the first available calendar date.
SEC. 2.Section 21167.6.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21167.6.2.(a)(1)Notwithstanding Section 21167.6, upon the written request of a project applicant received no later than 30 days after the date that the lead agency makes a determination pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21080.1, Section 21094.5, or Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 21155) and with the consent of the lead agency as provided in subdivision (e), the lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of proceedings in the following manner:
(A)The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings pursuant to this division concurrently with the administrative process.
(B)All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an Internet Web site maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project. If the lead agency cannot maintain an Internet Web site with the information required pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall provide a link on the agencys Internet Web site to that information.
(C)The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental document for the project, and all other documents submitted to, cited by, or relied on by the lead agency, in the preparation of the draft environmental document for the project.
(D)A document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental document for the project that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within five business days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.
(E)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within five business days of its receipt.
(F)Within seven business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(G)The lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after the filing of the notice required pursuant to Section 21108 or 21152.
(2)This subdivision does not require the disclosure or posting of any trade secret as defined in Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, information about the location of archeological sites or sacred lands, or any other information that is subject to the disclosure restrictions of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(b)Any dispute regarding the record of proceedings prepared pursuant to this section shall be resolved by the court in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 21167.
(c)The content of the record of proceedings shall be as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(d)The negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft and final environmental impact report, or other environmental document shall include a notice in no less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21167.6.2 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH REQUIRES THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS FOR THIS PROJECT TO BE PREPARED CONCURRENTLY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS, DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY, OR SUBMITTED TO, THE LEAD AGENCY TO BE POSTED ON THE LEAD AGENCYS INTERNET WEB SITE, AND THE LEAD AGENCY TO ENCOURAGE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEAD AGENCY IN A READILY ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
(e)(1)The lead agency shall respond to a request by the project applicant within 10 business days from the date that the request pursuant to subdivision (a) is received by the lead agency.
(2)A project applicant and the lead agency may mutually agree, in writing, to extend the time period for the lead agency to respond pursuant to paragraph (1), but they shall not extend that period beyond the commencement of the public review period for the proposed negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, draft environmental impact report, or other environmental document.
(3)The request to prepare a record of proceedings pursuant to this section shall be deemed denied if the lead agency fails to respond within 10 business days of receiving the request or within the time period agreed upon pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever ends later.
(f)The written request of the applicant submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an agreement to pay all of the lead agencys costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section, in a manner specified by the lead agency.
(g)The costs of preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section and complying with the requirements of this section are not recoverable costs pursuant to Section 1033 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(h)Pursuant to subdivision (f) and Section 21089, the lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from the person making the request pursuant to subdivision (a) to recover the costs incurred by the lead agency in preparing the record of proceedings pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing an electronic database clearinghouse managed by the Office of Planning and Research containing notices and documents required to be prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
SEC. 4.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report prepared pursuant to, and relating to the record of proceedings for a project for which an environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Jun 3, 2015 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 24. Noes 15. Page 1289.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Aug 30, 2016 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1:30 p.m. |
| Aug 24, 2016 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 25. Noes 14.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Aug 23, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 55. Noes 18. Page 6098.) Ordered to the Senate. |
| Aug 23, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. |
| Aug 23, 2016 | In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending. |
| Aug 16, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Aug 15, 2016 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. |
| Aug 12, 2016 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (August 11). |
| Aug 27, 2015 | August 27 hearing postponed by committee. |
| Jul 15, 2015 | July 15 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file. |
| Jun 30, 2015 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jun 11, 2015 | Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. |
| Jun 4, 2015 | In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. |
| Jun 3, 2015 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 24. Noes 15.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Jan 15, 2015 | Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. |
| Jun 1, 2015 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. |
| May 28, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (May 28). |
| May 28, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 1147.) (May 28). |
| May 23, 2015 | Set for hearing May 28. |
| May 4, 2015 | May 4 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file. |
| Apr 24, 2015 | Set for hearing May 4. |
| Apr 20, 2015 | Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr 16, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 648.) (April 15). |
| Mar 26, 2015 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.Q. |
| Mar 17, 2015 | Set for hearing April 15. |
| Mar 12, 2015 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.Q. |
| Feb 5, 2015 | Referred to Com. on E.Q. |
| Jan 16, 2015 | From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 15. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 2016 | Unfinished Business SB122 Jackson Concurrence | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Aug 23, 2016 | SB 122 Jackson Senate Third Reading By THURMOND | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Aug 11, 2016 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Jun 29, 2015 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Natural Resources |
Passed |
|
| Jun 3, 2015 | Senate 3rd Reading SB122 Jackson | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| May 28, 2015 | Do pass as amended | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| May 4, 2015 | Placed on suspense file | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Apr 15, 2015 | Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| American Planning Association, California Chapter | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Associated General Contractors Of California | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| Association of California Cities, Orange County | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| Association Of California Water Agencies | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Association Of Environmental Professionals | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Bay Area Council | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| Bay Planning Coalition | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| Brandt-Hawley Law Group | ** Support | Jun 3, 2015 |
| California Association Of Realtors | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| California Building Industry Association | * Indeterminate | Apr 15, 2015 |
| California Building Industry Association | * Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| California Business Properties Association | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| California Business Roundtable | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| California Chamber Of Commerce | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| California Construction And Industrial Materials Association | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| California Labor Federation, Afl-Cio | * Support | Jul 15, 2015 |
| California League Of Conservation Voters | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Realtors Association | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| California Retailers Association | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| California Special Districts Association | * Indeterminate | Apr 15, 2015 |
| California State Association Of Electrical Workers | * Indeterminate | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Camarillo, City Of | * Support | Jul 15, 2015 |
| Center For Biological Diversity, Inc. | ** Support | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Central City Association Of Los Angeles | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| Chatten-Brown & Carstens | ** Support | Jun 3, 2015 |
| County of Santa Barbara | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Engineering Contractors' Association | ** Against | Jun 29, 2015 |
| Environmental Defense Center | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Harbor Association of Industry & Commerce | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Humboldt Association of REALTORS | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Independent Energy Producers Association | * Indeterminate | Apr 15, 2015 |
| League Of California Cities | * Indeterminate | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Los Angeles Area Chamber Of Commerce | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| National Federation Of Independent Business | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Natural Resources Defense Council | ** Support | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Orange County Business Council | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Planning And Conservation League | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| San Diego Regional Chamber Of Commerce | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| San Francisco Chamber of Commerce | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| San Mateo County Association of REALTORS | ** Against | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP | ** Support | Jun 3, 2015 |
| Sonoma County Alliance | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Southern California Public Power Authority (Scppa) | * Support | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Southern California Water Committee | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Southwest California Legislative Council | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| State Building & Construction Trades Council Of California | * Support | Apr 15, 2015 |
| UnitedAg | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| Valley Industry & Commerce Association | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
| West Coast Lumber and Building Materials Association | ** Against | Apr 15, 2015 |
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | SB |
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 122
: 8/15/16
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/15/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 24-15, 6/3/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Huff, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Runner, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Glazer
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 55-18, 8/23/16 - See last page for vote
DIGEST: This bill requires the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to implement a public database of all environmental documents and notices required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and requires a lead agency, upon request of the project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, to prepare the record of proceeding concurrently with the administrative process.
Assembly Amendments make minor, technical changes.
ANALYSIS: Existing law, under CEQA, requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines). (Public Resources Code (PRC) §21000 et seq.).
This bill:
Concurrent preparation of the record of proceeding
- Requires the lead agency, upon written request by a project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process.
- Requires all documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings to be posted on a Website maintained by the lead agency.
- Requires the lead agency to make publicly available, in electronic format, the draft environmental document, and associated documents, for the project.
- Requires the lead agency to make any comment publicly available electronically within five days of its receipt.
- Requires the lead agency to certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after filing notice of determination or approval.
- Requires certain environmental review documents to include a notice, as specified, stating that the document is subject to this section.
- Requires the applicant to pay for the lead agency’s cost of concurrently preparing and certifying the record of proceedings.
State Clearinghouse database system for CEQA documents
- Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public.
- Requires OPR to submit a report describing the implementation of the database to the Legislature by July 1, 2017, and a status report by July 1, 2019.
Comments
- Purpose of Bill. According to the authors, “[CEQA] ensures that state and local agencies make informed decisions when undertaking projects that may impact the environment. Stakeholders have voiced concern that the current CEQA process can be cumbersome and inefficient. In May 2014, the Senate Judiciary and Environmental Quality Committees sent a joint letter to a broad range of CEQA stakeholders – developers, business, environmental, and labor groups, planners, local governments, and academics – asking for community input on how to improve the process without undercutting the statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental decisionmaking. Drawing upon stakeholder responses to that letter, this bill will enact substantive changes to CEQA that will help expedite the process while protecting the integrity of the act.”
- Increased Use of Internet Resources – The State Clearinghouse. Many CEQA stakeholders have noted that the CEQA process makes poor use of internet resources for distributing information, providing notice to affected parties, and facilitating the submission of comments. The current CEQA process is still largely paper-based, and information that is posted online is often buried deep within agency or project proponent websites. Currently, OPR has operates a limited online CEQA repository as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This bill proposes to expand OPR’s clearinghouse to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single, electronic database system, which would be available via the Internet and to the public. Stakeholders believe such a resource would greatly expedite the CEQA process by eliminating transmission times for relevant documents. In addition, universal accessibility of such a resource would make it much harder to justify last minute “document dumps.” A fully functioning clearinghouse would provide California residents with a universal point of entry into the CEQA process, furthering the policy of transparency and public participation in the environmental review process.
- Proposed Central Database: Potential Cost Savings. Expanding OPR’s CEQA database would likely require some type of financial commitment by the state, but it is possible that any new costs could be offset by reductions in agency staff time and resources used to distribute paper-based materials. Last year, the California Research Bureau (CRB) researched CEQA-related document handling costs for selected state agencies and looked into issues such as clerical document management and preparation and delivery costs. According to CRB, “We estimate that the cumulative annual cost to state entities in staff time commitments for clerical processing and handling of CEQA-related documents exceeds $250,000 and may easily be in excess of $500,000, with additional expenditures for materials, supplies, and delivery services. Not all of these staff expenditures are truly avoidable costs, as few state entities delegate any clerical staff full-time to CEQA-related document handling functions. But it appears plausible that an effective, electronic document management system and web-based application for CEQA-related document submission and retrieval by lead agencies and reviewing agencies could generate cost savings across the state.”
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
- One-time GF costs of $200,000 to establish the database at the Office of Technology, including necessary training.
- Ongoing GF costs of $54,000 for the Office of Technology to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to GF and various special funds for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
- One-time GF costs of $20,000 for OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
- Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are the lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings (GF and various special funds), these costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
American Planning Association, California Chapter
Association of Environmental Professionals
California Labor Federation
California League of Conservation Voters
City of Camarillo
County of Santa Barbara
Environmental Defense Center
Planning and Conservation League
State Building and Construction Trades Council
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/17/16)
Associated General Contractors of California
Association of California Cities, Orange County
Bay Area Council
Bay Planning Coalition
California Business Properties Association
California Business Roundtable
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
California Retailers Association
Central City Association of Los Angeles
Engineering Contractors’ Association
Harbor Association of Industry and Commerce
Humboldt Association of Realtors
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
National Federation of Independent Business
Orange County Business Council
Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
San Mateo County Association of Realtors
Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce
Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation
Sonoma County Alliance
Southern California Water Committee
Southwest California Legislative Council
United Ag
Valley Industry & Commerce Association
West Coast Lumber and Building Materials Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 55-18, 8/23/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Dababneh, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Lackey, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Salas, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Cooper, Dahle, Daly, Gray, Steinorth, Waldron
8/23/16 19:58:19
SENATE THIRD READING
STR Bill Id:SB 122
Author:(Jackson and Hill)
As Amended Ver:August 15, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 24-15
Committee | Votes | Ayes | Noes |
Natural Resources | 7-1 | Williams, Cristina Garcia, Hadley, McCarty, Rendon, Mark Stone, Wood | Harper |
Appropriations | 11-3 | Gonzalez, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Quirk, Santiago, Weber, Wood, McCarty | Bigelow, Chang, Obernolte |
SUMMARY: Authorizes a lead agency, upon a project applicant's request, to prepare the record of proceedings that would be used in a judicial challenge to the agency's action or decision under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) concurrently with the administrative process. Requires CEQA documents for projects reviewed by state agencies to be submitted to the Office of Planning and Research (OPR), requires OPR to maintain a database of these documents, and requires the database to be available online to the public. Specifically, this bill:
- Requires the lead agency, upon written request by a project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process.
- Requires all documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings to be posted on a Web site maintained by the lead agency.
- Requires the lead agency to make publicly available, in electronic format, the draft environmental document, and associated documents, for the project.
- Requires the lead agency to make any comment publicly available electronically within five days of its receipt.
- Requires the lead agency to certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after filing notice of determination or approval.
- Requires certain environmental review documents to include a notice, as specified, stating that the document is subject to this section.
- Requires the applicant to pay for the lead agency's cost of concurrently preparing and certifying the record of proceedings.
- Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public.
- Requires OPR to submit a report describing the implementation of the database to the Legislature by July 1, 2017, and a status report by July 1, 2019.
EXISTING LAW:
- Requires a lead agency to prepare and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed project that it finds would have a significant effect on the environment, or if it finds otherwise, adopt a negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration.
- Authorizes a judicial challenge to an agency's act or decision on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA, including an improper determination that a project is not subject to CEQA or the failure to prepare an EIR for a project that has a significant effect on the environment.
- Establishes that a record of proceeding includes, but is not limited to, all application materials, staff reports, transcripts or minutes of public proceedings, notices, written comments, and written correspondence prepared by or submitted to the public agency regarding the proposed project.
- Establishes a procedure for the preparation, certification, and lodging of the record of proceedings. Specifically:
- Requires a plaintiff or petitioner to file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings, and serve this request, together with the complaint or petition, personally upon the public agency within 10 days of the date the action or proceeding was filed.
- Requires the respondent public agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that plaintiff or petitioner served the request; lodge a copy of the certified record with the court; and serve on the parties a notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court.
- Authorizes the plaintiff or petitioner to prepare the record subject to certification by the respondent public agency, or the parties to agree to an alternative method of preparing the record of proceedings, within the time limits specified in the law.
- Requires the parties to pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
- Authorizes the plaintiff or petitioner to move the court for sanctions, and the court to grant the plaintiff or petitioner's motion for sanctions, if the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limits specified in the law.
- Requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental review documents and a copy in an electronic form under specified circumstances.
- Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents.
- Requires OPR to establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specified notices and make those notices available through the Internet.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
- One-time General Fund (GF) costs of $200,000 to establish the database, including necessary training.
- Ongoing GF costs of $54,000 to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to GF and various special funds for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
- One-time GF costs of $20,000 for OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
- Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings (GF and various special funds). These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
COMMENTS: Generally, CEQA actions taken by public agencies can be challenged in Superior Court once the agency approves or determines to carry out the project. CEQA appeals are subject to unusually short statutes of limitations. Under current law, court challenges of CEQA decisions generally must be filed within 30-35 days, depending on the type of decision. The courts are required to give CEQA actions preference over all other civil actions. However, the schedules for briefing, hearing, and decision are less definite. The petitioner must request a hearing within 90 days of filing the petition and, generally, briefing must be completed within 90 days of the request for hearing. There is no deadline specified for the court to render a decision.
In 2011, AB 900 (Buchanan), Chapter 354, and SB 292 (Padilla), Chapter 353, established expedited judicial review procedures for a limited number of projects. For AB 900, it was large-scale projects meeting extraordinary environmental standards and providing significant jobs and investment. For SB 292, it was a proposed downtown Los Angeles football stadium and convention center project achieving specified traffic and air quality mitigations. As part of their expedited judicial review procedures, these bills required the lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrently with the administrative process and required the applicant to pay for it. It was commonly agreed that this would expedite preparation of the record for trial.
This bill provides the option of preparing the record of proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process in order to save time and effort in the event of a post-decision CEQA challenge. Depending on factors such as the complexity and length of the environmental review, preparation of the record can take multiple months. However, in situations where an agency believes a project is likely to be challenged, it is probably more efficient and expeditious if the record is prepared concurrently with the preparation of other project-specific environmental documents.
Concurrent preparation is not specifically prohibited under existing law, but it has only been expressly authorized for certain projects. Providing public agencies a general authorization to engage in concurrent preparation may take away any uncertainty on the matter and make a public agency more likely to adopt the practice for appropriate projects.
This bill's concurrent preparation provision is discretionary and not mandatory. If an applicant has no reason to believe that its project will be subject to litigation, then the applicant may choose not to utilize this option.
According to the author, "OPR operates a limited online CEQA repository (called "CEQAnet") as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents…this bill will direct OPR to expand its online CEQA repository to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single repository, forming a true statewide CEQA clearinghouse."
Analysis Prepared by: Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0004381
Date of Hearing: July 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 122
(Jackson) – As Amended June 1, 2015
Policy Committee: |
Natural Resources |
Vote: |
7 - 1 |
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|
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to implement a public database of all environmental documents and notices required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
This bill also requires a CEQA lead agency, upon request of the project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, to prepare the record of proceeding concurrently with the administrative process and certify the record of proceeding within 30 days after filing notice of determination or approval.
Additionally, this bill:
Requires the applicant to pay for the lead agency's cost of concurrently preparing and certifying the record of proceedings.
Requires OPR to submit a report describing the implementation of the database to the Legislature by July 1, 2016, and update the report by July 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT:
One-time GF costs of $200,000 to establish the database at the Office of Technology, including necessary training.
Ongoing GF costs of $54,000 for the Office of Technology to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to GF and various special funds for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
One-time GF costs of $20,000 for OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings (GF and various special funds), These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. According to the author, CEQA stakeholders have voiced concerns that the current CEQA process can be cumbersome and inefficient. In May 2014, the Senate Judiciary and Environmental Quality Committees sent a joint letter to a broad range of CEQA stakeholders asking for input on how to improve the process without undercutting the statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental decisionmaking.
Drawing upon stakeholder responses, this bill provides changes to CEQA that will help expedite the process while protecting the integrity of the act.
Background. CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of applicable projects undertaken or approved by public agencies. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether the project may have a significant effect on the environment. If the initial study shows that there would not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative declaration. If the initial study shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Generally, CEQA actions taken by public agencies may be challenged in Superior Court once the agency approves or determines to carry out the project. CEQA appeals are subject to unusually short statutes of limitations. Under current law, court challenges of CEQA decisions generally must be filed within 30-35 days, depending on the type of decision. The courts are required to give CEQA actions preference over all other civil actions. However, the schedules for briefing, hearing, and decision are less defined. The petitioner must request a hearing within 90 days of filing the petition and, generally, briefing must be completed within 90 days of the request for hearing. There is no deadline specified for the court to render a decision.
Expedited Judicial Review. In 2011, AB 900 and SB 292 established expedited judicial review procedures for a limited number of projects. For AB 900, it was large-scale projects meeting extraordinary environmental standards and providing significant jobs and investments. For SB 292, it was a proposed downtown Los Angeles football stadium and convention center project achieving specified traffic and air quality mitigations. As part of their expedited judicial review procedures, these bills required the lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrently with the administrative process and required the applicant to pay for it. It was commonly agreed that this would expedite preparation of the record for trial.
Concurrent preparation. This bill provides the option of preparing the record of proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process, to save time and effort in the event of a post-decision CEQA challenge. Depending on factors, such as the complexity and length of the environmental review, preparation of the record can take multiple months. However, in situations where an agency believes a project is likely to be challenged, it is more efficient and expeditious if the record is prepared concurrently with the preparation of other project-specific environmental documents.
Concurrent preparation is not specifically prohibited under existing law, but it has only been expressly authorized for certain projects. Providing public agencies a general authorization to engage in concurrent preparation may take away any uncertainty on the matter and make a public agency more likely to adopt the practice for appropriate projects.
Expanding electronic access to CEQA documents. OPR operates a limited online CEQA repository (called “CEQAnet”) as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This bill directs OPR to expand its online CEQA repository to include copies of all CEQA documents
Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 122
Page 5
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB 122
(Jackson) – As Amended June 1, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 24-15
SUBJECT: California Environmental Quality Act: record of proceedings.
SUMMARY: Authorizes a lead agency, upon a project applicant’s request, to prepare the record of proceedings that would be used in a judicial challenge to the agency’s action or decision under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) concurrently with the administrative process. Requires CEQA documents for projects reviewed by state agencies to be submitted to the Office of Planning and Research (OPR), requires OPR to maintain a database of these documents, and requires the database to be available online to the public.
EXISTING LAW:
Requires a lead agency to prepare and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed project that it finds would have a significant effect on the environment, or if it finds otherwise, adopt a negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration.
Authorizes a judicial challenge to an agency’s act or decision on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA, including an improper determination that a project is not subject to CEQA or the failure to prepare an EIR for a project that has a significant effect on the environment.
Establishes that a record of proceeding includes, but is not limited to, all application materials, staff reports, transcripts or minutes of public proceedings, notices, written comments, and written correspondence prepared by or submitted to the public agency regarding the proposed project.
Establishes a procedure for the preparation, certification, and lodging of the record of proceedings. Specifically:
Requires a plaintiff or petitioner to file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings, and serve this request, together with the complaint or petition, personally upon the public agency within 10 days of the date the action or proceeding was filed.
Requires the respondent public agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings not later than 60 days from the date that plaintiff or petitioner served the request; lodge a copy of the certified record with the court; and serve on the parties a notice that the record of proceedings has been certified and lodged with the court.
Authorizes the plaintiff or petitioner to prepare the record subject to certification by the respondent public agency, or the parties to agree to an alternative method of preparing the record of proceedings, within the time limits specified in the law.
Requires the parties to pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings in conformance with any law or rule of court.
Authorizes the plaintiff or petitioner to move the court for sanctions, and the court to grant the plaintiff or petitioner’s motion for sanctions, if the public agency fails to prepare and certify the record within the time limits specified in the law.
Requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental review documents and a copy in an electronic form under specified circumstances.
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents.
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specified notices and make those notices available through the Internet.
THIS BILL:
Requires the lead agency, upon written request by a project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process.
Requires all documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings to be posted on a Web site maintained by the lead agency.
Requires the lead agency to make publicly available, in electronic format, the draft environmental document, and associated documents, for the project.
Requires the lead agency to make any comment publicly available electronically within five days of its receipt.
Requires the lead agency to certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after filing notice of determination or approval.
Requires certain environmental review documents to include a notice, as specified, stating that the document is subject to this section.
Requires the applicant to pay for the lead agency’s cost of concurrently preparing and certifying the record of proceedings.
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public.
Requires OPR to submit a report describing the implementation of the database to the Legislature by July 1, 2016, and a status report by July 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of $200,000 from the General Fund to establish the database at the Office of Technology, including necessary training.
Ongoing costs of $45,000 from the General Fund to the Office of Technology to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to various special funds and the General Fund for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
One-time costs of $20,000 from the General Fund to OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are the lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceeding (various special funds and General Fund). These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
COMMENTS:
Background. CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of applicable projects undertaken or approved by public agencies. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether the project may have a significant effect on the environment. If the initial study shows that there would not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative declaration. If the initial study shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare an EIR.
An EIR must accurately describe the proposed project, identify and analyze each significant environmental impact expected to result from the proposed project, identify mitigation measures to reduce those impacts to the extent feasible, and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. If mitigation measures are required or incorporated into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring program to ensure compliance with those measures.
Generally, CEQA actions taken by public agencies can be challenged in Superior Court once the agency approves or determines to carry out the project. CEQA appeals are subject to unusually short statutes of limitations. Under current law, court challenges of CEQA decisions generally must be filed within 30-35 days, depending on the type of decision. The courts are required to give CEQA actions preference over all other civil actions. However, the schedules for briefing, hearing, and decision are less definite. The petitioner must request a hearing within 90 days of filing the petition and, generally, briefing must be completed within 90 days of the request for hearing. There is no deadline specified for the court to render a decision.
In 2011, AB 900 and SB 292 established expedited judicial review procedures for a limited number of projects. For AB 900, it was large-scale projects meeting extraordinary environmental standards and providing significant jobs and investment. For SB 292, it was a proposed downtown Los Angeles football stadium and convention center project achieving specified traffic and air quality mitigations. As part of their expedited judicial review procedures, these bills required the lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrently with the administrative process and required the applicant to pay for it. It was commonly agreed that this would expedite preparation of the record for trial.
Author's statement:
CEQA ensures that state and local agencies make informed decisions when undertaking projects that may impact the environment. Stakeholders have voiced concern that the current CEQA process can be cumbersome and inefficient. In May 2014, the Senate Judiciary and Environmental Quality Committees sent a joint letter to a broad range of CEQA stakeholders – developers, business, environmental, and labor groups, planners, local governments, and academics – asking for community input on how to improve the process without undercutting the statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental decisionmaking. Drawing upon stakeholder responses to that letter, this bill will enact two substantive changes to CEQA that will help expedite the process while protecting the integrity of the act. First, it will authorize lead agencies to concurrently prepare their administrative records while going through the CEQA process, rather than after the process has concluded. Second, it will improve the accessibility of CEQA related documents by expanding the use of California’s online CEQA State Clearinghouse.
Concurrent preparation. This bill provides the option of preparing the record of proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process in order to save time and effort in the event of a post-decision CEQA challenge. Depending on factors such as the complexity and length of the environmental review, preparation of the record can take multiple months. However, in situations where an agency believes a project is likely to be challenged, it is probably more efficient and expeditious if the record is prepared concurrently with the preparation of other project-specific environmental documents.
Concurrent preparation is not specifically prohibited under existing law, but it has only been expressly authorized for certain projects. Providing public agencies a general authorization to engage in concurrent preparation may take away any uncertainty on the matter and make a public agency more likely to adopt the practice for appropriate projects.
This bill's concurrent preparation provision is discretionary and not mandatory. If an applicant has no reason to believe that its project will be subject to litigation, then the applicant may choose not to utilize this option.
Expanding electronic access to CEQA documents. According to the author, “OPR operates a limited online CEQA repository (called “CEQAnet”) as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents…this bill will direct OPR to expand its online CEQA repository to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single repository, forming a true statewide CEQA clearinghouse.”
Currently, OPR operates a limited online CEQA repository as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This bill proposes to expand OPR’s clearinghouse to include copies of all CEQA documents for projects reviewed by state agencies in a single, electronic database system, which would be available via the Internet and to the public.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Planning Association, California Chapter
Association of Environmental Professionals
California Labor Federation
City of Camarillo
County of Santa Barbara
Planning and Conservation League
State Building and Construction Trades Council
Opposition
Associated General Contractors of California
Association of California Cities, Orange County
Bay Area Council
Bay Planning Coalition
California Business Properties Association
California Retailers Association
Central City Association of Los Angeles
Engineering Contractors’ Association
Harbor Association of Industry and Commerce
Humboldt Association of Realtors
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
National Federation of Independent Business
Orange County Business Council
Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
San Mateo County Association of Realtors
Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce
Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation
Sonoma County Alliance
Southern California Water Committee
Southwest California Legislative Council
United Ag
Valley Industry & Commerce Association
West Coast Lumber and Building Materials Association
Analysis Prepared by: Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
SB 122
Page 11
|
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 |
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 122
Author: Jackson (D) and Hill (D), et al.
Amended: 6/1/15
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/15/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: California Environmental Quality Act: record of proceedings
DIGEST: This bill authorizes concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings while a lead agency is conducting an environmental review on a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and expands the Office of Planning and Research’s (OPR’s) central database of CEQA documents.
Existing law, under CEQA:
Requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines). (Public Resources Code (PRC) §21000 et seq.).
Establishes a procedure for preparing and certifying the record of proceedings for an action against a public agency on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA. (PRC §21167).
Requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental review documents and a copy in an electronic form under specified circumstances. (PRC §21082.1).
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents. (PRC §21159.9(b)).
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specified notices and make those notices available through the Internet. (PRC §21159.9(c)).
This bill:
Concurrent
preparation of the record of proceeding
Requires the lead agency, upon written request by a project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process.
Requires all documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings to be posted on a Web site maintained by the lead agency.
Requires the lead agency to make publicly available, in electronic format, the draft environmental document, and associated documents, for the project.
Requires the lead agency to make any comment publicly available electronically within five days of its receipt.
Requires the lead agency to certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after filing notice of determination or approval.
Requires certain environmental review documents to include a notice, as specified, stating that the document is subject to this section.
Requires the applicant to pay for the lead agency’s cost of concurrently preparing and certifying the record of proceedings.
State
Clearinghouse database system for CEQA documents
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public.
Requires OPR to submit a report describing the implementation of the database to the Legislature by July 1, 2016, and a status report by July 1, 2018.
Background
CEQA: The environmental review process. A CEQA environmental review document is a public document. It provides for transparency as well as an opportunity for citizens to comment on the document and participate in the environmental review process.
CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of a project, and includes statutory exemptions as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether a project may have a significant effect on the environment. If the initial study shows that there would not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative declaration. If the initial study shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, then the lead agency must prepare an EIR.
Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed project, identify and analyze each significant environmental impact expected to result from the proposed project, identify mitigation measures to reduce those impacts to the extent feasible, and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. Prior to approving any project that has received an environmental review, an agency must make certain findings. If mitigation measures are required or incorporated into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring program to ensure compliance with those measures.
If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant effects in addition to those that would be caused by the proposed project, the effects of the mitigation measure must be discussed but in less detail than the significant effects of the proposed project.
What is analyzed in an environmental review? Pursuant to CEQA, an environmental review analyzing the significant direct and indirect environmental impacts of a proposed project, may include water quality, surface and subsurface hydrology, land use and agricultural resources, transportation and circulation, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, terrestrial and aquatic biological resources, aesthetics, geology and soils, recreation, public services and utilities such as water supply and wastewater disposal, cultural resources such as historical and archaeological resources, and tribal cultural resources.
The analysis must also evaluate the cumulative impacts of any past, present, and reasonably foreseeable projects/activities within study areas that are applicable to the resources being evaluated. A study area for a proposed project must not be limited to the footprint of the project because many environmental impacts of a development extend beyond the identified project boundary. Also, CEQA stipulates that the environmental impacts must be measured against existing physical conditions within the project area, not future, allowable conditions.
Comments
Purpose of bill. According to the authors:
[CEQA] ensures that state and local agencies make informed decisions
when undertaking projects that may impact the environment.
Stakeholders have voiced concern that the current CEQA process can be
cumbersome and inefficient. In May 2014, the Senate Judiciary and
Environmental Quality Committees sent a joint letter to a broad range
of CEQA stakeholders – developers, business, environmental, and
labor groups, planners, local governments, and academics – asking
for community input on how to improve the process without
undercutting the statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental
decisionmaking. Drawing upon stakeholder responses to that letter,
this bill will enact [two] substantive changes to CEQA that will help
expedite the process while protecting the integrity of the act.
First, it will authorize lead agencies to concurrently prepare their administrative records while going through the CEQA process, rather than after the process has concluded. Second, it will improve the accessibility of CEQA related documents by expanding the use of California’s online CEQA State Clearinghouse.
During
the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last year on SB 1451 (Hill and
Roth) regarding CEQA “document dumping,” Senator Jackson and
Senator Hill agreed to explore ways to improve the CEQA process in
conjunction with the broader CEQA community. As part of that effort,
they sent a joint letter to CEQA stakeholders asking for community
input on how to improve the process without undercutting the
statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental decisionmaking.
The Senate Environmental Quality and Judiciary Committees received 13
responses from stakeholders who collectively represent a
cross-section of the CEQA community. Two broad consensus
recommendations emerged from these 13 responses, and many community
members indicated that these two recommended changes would greatly
improve the CEQA process: concurrent preparation of the record of
proceedings and a centralized database for CEQA documents.
Concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings.
Potential time-saver for post-decision CEQA challenge. SB 122 provides the option of preparing the record of proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process in order to save time and effort in the event of a post-decision CEQA challenge. Depending on factors such as the complexity and length of the environmental review, preparation can take multiple months. However, in situations where an agency believes a project is likely to be challenged, it is probably more efficient and expeditious if the record is prepared concurrently with the preparation of other project-specific environmental documents. Additionally, concurrently prepared records may be more defensible in court, given that they are not post-hoc recreations assembled some time (potentially several months) after the relevant CEQA decision is made.
Concurrent preparation is not specifically prohibited under existing law, but it has only been expressly authorized for certain projects (e.g. AB 900 (Buchanan and Gordon, Chapter 354, Statutes of 2011), environmental leadership development projects (ELDPs)). Providing public agencies a general authorization to engage in concurrent preparation may take away any uncertainty on the matter and make a public agency more likely to adopt the practice for appropriate projects.
Time is money. In general, preparation of the record of proceedings begins after a lawsuit is filed and the petitioner pays. This can result in a substantial amount of time to go by before there is any resolution.
One issue that some CEQA stakeholders contend is that CEQA litigation delays projects. As noted above, the concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings can save the project applicant several months of delay. It seems logical and reasonable that the beneficiary of an action should pay for that action to occur.
If a project applicant believes that litigation is inevitable, it may behoove that entity to ask the lead agency to prepare the administrative record in conjunction with the environmental review process – the efficiency of simultaneous preparation can possibly save months of time preparing for litigation, such as tracking down and collecting documents to add to the administrative record.
For example, under AB 900, five project applicants have/are utilizing concurrent preparation process as an ELDP. Those projects had to meet stringent standards in order to be an ELDP and benefit from AB 900’s provisions, including concurrent preparation of the administrative record for which the project applicant pays.
SB 122’s concurrent preparation provision is discretionary and not mandatory. If an applicant has no reason to believe that its project will be subject to litigation, then the applicant may choose not to utilize this option.
Increase use of Internet resources – The State Clearinghouse. The authors state, “[OPR] operates a limited online CEQA repository (called “CEQAnet”) as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This second component of this bill will direct OPR to expand its online CEQA repository to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single repository, forming a true statewide CEQA clearinghouse.”
Many CEQA stakeholders have noted that the CEQA process makes poor use of internet resources for distributing information, providing notice to affected parties, and facilitating the submission of comments. The current CEQA process is still largely paper-based, and information that is posted online is often buried deep within agency or project proponent Web sites. Currently, OPR has operates a limited online CEQA repository as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This bill proposes to expand OPR’s clearinghouse to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single, electronic database system, which would be available via the Internet and to the public. Stakeholders believe such a resource would greatly expedite the CEQA process by eliminating transmission times for relevant documents. In addition, universal accessibility of such a resource would make it much harder to justify last minute “document dumps.”
A
fully functioning clearinghouse would provide California residents
with an easy to use, universal point of entry into the CEQA process,
furthering the policy of transparency and public participation in the
environmental review process.
Proposed central database: potential cost savings. Expanding OPR’s CEQA database would require a financial commitment by the state, but it is likely that any new costs could be offset by reductions in agency staff time and resources used to distribute paper-based materials. Last year, the California Research Bureau (CRB) researched CEQA-related document handling costs for selected state agencies and looked into issues such as clerical document management and preparation and delivery costs. According to CRB:
We estimate that the cumulative annual cost to State entities in
staff time commitments for clerical processing and handling of
CEQA-related documents exceeds $250,000 and may easily be in excess
of $500,000, with additional expenditures for materials, supplies,
and delivery services. Not all of these staff expenditures are truly
avoidable costs, as few State entities delegate any clerical staff
full-time to CEQA-related document handling functions. But it
appears plausible that an effective, electronic document management
system and web-based application for CEQA-related document submission
and retrieval by Lead Agencies and Reviewing Agencies could generate
cost savings across the state.
Under CEQA, the Legislature declares the policy of the state shall be that “All persons and public agencies involved in the environmental review process be responsible for carrying out the process in the most efficient, expeditious manner in order to conserve the available financial, governmental, physical, and social resources with the objective that those resources may be better applied toward the mitigation of actual significant effects on the environment.” (PRC §21003(f)). SB 122 proposes to help move CEQA forward by utilizing technology that was not present when CEQA was originally established.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB
1451 (Hill and Roth, 2014) would have expanded CEQA’s exhaustion
requirements by precluding an individual from challenging a public
agency’s compliance with the Act if the alleged grounds of
noncompliance were known or could have been known with the exercise
of reasonable diligence during the public comment period, but the
alleged grounds of noncompliance were presented to the public agency
at a time other than during the public comment period. The bill also
would have expanded CEQA’s exhaustion requirements by precluding a
person from challenging a public agency’s compliance if the person
objected to the approval of the project at a time other than during
the public comment period when a public comment period was provided.
SB 1451 died in Senate Judiciary Committee.
SB 731 (Steinberg and Hill, 2013) would have enacted the “CEQA Modernization Act of 2013,” making various clarifications and revisions to CEQA, including requiring the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant, to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process for certain environmental documents under certain conditions. SB 731 died in Assembly Local Government Committee.
AB 37 (Perea, 2013) would have required the lead agency, upon request of a project applicant, to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrently with the administrative process for projects subject to CEQA review. AB 37 was subsequently amended to address integrated regional water management plans and was eventually placed on the Senate Inactive file.
SB 984 (Simitian, 2012) would have required a lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process for certain environmental documents under certain conditions, and would have sunsetted January 1, 2016 (contingent enactment with AB 1570 (Perea)). SB 984 died on the Senate Floor.
AB
1570 (Perea, 2012) contained provisions relating to certification of
the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process
for certain environmental documents under certain conditions, and
would have sunsetted on January 1, 2016 (contingent enactment with SB
984 (Simitian)). AB 1570 died in Senate Rules Committee.
AB
900 (Buchanan and Gordon, Chapter 354, Statutes of 2011) established
CEQA administrative and judicial review procedures for an
environmental leadership development project, including a requirement
for concurrent preparation of the administrative record.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of $200,000 from the General Fund to establish the database at the Office of Technology, including necessary training.
Ongoing costs of $45,000 from the General Fund to the Office of Technology to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to various special funds and the General Fund for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
One-time costs of $20,000 from the General Fund to OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are the lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceeding (various special funds and General Fund). These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
Association of Environmental Professionals
Brandt-Hawley Law Group
California Labor Federation
California League of Conservation Voters
Center for Biological Diversity
Chatten-Brown & Carstens
Natural Resources Defense Council
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP
State Building and Construction Trades Council
OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/28/15)
Associated General Contractors of California
Association of California Cities, Orange County
Association of California Water Agencies
Bay Area Council
Bay Planning Coalition
California Business Properties Association
California Business Roundtable
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
California
Retailers Association
Central City Association of Los
Angeles
Engineering Contractors’ Association
Harbor
Association of Industry & Commerce
Humboldt Association of
REALTORS
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles
County Economic Development Corporation
National Federation of
Independent Business
Orange County Business Council
Pleasanton
Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
San
Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Gabriel Valley Economic
Partnership
San Mateo County Association of REALTORS
Santa
Clara Chamber of Commerce
Santa Clarita Valley Economic
Development Corporation
Sonoma County Alliance
Southern
California Water Committee
Southwest California Legislative
Council
UnitedAg
Valley Industry & Commerce Association
West Coast Lumber and Building Materials Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: A coalition of support states, “One concern raised with respect to CEQA is the delay associated with litigation. In our experience preparation of the administrative record is usually the most time consuming part of CEQA litigation in the trial court. Section 1 of the bill would allow project applicants to request preparation of the record concurrent with the administrative review process. Because most environmental documents are already available in an electronic format, this option could be easily implemented and would reduce the time needed to prepare the record if litigation is filed. Although we support the concept of concurrent preparation, because this is an option available at the project applicant’s discretion, the bill should ensure that the cost of such preparation is borne by the project applicant…Section 2 would require electronic posting of notices and environmental documents. This amendment is a critical reform that will modernize CEQA and make the environmental review process more transparent.”
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A coalition of opposition states, “SB 122’s concurrent preparation of the administrative record process will rarely—if ever—be utilized because it would impose new, unrecoverable costs on the project applicant and expose applicants to new delays and litigation. Under existing law, it is well-settled that the petitioner must pay the costs of preparing the administrative record during CEQA litigation or claims. SB 122 allows project applicants to request concurrent preparation of the record, but if such request is made, the cost of preparing the administrative record – which could range in the hundreds of thousands – would shift entirely to project applicants as unrecoverable costs. Equally concerning is the provision that would require real-time electronic posting of the contents of the administrative record as they are compiled. The administrative record contains incomplete documents that inevitably morph into much improved final documents as a result of the iterative process that CEQA requires. This provision would hinder forward progress of the administrative process by allowing the public to submit premature and unnecessary comments and objections to draft documents that have not yet even been corrected, improved, and finalized through the lead agency’s internal review process.”
Prepared by: Joanne Roy / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
6/1/15 18:50:14
**** END ****
SB 122 (Jackson) Page 3 of 3
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 122 (Jackson) - California Environmental Quality Act: record of proceedings
|
|
Version: April 20, 2015 |
Policy Vote: E.Q. 5 - 1 |
Urgency: No |
Mandate: No |
Hearing Date: May 28, 2015 |
Consultant: Marie Liu |
SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED.
Bill Summary:
SB 122 would require the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to implement a public database of all environmental documents and notices required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This bill would also allow a lead agency, upon request of a project applicant, to prepare the record of proceeding concurrently with the administrative process.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 28, 2015):
One-time costs of $200,000 from the General Fund to establish the database at the Office of Technology, including necessary training.
Ongoing costs of $45,000 from the General Fund to the Office of Technology to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to various special funds and the General Fund for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
One-time costs of $20,000 from the General Fund to OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceeding (various special funds and General Fund). These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
Background:
CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of a project. Under CEQA, lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project are required to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for the project, unless the project is exempt. The purpose of CEQA is to identify significant environmental impacts, including impacts on archaeological resources, and then mitigate those impacts to the extent feasible.
Under existing law, OPR is responsible for maintaining a public clearinghouse of CEQA notices of exemption, preparation, determination, and completion that must be available on the internet. This clearinghouse is known as CEQAnet.
The concurrent preparation of the proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process is not specifically prohibited under existing law. However, existing law specifically allows the concurrent preparation of documents, upon request of the project application, for certain projects designated as “environmental leadership development projects.”
Proposed Law:
This bill would require OPR to establish a complete database of documents that would include both environmental documents as well the various notices required by CEQA. Like the existing clearinghouse, this database would be required to be available to the public online. OPR would be explicitly authorized to coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the database. OPR would also be authorized to phase in the use of the database by local and state agencies.
This bill would require OPR to develop a budget for the development, hosting, and maintenance of the database which must submitted to the Department of Finance for consideration and approval.
This bill would also explicitly authorize a lead agency to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process under CEQA upon request by the project applicant. This bill would specify the process by which the project applicant would make such a request and requires the project applicant and lead agency to mutually agree on the terms of the preparation. The project applicant would be required to agree to pay all of the lead agency’s costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceeding in a manner specified by the lead agency.
Related Legislation:
SB 731 (Steinberg, 2013), SB 37 (Perea, 2013), SB 984(Simitian, 2012), and AB 1570 (Perea, 2012) all proposed explicit authorization for a lead agency to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings. None of these measures were passed by the Legislature.
AB 900 (Buchanan and Gordon) Chapter 354, Statutes of 2011 authorized the concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings for projects designated as an environmental leadership development project.
Staff Comments:
CEQAnet is currently hosted by the University of California, Davis at no charge to the state. However, the database required by the bill would be a large expansion of CEQAnet and would exceed the capacity of the arrangement with UCD. Should this bill pass, OPR would work with the Office of Technology (OTech) in the Government Operations Agency to host and manage the expanded database. OTech estimates that they would have one-time costs of $200,000 to move and upgrade CEQAnet.
OTech also estimates having ongoing costs of approximately $45,000 annually to manage the database. Staff notes that the ongoing cost is based on a database with more functionality than is required by the bill, such as having the database linked to a map. While these functions would certainly add to the usefulness of the database, a more simplified and less expensive version of the database seems to be possible.
OPR also estimates one-time costs of $20,000 for to conduct training and workshops for lead agencies on how to use the new database.
OPR notes that there would be savings to the state agencies, particularly when acting as the lead agency, by having all CEQA documents in one publically available database. OPR requested that the California Research Bureau (CRB) gather information to estimate the state’s CEQA-related document management cost savings if an online database held all CEQA-related documents, as would be required under this bill. CRB estimated that there would be at least $250,000 in annual savings due to reduced clerical processing and handling of CEQA-related documents spread among various state agencies with CEQA responsibilities. This estimate is substantially higher if savings for materials, supplies, and delivery services are also included. However, the CRB notes that these may not all be true savings as few, if any, state agencies have clerical staff exclusively dedicated to CEQA-related document management.
The bill specifically requires OPR to submit a budget proposal to the Department of Finance for review and consideration. Staff recommends that this language be deleted as it unnecessarily specifies that OPR comply with a required step in the budget process.
State agencies who are acting as lead agencies may also have costs under this bill to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the CEQA administrative process. This cost is unknown because it is dependent on the number of project applicants that request concurrent preparation and the scope of the project. However, the bill specifically requires the project proponent to agree to pay all of the lead agency’s costs associated with the concurrent preparation.
Recommended Amendments:
On page 6, delete lines 36-39 and add Sen. Hertzberg as a co-author, per author’s request.
Author amendments (as adopted on May 28, 2015): Amend to delete requirement for OPR to submit a budget proposal to the Department of Finance and to add Sen. Hertzberg as a co-author.
-- END --
SB 122 (Jackson) Page 3 of 3
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 122 (Jackson) - California Environmental Quality Act: record of proceedings
|
|
Version: April 20, 2015 |
Policy Vote: E.Q. 5 - 1 |
Urgency: No |
Mandate: No |
Hearing Date: May 4, 2015 |
Consultant: Marie Liu |
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary:
SB 122 would require the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to implement a public database of all environmental documents and notices required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This bill would also allow a lead agency, upon request of a project applicant, to prepare the record of proceeding concurrently with the administrative process.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time costs of $200,000 from the General Fund to establish the database at the Office of Technology, including necessary training.
Ongoing costs of $45,000 from the General Fund to the Office of Technology to host and update the database. These costs may be offset by savings to various special funds and the General Fund for reduced administrative costs to state lead agencies.
One-time costs of $20,000 from the General Fund to OPR to provide training for lead agencies on the new database.
Unknown costs to state agencies, to the extent they are lead agency under CEQA, to concurrently prepare the record of proceeding (various special funds and General Fund). These costs should be fully reimbursed by project applicants who request the record of proceedings to be prepared concurrently with the administrative process.
Background:
CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of a project. Under CEQA, lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project are required to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for the project, unless the project is exempt. The purpose of CEQA is to identify significant environmental impacts, including impacts on archaeological resources, and then mitigate those impacts to the extent feasible.
Under existing law, OPR is responsible for maintaining a public clearinghouse of CEQA notices of exemption, preparation, determination, and completion that must be available on the internet. This clearinghouse is known as CEQAnet.
The concurrent preparation of the proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process is not specifically prohibited under existing law. However, existing law specifically allows the concurrent preparation of documents, upon request of the project application, for certain projects designated as “environmental leadership development projects.”
Proposed Law:
This bill would require OPR to establish a complete database of documents that would include both environmental documents as well the various notices required by CEQA. Like the existing clearinghouse, this database would be required to be available to the public online. OPR would be explicitly authorized to coordinate with another state agency to host and maintain the database. OPR would also be authorized to phase in the use of the database by local and state agencies.
This bill would require OPR to develop a budget for the development, hosting, and maintenance of the database which must submitted to the Department of Finance for consideration and approval.
This bill would also explicitly authorize a lead agency to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process under CEQA upon request by the project applicant. This bill would specify the process by which the project applicant would make such a request and requires the project applicant and lead agency to mutually agree on the terms of the preparation. The project applicant would be required to agree to pay all of the lead agency’s costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceeding in a manner specified by the lead agency.
Related Legislation:
SB 731 (Steinberg, 2013), SB 37 (Perea, 2013), SB 984(Simitian, 2012), and AB 1570 (Perea, 2012) all proposed explicit authorization for a lead agency to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings. None of these measures were passed by the Legislature.
AB 900 (Buchanan and Gordon) Chapter 354, Statutes of 2011 authorized the concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings for projects designated as an environmental leadership development project.
Staff Comments:
CEQAnet is currently hosted by the University of California, Davis at no charge to the state. However, the database required by the bill would be a large expansion of CEQAnet and would exceed the capacity of the arrangement with UCD. Should this bill pass, OPR would work with the Office of Technology (OTech) in the Government Operations Agency to host and manage the expanded database. OTech estimates that they would have one-time costs of $200,000 to move and upgrade CEQAnet.
OTech also estimates having ongoing costs of approximately $45,000 annually to manage the database. Staff notes that the ongoing cost is based on a database with more functionality than is required by the bill, such as having the database linked to a map. While these functions would certainly add to the usefulness of the database, a more simplified and less expensive version of the database seems to be possible.
OPR also estimates one-time costs of $20,000 for to conduct training and workshops for lead agencies on how to use the new database.
OPR notes that there would be savings to the state agencies, particularly when acting as the lead agency, by having all CEQA documents in one publically available database. OPR requested that the California Research Bureau (CRB) gather information to estimate the state’s CEQA-related document management cost savings if an online database held all CEQA-related documents, as would be required under this bill. CRB estimated that there would be at least $250,000 in annual savings due to reduced clerical processing and handling of CEQA-related documents spread among various state agencies with CEQA responsibilities. This estimate is substantially higher if savings for materials, supplies, and delivery services are also included. However, the CRB notes that these may not all be true savings as few, if any, state agencies have clerical staff exclusively dedicated to CEQA-related document management.
The bill specifically requires OPR to submit a budget proposal to the Department of Finance for review and consideration. Staff recommends that this language be deleted as it unnecessarily specifies that OPR comply with a required step in the budget process.
State agencies who are acting as lead agencies may also have costs under this bill to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the CEQA administrative process. This cost is unknown because it is dependent on the number of project applicants that request concurrent preparation and the scope of the project. However, the bill specifically requires the project proponent to agree to pay all of the lead agency’s costs associated with the concurrent preparation.
Recommended Amendments:
On page 6, delete lines 36-39 and add Sen. Hertzberg as a co-author, per author’s request.
-- END --
SB 122 (122) Page 13 of 13
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 122
Author: |
Jackson and Hill |
||
Version: |
3/26/2015 |
Hearing Date: |
4/15/2015 |
Urgency: |
No |
Fiscal: |
Yes |
Consultant: |
Joanne Roy |
||
Subject: California Environmental Quality Act: record of proceedings
ANALYSIS:
Existing law, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA):
Requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines). (Public Resources Code (PRC) §21000 et seq.).
Establishes a procedure for preparing and certifying the record of proceedings for an action against a public agency on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA. (PRC §21167).
Prohibits an action from being brought on alleged grounds of noncompliance with CEQA unless the alleged grounds for noncompliance were presented to the public agency orally or in writing by any person during the public comment period or prior to the close of the public hearing on the project before issuance of the notice of determination (NOD). (PRC §21177).
Requires the lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse a sufficient number of copies of specified environmental review documents and a copy in an electronic form under specified circumstances. (PRC §21082.1).
Requires the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to establish and maintain a database to assist in the preparation of environmental documents. (PRC §21159.9(b)).
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a central repository for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specified notices and make those notices available through the internet. (PRC §21159.9(c)).
This bill:
Regarding concurrent preparation of the record of proceeding:
Upon written request by a project applicant and with consent of the lead agency, requires the lead agency to concurrently prepare the record of proceedings with the administrative process.
Requires all documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings to be posted on a website maintained by the lead agency.
Requires the lead agency to make publicly available, in electronic format, the draft environmental document, and associated documents, for the project.
Requires the lead agency to make any comment publicly available electronically within five days of its receipt.
Requires the lead agency to certify the record of proceedings within 30 days after filing notice of determination or approval.
Requires certain environmental review documents to include a notice, as specified, stating that the document is subject to this section.
Requires the applicant to pay for the lead agency’s cost of concurrently preparing and certifying the record of proceedings.
Regarding the State Clearinghouse database system for CEQA documents:
Requires OPR to establish and maintain a database for the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of environmental documents and notices prepared pursuant to CEQA and to make the database available online to the public.
Requires OPR to submit a report describing the implementation of the database to the Legislature by July 1, 2016 and a status report by July 2018.
States the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation establishing a public review period for a final environmental impact report.
Background
CEQA: The Environmental Review Process.
A CEQA environmental review document is a public document. It provides for transparency as well as an opportunity for citizens to comment on the document and participate in the environmental review process.
CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of a project, and includes statutory exemptions as well as categorical exemptions in the CEQA guidelines. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, an initial study is prepared to determine whether a project may have a significant effect on the environment. If the initial study shows that there would not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare a negative declaration. If the initial study shows that the project may have a significant effect on the environment, then the lead agency must prepare an EIR.
Generally, an EIR must accurately describe the proposed project, identify and analyze each significant environmental impact expected to result from the proposed project, identify mitigation measures to reduce those impacts to the extent feasible, and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. Prior to approving any project that has received an environmental review, an agency must make certain findings. If mitigation measures are required or incorporated into a project, the agency must adopt a reporting or monitoring program to ensure compliance with those measures.
If a mitigation measure would cause one or more significant effects in addition to those that would be caused by the proposed project, the effects of the mitigation measure must be discussed but in less detail than the significant effects of the proposed project.
What Is Analyzed In an Environmental Review?
Pursuant to CEQA, an environmental review analyzing the significant direct and indirect environmental impacts of a proposed project, may include water quality, surface and subsurface hydrology, land use and agricultural resources, transportation and circulation, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, terrestrial and aquatic biological resources, aesthetics, geology and soils, recreation, public services and utilities such as water supply and wastewater disposal, cultural resources such as historical and archaeological resources, and tribal cultural resources.
Comments
Purpose of Bill.
According to the authors:
[CEQA]
ensures that state and local agencies make informed decisions when
undertaking projects that may impact the environment. Stakeholders
have voiced concern that the current CEQA process can be cumbersome
and inefficient. In May 2014, the Senate Judiciary and Environmental
Quality Committees sent a joint letter to a broad range of CEQA
stakeholders – developers, business, environmental, and labor
groups, planners, local governments, and academics – asking for
community input on how to improve the process without undercutting
the statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental
decisionmaking. Drawing upon stakeholder responses to that letter,
this bill will enact three substantive changes to CEQA that will help
expedite the process while protecting the integrity of the act.
First, it will authorize lead agencies to concurrently prepare their administrative records while going through the CEQA process, rather than after the process has concluded. Second, it will improve the accessibility of CEQA related documents by expanding the use of California’s online CEQA State Clearinghouse. Third, it will improve the predictability and efficiency of the public comment process by modifying the criteria for submitting late comments.
During
the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last year on SB 1451 (Hill and
Roth) regarding CEQA “document dumping,” Senator Jackson and
Senator Hill agreed to explore ways to improve the CEQA process in
conjunction with the broader CEQA community. As part of that effort,
they sent a joint letter to CEQA stakeholders asking for community
input on how to improve the process without undercutting the
statute’s goal of fostering informed environmental decisionmaking.
The Senate Environmental Quality and Judiciary Committees received 13
responses from stakeholders who collectively represent a
cross-section of the CEQA community. Two broad consensus
recommendations emerged from these 13 responses, and many community
members indicated that these two recommended changes would greatly
improve the CEQA process: concurrent preparation of the record of
proceedings and a centralized database for CEQA documents.
Concurrent Preparation of the Record of Proceedings.
Potential Time-Saver for Post-Decision CEQA Challenge.
SB 122 provides the option of preparing the record of proceedings during the CEQA environmental review process in order to save time and effort in the event of a post-decision CEQA challenge. Depending on factors such as the complexity and length of the environmental review, preparation can take multiple months. However, in situations where an agency believes a project is likely to be challenged, it is probably more efficient and expeditious if the record is prepared concurrently with the preparation of other project-specific environmental documents. Additionally, concurrently prepared records may be more defensible in court, given that they are not post-hoc recreations assembled some time (potentially several months) after the relevant CEQA decision is made.
Concurrent preparation is not specifically prohibited under existing law, but it has only been expressly authorized for certain projects (e.g. AB 900 (Buchanan and Gordon), Chapter 354, Statutes of 2011, environmental leadership development projects (ELDPs)). Providing public agencies a general authorization to engage in concurrent preparation may take away any uncertainty on the matter and make a public agency more likely to adopt the practice for appropriate projects.
Time is Money
In general, preparation of the record of proceedings begins after a lawsuit is filed and the petitioner pays. This can result in a substantial amount of time to go by before there is any resolution.
One issue that some CEQA stakeholders contend is that CEQA litigation delays projects. As noted above, the concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings can save the project applicant several months of delay. It seems logical and reasonable that the beneficiary of an action should pay for that action to occur.
If a project applicant believes that litigation is inevitable, it may behoove that entity to ask the lead agency to prepare the administrative record in conjunction with the environmental review process – the efficiency of simultaneous preparation can possibly save months of time preparing for litigation, such as tracking down and collecting documents to add to the administrative record.
For example, under AB 900, five project applicants have/are utilizing concurrent preparation process as an ELDP. Those projects had to meet stringent standards in order to be an ELDP and benefit from AB 900’s provisions, including concurrent preparation of the administrative record for which the project applicant pays.
SB 122’s concurrent preparation provision is discretionary and not mandatory. If an applicant has no reason to believe that its project will be subject to litigation, then the applicant does not have to utilize this option.
No Opposition on Previous Concurrent Preparation Bills, So Why Now?
In the past four years, there have been multiple bills proposing concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings that are either the same proposal in SB 122 or slightly varied –
SB 731 (Steinberg and Hill) (2013)
AB 37 (Perea) (2013)
SB 984 (Simitian, Steinberg, and Strickland)/AB 1570 (Perea) (2012)
AB 900 (Buchanan and Gordon) (2011), which was specific only to environmental leadership development projects (ELDPs).
No
opposition or concern was raised on any of the bills mentioned above
regarding concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings.
However, many entities oppose SB 122, stating, “SB 122’s
concurrent preparation of the administrative record process will
rarely – if ever – be utilized because it would impose new,
unrecoverable costs on the project applicant and expose applicants to
new delays and litigation.”
Opposition has had multiple
opportunities on several bills over the past few years to raise
concern about this issue and chose not to. A question arises – Why
not then and why now?
Increased Use of Internet Resources – The State Clearinghouse.
The authors state, “[OPR] operates a limited online CEQA repository (called “CEQAnet”) as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This second component of the bill will direct OPR to expand its online CEQA repository to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single repository, forming a true statewide CEQA clearinghouse.”
Many CEQA stakeholders have noted that the CEQA process makes poor use of internet resources for distributing information, providing notice to affected parties, and facilitating the submission of comments. The current CEQA process is still largely paper-based, and information that is posted online is often buried deep within agency or project proponent websites. Currently, OPR has operates a limited online CEQA repository as part of the State Clearinghouse used for state-level review of environmental documents. This bill proposes to expand OPR’s clearinghouse to include copies of all CEQA documents in a single, electronic database system, which would be available via the Internet and to the public. Stakeholders believe such a resource would greatly expedite the CEQA process by eliminating transmission times for relevant documents. In addition, universal accessibility of such a resource would make it much harder to justify last minute “document dumps.”
A
fully functioning clearinghouse would provide California residents
with an easy to use, universal point of entry into the CEQA process,
furthering the policy of transparency and public participation in the
environmental review process.
Proposed Central Database: Potential Cost Savings.
Expanding OPR’s CEQA database would likely require some type of financial commitment by the state, but it is possible that any new costs could be offset by reductions in agency staff time and resources used to distribute paper-based materials. Last year, the California Research Bureau (CRB) researched CEQA-related document handling costs for selected state agencies and looked into issues such as clerical document management and preparation and delivery costs. According to CRB:
We
estimate that the cumulative annual cost to State entities in staff
time commitments for clerical processing and handling of CEQA-related
documents exceeds $250,000 and may easily be in excess of $500,000,
with additional expenditures for materials, supplies, and delivery
services. Not all of these staff expenditures are truly avoidable
costs, as few State entities delegate any clerical staff full-time to
CEQA-related document handling functions. But it appears plausible
that an effective, electronic document management system and
web-based application for CEQA-related document submission and
retrieval by Lead Agencies and Reviewing Agencies could generate cost
savings across the state.
Under
CEQA, the Legislature declares the policy of the state shall be that
“All persons and public agencies involved in the environmental
review process be responsible for carrying out the process in the
most efficient, expeditious manner in order to conserve the available
financial, governmental, physical, and social resources with the
objective that those resources may be better applied toward the
mitigation of actual significant effects on the environment.” (PRC
§21003(f)). SB 122 proposes to help move CEQA forward by utilizing
technology that was not present when CEQA was originally
established.
Late Comments and Document Dumping.
Late Comments: Sometimes Strategic Gamesmanship; Sometimes Legitimately Late.
When a person or organization fails to comment within the lead agency time limits provided for an environmental review, the lead agency may assume that the person or agency has no comment (Guidelines §15207). However, this does not mean that the lead agency should ignore late comments. Although the CEQA Guidelines and judicial precedent indicate that a lead agency does not need to respond to a late comment in writing, the lead agency does need to exercise discretion because all comments – including late ones – become part of the project’s administrative record. (Galante Vineyards v. Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (1997) 60 Cal.App. 4th 1109).
Sometimes interested parties to a project may submit comments late in the review process and perhaps voluminous amounts of content in their comment as a tactic to delay a project – this is referred to as “document dumping”. As mentioned earlier, the comment becomes a part of the administrative record to which future litigants can refer. The California Supreme Court has stated, “We cannot, of course, overemphasize our disapproval of the tactic of withholding objections…solely for the purpose of obstruction and delay,” and stressed that strategically delaying commenting on a project is not a “game to be played by persons who…are chiefly interested in scuttling a particular project.” (Citizens of Goleta Valley v. Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County (1990) 52 Cal. 3rd 553, 368).
However, this may not always be the case – interested parties, who submit late comments, may raise genuine, significant issues that were not adequately addressed in the environmental review or provide important information that was not available earlier in the process.
The crux of the late comments issue is trying to address the tactic of document dumping without unduly punishing genuine comments that may be late for a legitimate reason.
Recent Legislative History on Late Comments/Document Dumping.
In 2011-12, Senator Simitian convened a CEQA stakeholder group. Among the topics of discussion was late comments (sometimes referred to as “document dumping”). Some stakeholders wanted to limit opportunity for late comments. Others, who were concerned about placing too strict of limits on public participation at the end of the environmental review process, wanted more opportunities to participate earlier in the process. After much discussion and debate, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee consultant developed a compromise to address these concerns, but that language ultimately did not come to fruition – the final consensus of the stakeholder group members was that they all preferred the exhaustion of administrative remedies statute in its current form over the compromise.
SB 122: Work in Progress.
Discussions with stakeholders indicate that the last minute submission of written comments is a problem in at least some CEQA processes. Documents and information presented to an agency late in the process or during a final hearing do not allow sufficient time for review, analysis, and incorporation into the decisionmaking process. The authors of this bill are committed to addressing the problem posed by written comments submitted late in the CEQA process, but they are also committed to preserving the public’s ability to fully participate in the process. The third component of this bill is intended to establish new procedural requirements in order to better accommodate late written comments into the CEQA workflow and the authors are working with stakeholders to find a solution. Should this bill be voted out of committee and substantially amended, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee may wish to hear this bill again.
Technical and Clarifying Amendments Needed.
On page 7, line 17, this bill refers to “July 2018” as the deadline for providing a report to the Legislature describing the status of expanding the OPR’s database. An amendment is needed to specify a day in July to the deadline, “July 1, 2018.”
This bill requires a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse environmental documents “in the form required” by OPR. The word, “form”, can be broadly interpreted and possibly misinterpreted to mean the substantive form of a document, e.g. requiring only an executive summary be submitted, as opposed to the medium in which the information is supposed to be submitted, e.g. hardcopy or electronic format. An amendment is needed to clarify that form is in reference to the medium required by OPR, by specifying “hardcopy or electronic form”.
On page 12, line 35, there is a drafting error referencing Code of Civil Procedure §1033. An amendment is needed to change §1033 to §1032.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB
127 (Vidak, Fuller, and Nielsen) establishes CEQA administrative and
judicial review procedures for a project funded by the Water Quality,
Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1
water bond), including concurrent preparation of the record of
proceedings. SB 127 is a 2-year bill and is currently in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee.
SB
1451 (Hill and Roth) (2014) would have expanded CEQA’s exhaustion
requirements by precluding an individual from challenging a public
agency’s compliance with the act if the alleged grounds of
noncompliance were known or could have been known with the exercise
of reasonable diligence during the public comment period, but the
alleged grounds of noncompliance were presented to the public agency
at a time other than during the public comment period. This bill
also would have expanded CEQA’s exhaustion requirements by
precluding a person from challenging a public agency’s compliance
if the person objected to the approval of the project at a time other
than during the public comment period when a public comment period
was provided. SB 1451 died in Senate Judiciary Committee.
SB 731 (Steinberg and Hill) (2013) would have enacted the “CEQA Modernization Act of 2013,” making various clarifications and revisions to CEQA, including requiring the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant, to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process for certain environmental documents under certain conditions. SB 731 died in Assembly Local Government Committee.
AB 37 (Perea) (2013) would have required the lead agency, upon request of a project applicant, to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrently with the administrative process for projects subject to CEQA review. AB 37 was subsequently amended to address integrated regional water management plans and was eventually placed on the Senate Inactive file.
SB 984 (Simitian) (2012) would have required a lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process for certain environmental documents under certain conditions, and would have sunsetted January 1, 2016 (contingent enactment with AB 1570 (Perea)). SB 984 died on the Senate Floor.
AB
1570 (Perea) (2012) contained provisions relating to certification of
the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process
for certain environmental documents under certain conditions, and
would have sunsetted on January 1, 2016 (contingent enactment with SB
984 (Simitian)). AB 1570 died in Senate Committee on Rules.
AB
900 (Buchanan and Gordon), Chapter 354, Statutes of 2011, established
CEQA administrative and judicial review procedures for an
environmental leadership development project, including a requirement
for concurrent preparation of the administrative record.
SOURCE:
Author
SUPPORT:
Association of Environmental Professionals
Brandt-Hawley Law Group
California Labor Federation
California League of Conservation Voters
Center for Biological Diversity
Chatten-Brown & Carstens
Natural Resources Defense Council
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP
State Building and Construction Trades Council
OPPOSITION:
Associated General Contractors of California
Association of California Cities, Orange County
Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
Bay Area Council
Bay Planning Coalition
California Association of REALTORS
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Business Roundtable
California Chamber of Commerce
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
California
Realtors Association
Central City Association of Los
Angeles
Engineering Contractors’ Association
Harbor
Association of Industry & Commerce
Humboldt Association of
REALTORS
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles
County Economic Development Corporation
National Federation of
Independent Business
Orange County Business Council
Pleasanton
Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
San
Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Gabriel Valley Economic
Partnership
San Mateo County Association of REALTORS
Santa
Clara Chamber of Commerce
Santa Clarita Valley Economic
Development Corporation
Sonoma County Alliance
Southern
California Water Committee
Southwest California Legislative
Council
UnitedAg
Valley Industry & Commerce Association
(VICA)
West Coast Lumber and Building Materials Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
A coalition of support states, “One concern raised with respect to CEQA is the delay associated with litigation. In our experience preparation of the administrative record is usually the most time consuming part of CEQA litigation in the trial court. Section 1 of the bill would allow project applicants to request preparation of the record concurrent with the administrative review process. Because most environmental documents are already available in an electronic format, this option could be easily implemented and would reduce the time needed to prepare the record if litigation is filed. Although we support the concept of concurrent preparation, because this is an option available at the project applicant’s discretion, the bill should ensure that the cost of such preparation is borne by the project applicant…Section 2 would require electronic posting of notices and environmental documents. This amendment is a critical reform that will modernize CEQA and make the environmental review process more transparent.”
ARGUMENTS
IN OPPOSITION: A
coalition of opposition states, “Under existing law, it is
well-settled that the petitioner must pay the costs of preparing the
administrative record during CEQA litigation or claims. SB 122
allows project applicants to request concurrent preparation of the
record, but if such request is made, the cost of preparing the
administrative record – which could range in the hundreds of
thousands – would shift entirely to project applicants as
unrecoverable costs. Equally concerning is the provision that would
require real-time electronic posting of the contents of the
administrative record as they are compiled. The administrative
record contains incomplete documents that inevitably morph into much
improved final documents as a result of the iterative process that
CEQA requires. This provision would hinder forward progress of the
administrative process by allowing the public to submit premature and
unnecessary comments and objections to draft documents that have not
yet even been corrected, improved, and finalized through the lead
agency’s internal review process. For these reasons, it is highly
unlikely that project proponents or lead agencies would utilize this
proposed provision.”
-- END --
Discussed in Hearing
2MIN
Senate Floor
1MIN
Assembly Floor
5MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations
11MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Natural Resources
7MIN
Senate Floor
5MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations
30MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality
Bill Co-Author(s):
