AB 246: Environmental quality: Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2011.

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.

The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2011 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2018, to certify projects that meet certain requirements, including the requirement that the project is certified as LEED silver or better by the United States Green Building Council, achieves a 10% greater standard for transportation efficiency than for comparable projects, and creates high-wage, highly skilled jobs that pay prevailing wages and living wages, for streamlining benefits provided by that act. The act provides that if a lead agency fails to approve a project certified by the Governor before January 1, 2019, the certification expires and is no longer valid. The act requires a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings for the certified project concurrent with the preparation of the environmental documents. The act is repealed by its own terms on January 1, 2019.

This bill would increase the certification of the project to LEED gold or better and increase the transportation efficiency to a 15% greater standard. The bill would require the project applicant to demonstrate compliance with requirements for commercial and organic waste recycling, as applicable. The bill would extend the authority of the Governor to certify a project to January 1, 2020. The bill would provide that the certification expires and is no longer valid if the lead agency fails to approve a certified project before January 1, 2021. The bill would repeal the act on January 1, 2021. Because the bill would extend the obligation of the lead agency to prepare concurrently the record of proceedings, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The act requires the Judicial Council to adopt a rule of court to establish procedures for judicial review of a lead agencys certification of the EIR of a certified project or the approval of a project to ensure that the judicial review is completed within 270 days of the certification of the record of proceedings for the project.

This bill would instead require the judicial review to be completed within 270 days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court to the extent feasible. The bill would make other, nonsubstantive changes.

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

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