Environment: guidelines: vegetation management projects.

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 requires the Office of Planning and Research to prepare and develop guidelines for the implementation of CEQA by public agencies. This bill would require the office, on or after January 1, 2011, at the time of the next update of the guidelines for implementing CEQA, in cooperation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to prepare, develop, and transmit to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency recommended proposed changes or amendments to the initial study for the inclusion of questions related to vegetation management projects to reduce fire hazards that are located in state responsibility areas and high fire hazard severity zones. This bill would also require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt these recommended proposed changes or amendments. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.