Environment

This measure would urge the President of the United States and Congress of the United States to immediately restore full and consistent funding and staffing for the National Park Service.

The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the take of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species, except as specified. Under the act, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize the take of listed species by certain entities through permits or memorandums of understanding for specified purposes. The act allows take of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species by permit if, among other things, the impact of the authorized take is minimized and fully mitigated. This bill would also allow the department to authorize by permit the take of a species proposed for listing, as defined, if specified conditions are met. The bill would provide that if a species proposed for listing becomes listed as an endangered, threatened, or candidate species, further authorization or approval shall not be required for a take of that species, if specified conditions are met, including that the species proposed for listing was included as a covered species in a permit previously issued by the department for incidental take and that the incidental take is caused by a renewable electrical generation facility. The bill would require the department to, on or before January 31, 2033, compile and post a summary table on its internet website with specified information for calendar years 2027 to 2032, inclusive.

Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards regulate water quality and prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the federal national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program established by the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Existing law requires each regional board to formulate and adopt water quality control plans for all areas within the region, as provided. The bill would require the state board, after making the necessary residual designation authority findings, to establish a statewide commercial, industrial, and institutional NPDES order for properties with 5 acres or more of impervious surface, as provided. The bill would require the state board to publish a draft order of the statewide order for public comment on or before December 31, 2028, or 18 months after the reissuance of a specified statewide permit, as specified. The bill would require the state board to contemporaneously establish rules for offsite compliance agreements to issue with the publication of the draft statewide order for public comment that details the necessary components of an agreement between commercial, industrial, and institutional permittees and local municipalities for achieving offsite stormwater capture and use within the adopted final statewide commercial, industrial, and institutional NPDES order. The bill would require the NPDES order to include multiple compliance options for discharges to select and comply with to be deemed in compliance with applicable water quality based effluent limitations, including, but not limited to, compliance options incentivizing green infrastructure onsite or offsite stormwater capture and use.

Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights on property acquired for state highway purposes. Various provisions of existing law specifically provide for the acquisition, transfer, and use of property owned by the department. This bill would, with respect to a parcel that the department transferred to the City of Lynwood, require the department, upon request from the city, to develop and enter into an agreement with the city to release and remove a deed restriction imposed on that parcel if the city agrees to transfer the deed restriction to another specified parcel and other certain other requirements are met. If the city and department enter into this agreement, the bill would require the city to submit reports to the Legislature, and specified committees of the Legislature, at prescribed intervals on the use of this authority to develop those parcels. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Lynwood.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms in regulating those emissions. The implementing regulations adopted by the state board provide for the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical corporations and gas corporations pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism. Existing law, except as provided, requires revenues received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities to be credited directly to residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporation, commonly known as the electric California Climate Credit. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Under its regulatory authority, the commission requires, except as provided, revenues received by a gas corporation as a result of the direct allowance of greenhouse gas allowances to natural gas suppliers to be credited directly to residential customers of the gas corporation, commonly known as the natural gas California Climate Credit. This bill would require that the electric California Climate Credit be provided to the residential and small business retail customers of electrical corporations on the bills of those customers for the months of August and September of each year, and to the emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of electrical corporations on the bills of those customers for the month of August of each year, unless otherwise directed by the commission, as specified. The bill would require that the natural gas California Climate Credit be provided to residential customers on the bills of those customers for the month of February of each year unless otherwise directed by the commission, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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 authorizes the Governor to certify projects meeting certain requirements as infrastructure projects and provide those certified projects with certain streamlining benefits, including requiring the lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings concurrently with the environmental review process and requiring the resolution of an action or proceeding challenging the certification of an EIR for certified projects or the granting of any project approvals, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of the filing of the record of proceedings with the court, as specified. Existing law requires the lead agency, within 10 days of the certification of an infrastructure project, to provide a public notice of the certification, as provided. If a lead agency fails to approve a project certified as an infrastructure project before January 1, 2033, existing law specifies that the certification is no longer valid. This bill would authorize the Governor to certify up to 3 sustainable aviation fuel projects, as defined, meeting certain requirements, as infrastructure projects, thereby providing the above streamlining benefits to those projects. By expanding the duties of a lead agency as they relate to infrastructure projects and to sustainable aviation fuel projects, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would urge the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States to immediately restore full funding for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program 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 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 exempts from its requirements various projects, including, but not limited to, housing projects that meet certain requirements. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA a housing development project, as defined, that meets certain conditions relating to, for example, size, density, and location, including specific requirements for any housing on the project site located within 500 feet of a freeway. The bill would require a local government, as a condition of approval for the development, to require the development proponent to complete a specified environmental assessment regarding hazardous substance releases. If a recognized environmental condition is found, the bill would require the development proponent to complete a preliminary endangerment assessment and specified mitigation based on that assessment. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a housing development project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would call on the President of the United States to honor his promise to save American lives and communities through forest management and wildfire risk reduction projects, would request that he veto any legislation that defunds the United States Forest Service and work with Congress to protect and improve these programs, and would call for related congressional action.

(1) The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act establishes a statewide program for the control of the quality of all the waters in the state and makes certain legislative findings and declarations. Existing law defines the term "beneficial uses" for the purposes of water quality as certain waters of the state that may be protected against quality degradation, to include, among others, domestic, municipal, agricultural, and industrial supplies. This bill would add findings and declarations related to California tribal communities, as defined, and the importance of protecting tribal water use. The bill would add tribal water uses as waters of the state that may be protected against quality degradation for purposes of the defined term "beneficial uses." The bill would require any project or regulatory program subject to approval by the State Water Quality Control Board or a regional water quality control board, within a specified environmental review, and in any findings and declarations presented for state board or a regional board approval, to describe, with both quantitative and qualitative information, how the project or regulatory program will impact tribal water uses, and would require, on or before December 1, 2026, and every 2 years thereafter, the state board to publish a report on implementation of this provision on its internet website. (2) Existing law requires the state board to consult with and carefully evaluate the recommendations of concerned federal, state, and local agencies during the process of formulating or revising state policy for water quality control. This bill would additionally require the state board to consult and carefully evaluate the recommendations of concerned California tribal communities. (3) Existing law requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. Existing law requires each regional board to formulate and adopt water quality control plans for all areas within the region and prohibits a water quality control plan, or a revision of the plan, adopted by a regional board from becoming effective unless it is approved by the state board. Existing law authorizes the state board to adopt certain water quality control plans. Existing law requires a regional board to establish water quality objectives in water quality control plans that in its judgment will ensure reasonable protection of beneficial uses and the prevention of nuisance and requires each regional board to consider specified factors in establishing water quality objectives. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the state board to propose, and solicit tribal consultation and public comment on, water quality standards to achieve reasonable protection of tribal water uses into the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed. This bill would add consultations with California tribal communities and environmental justice considerations as factors for a regional board to consider in establishing water quality control objectives. The bill would exempt adoption of tribal water uses within water quality control plans from the California Environmental Quality Act, and would require, upon the next triennial review of a water quality control plan after January 1, 2026, each regional board to define tribal beneficial uses in its water quality control plan and, where applicable, adopt water quality standards to achieve reasonable protection of tribal water uses into water quality control plans. (4) Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency, on or before December 1, 2007, to enter into a memorandum of understanding for the purposes of establishing the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, which the state board is required to administer. Existing law requires the monitoring council to review existing water quality monitoring, assessment, and reporting efforts and to recommend specific actions and funding needs necessary to coordinate and enhance those efforts. Existing law requires the memorandum of understanding to describe the means by which the monitoring council shall formulate recommendations to reduce redundancies, inefficiencies, and inadequacies in existing water quality monitoring and data management programs and to ensure that water quality improvement projects financed by the state provide specific information necessary to track project effectiveness with regard to achieving clean water and healthy ecosystems. This bill would require, on or before December 1, 2026, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency to amend the memorandum of understanding to incorporate participation from California tribal communities in the actions of the monitoring council, and would describe these potential methods of participation. The bill would require the memorandum of understating to include recommendations on how to achieve and maintain tribal water uses through state board and regional board regulatory actions and other programs, as specified. (5) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.