California Air Resources Board

Expands the Permit Streamlining Act, limits certain Coastal Commission housing appeals, accelerates coastal permitting, and makes permanent key provisions of the Housing Accountability Act and Housing Crisis Act. The bill also freezes new residential building standards through 2031 with exceptions for emergency, fire, and conservation-related updates. Establishes a revolving fund to reinvest equity from stabilized affordable housing into new developments through the Affordable Housing Excess Equity Program, and by establishing a statewide CEQA Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Mitigation Bank to provide an optional compliance tool to allow developers to more effectively fulfill their existing CEQA mitigation obligations by funding location-efficient affordable housing and infrastructure projects.

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Streamlines CEQA review for housing development projects that meet all but one eligibility criteria for specified CEQA exemptions. The bill also exempts from CEQA new agricultural employee housing projects, wildfire risk reduction projects, the State's climate adaptation strategy, day care centers, rural health clinics, food banks, advanced manufacturing facilities, high speed rail and passenger rail stations, certain community water system projects, and makes additional changes to existing CEQA exemptions. It also requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to map the eligible urban infill sites within every urbanized area or urban cluster in the state by July 1, 2027. The bill also excludes staff notes and internal agency communications from the administrative record that a lead agency must compile under CEQA when requested by a CEQA plaintiff or petitioner in an action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul certain acts or decisions of a public agency, with specified exceptions.

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Requires the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to develop a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for small and medium compost facilities under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by January 1, 2027, and specifies that the PEIR shall streamline the process with which jurisdictions can develop and site compost facilities.

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Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, by Jan 1, 2028, to conduct a study, in consultation with CARB and other State, local and industry entities, on the use of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as a metric for transportation impacts in housing developments pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The study must include analysis of the implementation and outcomes of CEQA VMT guidance as it pertains to housing and how VMT impacts and mitigation measures are identified, measured, deployed and available at the local, regional, and statewide level and in rural, suburban, and urban areas, among other topics. Implementation is contingent upon appropriation, as specified.

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Summary 

Removes the requirement for public agencies to issue CEQA’s existing Statement of Overriding Concern for traffic only, when approving or carrying out a housing development project, as defined, a commercial project, or an industrial project. Hearing in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee canceled at the author's request.

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Summary 

For CARB and air districts, this bill expands the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) regulatory process to apply to virtually every regulation CARB and districts might promulgate, regardless of environmental impact. Requires CARB, air districts, and other specified agencies to complete a specific alternative environmental analysis or the equivalent of an Environmental Impact Report for every regulation adopted that directly or indirectly requires emission reductions of greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants, or toxic air contaminants. This bill might expand the circumstances under which a focused Environmental Impact Report could be used by regulated entities for the installation of air pollution control equipment and related components and also could add extensive labor requirements if the focused Environmental Impact Report is used, both under current law and under the expanded CEQA analysis on regulations required by this bill. Moved to the inactive file on the Assembly Floor.

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Summary

Would have required the Office of Planning and Research, by January 1, 2025, to conduct and submit to the Legislature a study on the impacts and implementation of its guidelines relating to transportation impacts. The bill also would have required the Office of Planning and Research, upon appropriation, to establish a grant program to provide financial assistance to local jurisdictions for implementing those guidelines. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have included specified energy projects in the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act. Was not heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

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Summary

Would have required CARB, air districts, and other specified agencies to complete an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or alternative environmental analysis, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and as specified, for every rule or regulation adopted that requires emission reductions of greenhouse gases (GHG), criteria air pollutants, or toxic air contaminants (TAC), or compliance with a performance standard or treatment requirement that requires emission reductions of GHGs, criteria air pollutants, or TACs. This bill also would have added extensive labor requirements if a focused EIR was used for the installation of pollution control equipment projects to reduce TACs, criteria pollutants, or GHGs that was undertaken to comply with the any of the regulations specified above.

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Governor’s Veto Message

To the Members of the California State Senate: 

I am returning Senate Bill 1136 without my signature.

This bill expands the environmental review process for California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations that require the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants, or toxic air contaminants.

I share the author's goal in seeking ways to streamline and accelerate critical projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, this bill restricts CARB from using standard California Environmental Quality Act streamlining tools for environmentally beneficial regulations.

In addition, this bill would create significant delays in the promulgation of environmentally beneficial regulations. This bill also exposes state and local public agencies to new litigation risks and results in millions of dollars in costs not accounted for in the budget.

With our state facing lower-than-expected revenues over the first few months of this fiscal year, it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending, particularly spending that is ongoing. We must prioritize existing obligations and priorities, including education, health care, public safety and safety-net programs.

The Legislature sent measures with potential costs of well over $20 billion in one-time spending commitments and more than $10 billion in ongoing commitments not accounted for in the state budget. For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

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Summary

Expands California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemptions for specified transit, bicycle, and pedestrian projects, and extends these exemptions from 2023 to 2030.

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