🚀 go-pugleaf

In the latest installment of their new agenda, Assembly Republican
leadership
dealt a punishing blow to Californians' quality of life by carving out a
series of new loopholes in the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA). As
California's premier environmental law, CEQA guarantees citizens the right
to
participate in the environmental decisions that affect their communities.
Its
function can be described as "Environmental Quality Control" for projects
in
the state. Only those projects with potentially significant environmental
impacts are fully reviewed under CEQA. Nevertheless, CEQA continues to be
the
target of substantial "reform" efforts by industry, agency, cattle and
farm
interests, even though they have yet to present hard evidence that CEQA
requirements are imposing a hardship on California's economic growth.  

Environmentalists expect another all-out attack on CEQA this year,
particularly as a result of the drastic changes which have occurred in the
Assembly Natural Resources Committee. The leading environmental legislator
in
the Assembly, Byron Sher (D-Stanford), Chairman of that Committee for 12
years, has been replaced by Assembly Member Keith Olberg (R-Victorville),
a
former Building Industry Association employee, well known for his anti-
environment agenda.

The following CEQA bills, opposed by the Sierra Club, recently passed the
Assembly and will be considered by the state Senate in coming weeks:


AB 298 (Rainey) - This bill exempts traffic congestion management programs
from CEQA. Currently, specified counties are required to prepare
congestion
management programs and update them every two years. CEQA requires that
projects included in a congestion management program be reviewed to
determine
if better alternatives exist that would satisfy the goals of the project.
This
bill effectively eliminates the consideration of alternatives to
transportation projects developed as part of a congestion management
program.


AB 678 (Woods) - This bill expands exemptions from CEQA or any other
environmental review granted for reconstruction of land and appurtenant
structures damaged by natural or manmade disasters or emergencies.
"Structures" is meant to include not only buildings but also dams, levees,
pipelines, etc. Current law allows a disaster exemption from CEQA in areas
in
which the Governor has declared a state of emergency. This bill broadens
the
definitions of disasters and emergencies as well as the types of projects
that
can qualify for exemption. For many projects with significant
environmental
impacts, AB 678 will prevent review and mitigation pursuant to CEQA.


AB 795 (Goldsmith) - This bill grants a CEQA exemption for any project
located
in an area covered by a Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP). The
premise is that the NCCP process provides wildlife and habitat protection
which is at least equivalent to that provided by CEQA. However, the
success of
the four-year-old NCCP process in protecting wildlife and habitat remains
unproven. On the other hand, the success of CEQA in protecting these
resources
and others has been established over the course of 25 years. CEQA
addresses
issues not necessarily addressed by an NCCP. This bill would result in
less
thorough review of impacts to wildlife and little or no review of impacts
to
many other resources.


AB 1330 (Olberg) - This bill exempts dredging and filling of wetlands as
permitted by the US Army Corps of Engineers from CEQA review. Currently,
permits issued by the Corps for dredging and filling of wetlands must be
certified by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). SWRCB's
certifications are subject to review under CEQA. AB 1330 would eliminate
CEQA
review of these certifications. As a result, future permits for dredging
and
filling of wetlands would receive no state-level environmental review.


Status - These bills will likely be double-referred to both the Senate
Natural
Resources and Governmental Organization Committees. They may be heard as
soon
as the last week of February. Members of those committees are -  

Natural Resources - Hayden (Chair), Thompson (Vice-Chair), Johannessen,
Johnston, Killea, Leslie, Mello, Monteith, O'Connell, Rogers and Solis;  

Governmental Organization - Dills (Chair), Maddy (Vice-Chair), Alquist,
Beverly, Calderon, Greene, Hughes, Lewis, Mello, Rosenthal and Thompson.


Action Needed - Contact your Senator and members of the committees and
urge
their opposition to each of these bills. Key votes on the committees are
Senators Alquist, Calderon, Dills, Greene, Hughes, Johnston, Mello and
Thompson.


Address your letters to: Assembly Member/Senator ________
                         State Capitol
                         Sacramento, CA  95814

To find out who your
state legislators are, call:  (916) 445-3614 (Assembly)
                         (916) 445-4251 (Senate)

From Sierra Club California