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 the lead agency 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 provides that the existence of a public controversy over the environmental effects of a project shall not require the preparation of an EIR if there is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record before the lead agency that the project may have a significant effect on the environment.

This bill would instead provide, for the above-described projects, that the existence of public controversy over the environmental effects of a project shall not require preparation of an EIR if an EIR would not otherwise be required by CEQA. The bill would also require that an action or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the adoption of a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration as described above, or the granting of any project approvals, including any potential appeals to the court of appeal or the Supreme Court, be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court.