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 defines various terms, including “natural and protected lands” for its purposes.

This bill would revise the definition of that term to include habitats for protected species identified as candidate, sensitive, or species of special status by state or federal agencies.

CEQA exempts from its requirement projects that consist exclusively of a day care center that is not located in a residential area and projects that consist exclusively of an advanced manufacturing facility located on a site zoned exclusively for industrial uses.

This bill would additionally exempt projects consisting exclusively of a family day care home, as defined. The bill would, for the exemption for the day care center and family day care home, instead, require the projects for those facilities not be located in an area zoned for industrial use or within 3,200 feet of a facility that actively extracts or refines oil or natural gas in order for the exemption to apply. The bill would revise the exemption for advanced manufacturing facility projects to require those projects to meet certain requirements and for the Governor to certify the project, as provided. The bill would require an applicant of an advanced manufacturing project that is exempted from CEQA under the bill’s requirement to enter into a community benefits agreement, as provided, and to comply with certain labor requirements, as provided. The bill would require to lead agency, before determining that an advanced manufacturing project is exempt from CEQA, to hold at least one public hearing on the project and to ensure that the applicant complies with the requirement to enter into a community benefits agreement and the labor requirements.

CEQA also exempts from its requirements rezoning the implements of the schedule of actions contained in an approved housing element. CEQA provides that this exemption does not apply to rezoning that would allow for the construction of certain facilities, including oil and gas infrastructure.

This bill would provide that the above exemption also does not apply to rezoning that would allow for the construction of a tourism facility, as defined, and would repeal the exception from the exemption for rezoning that would allow for the construction of oil and gas infrastructures.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.