Official Summary Text
AB 2152, as amended, Mark González.
California Environmental Quality Act:
exemption: fire stations.
essential local fire station projects: judicial streamlining.
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.
This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA a project, activity, or approval necessary for, or incidental to, the planning, design,
site acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, or maintenance of a fire station of a public fire agency if the project is not located at certain sites and all construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance contracts in excess of $50,000 for the project are covered by a project labor agreement, as defined. The bill would require the lead
agency, upon a determination that a project, activity, or approval is exempt from CEQA pursuant to these provisions, to file a notice of exemption with specified content with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, as provided. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency in regards to the exemption, 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 bill would authorize an essential local fire station project, as defined, to be eligible for judicial streamlining, if the lead agency, at its discretion, makes specified determinations based upon substantial evidence in the record regarding the project, including the determination that the project will employ best practices to avoid or mitigate significant environmental effects, as provided. The bill would require the lead agency, upon determination that a project, activity, or approval is eligible for judicial streamlining pursuant to these provisions, to file a notice of determination with specified content with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, as provided. The bill would require the Judicial Council to, on or before July 1, 2027, adopt rules of court that apply to any action or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the certification of an environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration
for an essential local fire station project, including any potential appeals to the court of appeal or the Supreme Court, to be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 365 calendar days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court.