California Environmental Quality Act: electrical infrastructure projects.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on which projects are considered priority projects or how this will affect all types of electrical infrastructure projects.

California Environmental Quality Act: Electrical Infrastructure Projects

AB-941 sets deadlines and requirements for the Public Utilities Commission to review environmental impact reports for priority electrical infrastructure projects under the California Environmental Quality Act.

What This Bill Does

• Sets a time limit of 270 days for the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to decide on an environmental impact report for priority electrical infrastructure projects after receiving a complete application.
• Requires project applicants to clearly state why their project is a priority in their application to the PUC.
• Needs commission staff to review applications within 30 days and inform applicants of any missing information or errors.
• Gives applicants 60 days to fix issues with their application or explain why they can't do so.
• Allows the PUC to consider an application complete if it sets a clear scope and timeline for the project.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will have new deadlines to follow when reviewing applications for priority electrical infrastructure projects.
• Project applicants must now provide more detailed information about why their project is considered a priority.

Terms To Know

Priority Project

An important electrical infrastructure project that needs faster approval under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Environmental Impact Report

A document that explains how a proposed project might affect the environment and what can be done to reduce those effects.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify which projects are considered priority projects.
• It is unclear if this will lead to faster approval of all types of electrical infrastructure projects or just certain ones.
• Local agencies may need to adjust their processes to comply with the new requirements.

Official Summary Text

AB 941, as amended, Zbur.
California Environmental Quality Act: electrical infrastructure projects.
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 exempts certain projects from its requirements, including actions necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency.
Existing law prohibits an
electrical corporation from beginning the construction of a line, plant, or system, or extensions of those facilities without first obtaining from the Public Utilities Commission a certificate that the present or future convenience and necessity require or will require the construction. Existing law specifies that the certificate is not required for the extension, expansion, upgrade, or other modification of existing electrical transmission facilities.
This bill would require the commission to determine whether to certify the environmental impact report for an electrical infrastructure project that is a priority project, as defined, no later than 270 days after the commission determines that an application for an electrical infrastructure project is complete, except as specified. The bill would require a project applicant to identify an electrical infrastructure project that is a priority project and the basis for the designation in the application to the
commission. The bill would require commission staff to review an application for a priority project no later than 30 days after it is filed and notify the applicant in writing of any deficiencies in the information and data submitted in the application. The bill would require the applicant to correct any deficiencies or notify the commission in writing why it is unable
to,
to correct those deficiencies,
as specified, within 60 days of that notification. The bill would require the commission to deem an application for a priority project complete with a preliminary ruling setting the scope and schedule, as provided.
Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because a violation of a commission action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the 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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF