SAN FRANCISCO-Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's SB 731 - which earlier this year had appeared to be legislative vehicle that would carry the idea of comprehensive CEQA reform forward—is headed toward the end of session stripped almost entirely of its original reform vision. While certain beneficial provisions remain, those provisions are so limited in their reach that they are unlikely to practically change the way CEQA is implemented throughout California.

Called the CEQA Modernization Act of 2013, SB 731 originally was released as a placeholder bill consisting only of draft intent language.  The original intent language suggested SB 731 would be a CEQA reform bill. The reform proposals included updating CEQA to encourage infill development, expediting the CEQA process for certain renewable energy and transportation projects, expanding the use of tiering, and reducing waste and abuse in the CEQA administrative hearing and litigation processes. 

The recent amendments to SB 731 released on Aug. 6, 2013, stripped almost all of the original intent language from the bill.  The substantive portion of the revised intent provision indicates that the bill is now intended to establish thresholds of significance for noise and transportation impacts for transit-oriented infill projects, and to better define the CEQA term-of-art “new information” under certain circumstances.  None of the reform-related intent language remains.

Despite the now-limited intent language, SB 731 does include other substantive provisions, which are generating opposition from project proponents and local governments. The bill would impose a new requirement on lead agencies to make draft CEQA findings available for public review at least 15 days prior to the proposed project approval date.  This additional noticing could result in increased processing costs for local governments and project proponents, and could result in significant delay if revision to findings and additional public review becomes necessary.

SB 731 would also require a lead agency to prepare an annual report for each project for which a mitigation monitoring and reporting plan was approved under CEQA. This new provision will also result in increased costs to local governments and project proponents, heightened local agency oversight of project implementation in an already constrained local government operating environment, and additional opportunities for CEQA lawsuits where the annual report identifies deficiencies with implementation of mitigation measures.

If passed, the bill would also require the state Office of Planning and Research to prepare revisions to the CEQA Guidelines establishing statewide thresholds of significance for noise and transportation impacts for residential, mixed-use, residential, or employment center projects or infill sites within transit priority areas. Along these same lines, the bill would provide that aesthetic and parking impacts of residential, mixed-use residential, or employment center projects on an infill site within a transit priority area shall not be considered significant impacts on the environment. 

Whether the bill will ever become law remains unclear. On Aug. 21, 2013, the Assembly Appropriations Committee sent SB 731 to the appropriations suspense file. If the bill is not voted off suspense, it will likely die in committee on August 30, 2013. If it is voted off suspense, the bill still faces a full Assembly vote, and a Senate concurrence vote.   And, further amendments are likely to the bill over the next couple of weeks.

If it is passed, SB 731 will then face Gov. Jerry Brown, who has indicated his general support for CEQA reform principles, but has had no trouble vetoing bills that he thinks fail to improve upon California's existing laws.   

Kristina Daniel Lawson is a partner in the Land, Environment and Natural Resources Division at law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips' San Francisco office.  The views expressed in this column are the author's own.