California Environmental Quality Act: environmental leadership development projects: 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. The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2032, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet specified requirements for certain streamlining benefits related to CEQA. This bill would provide additional streamlining benefits to Waterfront Environmental Leadership Development Projects (WELDPs) , as defined, that, among other specified conditions, are certified by the Governor and located on more than 50 acres of land and water within the Central Embarcadero Planning District of the San Diego Unified Port District within the County of San Diego. The bill would provide that the streamlining benefits include a requirement that the California Coastal Commission provide specific and substantive comments or objections for certain documents within 60 days, as provided. The bill would require a lead agency or applicant to, within 30 days after the certification of the environmental impact report by the lead agency, file required application forms and materials for a port master plan amendment with the commission. The bill would authorize the commission, if a certain condition is met, to charge a fee to an applicant for the reasonable costs incurred by the commission for processing documents for review or the application of the WELDP. By placing new duties on local agencies related to the streamlining benefits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the urban waterfront in the County of San Diego. 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.