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, until January 1, 2030, exempts from its requirements active transportation plans, pedestrian plans, or bicycle transportation plans for the restriping of streets and highways, bicycle parking and storage, signal timing to improve street and highway intersection operations, and the related signage for bicycles, pedestrians, and vehicles.
This bill would extend the operation of the above-mentioned exemption indefinitely. The bill would also exempt a transit comprehensive operational analysis, as defined, a transit route readjustment, or other transit agency route addition, elimination, or modification, from the requirements of CEQA. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a plan qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
CEQA, until January 1, 2030, exempts from its requirements certain transportation-related projects, such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, transit prioritization projects, public projects located on a site that is wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban cluster, as provided, for the institution or increase of bus rapid transit, bus, or light rail service, including the construction or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities, and public projects for the construction or maintenance of infrastructure of facilities to charge, refuel, or maintain zero-emission public transit buses, trains, or ferries, as provided. CEQA requires, except as provided, those exempted projects to be carried out by a local agency and meet certain requirements, including certain labor requirements.
This bill would extend the operation of the above-mentioned exemption indefinitely and delete the requirement that specific projects be located on a site that is wholly within the boundaries of an urbanized area or urban cluster. The bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA a public project for the improvement of bus rapid transit, bus, or light rail service, including the operation and maintenance, public projects for the improvement, institution, or increase of microtransit, paratransit, shuttle, and ferry, and for the maintenance, construction, operation, or rehabilitation of stops that will be exclusively used by zero-emission, near-zero-emission, low oxide of nitrogen engine, compressed natural gas fuel, fuel cell, or hybrid powertrain vehicles, rail or cable cars, rolling stock, or vessels. The bill would, until January 1, 2032, exempt from the requirements of CEQA a public project for the improvement, institution, or increase of microtransit, paratransit, shuttle, bus, ferry, bus rapid transit, or light rail service, including the maintenance, construction, operation, or rehabilitation of stops, stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities, if used primarily by near-zero-emission, low oxide of nitrogen engine, compressed natural gas fuel, or hybrid powertrain vehicles, except as provided. The bill would exclude from this exemption certain public projects for the construction or rehabilitation of a ferry terminal, as provided, and, except as provided, public projects for transit services operated by a transportation network company, as defined. The bill would exempt a project carried out by a public transit agency conducted in compliance with specified regulations of the State Air Resources Board relating to commercial harbor craft and in-use locomotives. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law exempts from the requirements of CEQA public projects for the institution or increase of passenger rail service, other than light rail service that is eligible for a specified exemption, including the construction or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities, which will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains.
This bill would extend the operation of the above-mentioned exemption indefinitely. The bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA public projects for the improvement of passenger rail service, other than light rail service eligible for a specified exemption, including the maintenance of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities, which will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains, public projects for the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities which will be exclusively used by zero-emission certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives, as provided. The bill would, until January 1, 2040, exempt from the requirements of CEQA public projects for the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities that will be used primarily by certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives that are not zero-emission rolling stock or locomotives. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires certain CEQA-exempt projects exceeding specified dollar amounts to meet certain criteria, as provided.
This bill would instead require certain CEQA-exempt projects that are, based on the project engineer's cost estimate, anticipated to exceed a specified dollar amount, to meet certain criteria, as provided. The bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, beginning January 1, 2026, and every two years thereafter, to adjust these amounts to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index, as provided, and publish the updated amounts on its internet website. The bill would authorize the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to implement, interpret, or make specific that provision without taking any regulatory action.
Existing law establishes specified procedures for the environmental review of an environmental leadership transit project, as defined, that is approved by the lead agency on or before January 1, 2025. Existing law requires the environmental leadership transit project to be located wholly within the County of Los Angeles or to connect to an existing transit project wholly located in the County of Los Angeles, and provides that these specified procedures are available for the first 7 projects that obtain a certified environmental impact report, as specified. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to 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 for an environmental leadership transit project or the granting of any project approval that require the action or proceeding, including any potential appeals, to be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 365 calendar days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2026.
This bill would, for the applicability of the above-described provisions for environmental leadership transit projects, extend the time period for the approval by the lead agency of the environmental leadership transit project to January 1, 2027. The bill would specify that those provisions also apply if the draft environmental impact report for an environmental leadership transit project is initially circulated before January 1, 2025. The bill would require the resolution of actions or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an action or approval of a public agency, including, but not limited to, a responsible agency and a trustee agency, in furtherance of an environmental leadership transit project on the grounds of noncompliance with any law, to be within 365 calendar days of the lodging of the certified record of proceeding, as provided, and would require the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2026, to adopt rules of court to implement this requirement. The bill would extend the operation of these provisions indefinitely. Because the bill would extend the duties of a lead agency in regards to environmental leadership transit project, 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.

Statutes affected:
SB 71: 21080.20 PRC, 21080.25 PRC
01/14/25 - Introduced: 21080.20 PRC, 21080.25 PRC
03/13/25 - Amended Senate: 21080.20 PRC, 21080.25 PRC
03/25/25 - Amended Senate: 21080.20 PRC, 21080.25 PRC
05/23/25 - Amended Senate: 21080.20 PRC, 21080.25 PRC
05/29/25 - Amended Senate: 21080.20 PRC, 21080.25 PRC, 21168.6.9 PRC, 21168.6.9 PRC