(1) 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 requires the Office of Planning and Research to prepare and develop, and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt, guidelines for the implementation of CEQA by public agencies. CEQA requires those guidelines to include a list of classes of projects that have been determined not to have a significant effect on the environment and those classes of projects are exempt from its requirements. CEQA prohibits projects located on sites that are included in lists regarding the presence of hazardous substances compiled by specified state agencies from being exempt from its requirements under this provision.
CEQA exempts from its requirements a transit priority project that is declared by the legislative body of a local government to be a sustainable communities project and various housing projects, including, among others, agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, housing projects on infill sites, and residential or mixed-use housing projects, that meet certain requirements.
This bill would allow a project located on a site that is included in lists regarding the presence of hazardous substances compiled by specified state agencies to be exempt from those requirements if the Department of Toxic Substances Control has cleared the site for the proposed land use. The bill would make conforming changes to exemptions for certain transit priority projects, agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, housing projects on infill sites, and residential or mixed-use housing projects.
(2) CEQA exempts from its requirements a transit priority project that meets certain requirements, including, among others, the site of the project is subject to a preliminary endangerment assessment, as specified.
This bill instead would require a transit priority project to be subject to an environmental assessment, as defined, in order to be exempt.
(3) CEQA exempts from its requirements certain residential, employment center, and mixed-use development projects meeting specified criteria, including that the project is undertaken and is consistent with a specific plan for which an environmental impact report has been certified.
This bill would require that the project is undertaken and is consistent with either a specific plan prepared pursuant to specific provisions of law or a community plan, as defined, in order to be exempt. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(4) CEQA exempts from its requirements agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, and housing projects on infill sites that meet certain requirements, including, among others, the site is not located within the boundaries of a state conservancy.
This bill would allow the location of agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, and housing projects on infill sites to be located within the boundaries of a state conservancy in order to be exempt.
(5) CEQA exempts from its requirements housing projects on infill sites that meet certain requirements, including, among others, that the location of the housing project on an infill site is no more than 4 acres.
This bill instead would require that the location of a housing project on an infill site be no more than 5 acres.
(6) 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:
AB2323: 65457 GOV, 21155.4 PRC
02/14/20 - Introduced: 65457 GOV, 21155.4 PRC
05/04/20 - Amended Assembly: 65457 GOV, 21084 PRC, 21155.1 PRC, 21155.4 PRC, 21159.21 PRC, 21159.24 PRC, 21159.25 PRC
AB 2323: 65457 GOV, 21155.4 PRC