[env-trinity] Legislature Approves Controversial CEQA 'Reforms'

[Dan Bacher]

Legislature Approves Controversial CEQA 'Reforms'

by Dan Bacher

The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) on September 10 announced  
its opposition to controversial "reforms" of the California  
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) approved by the Legislature. This  
legislation to eviscerate CEQA is on its way to Governor Jerry  
Brown's desk.

"The Planning & Conservation League, joining with a coalition  
including Sierra Club California, Coalition for Clean Air, Clean  
Water Action, and a host of environmental justice and community  
groups from the Los Angeles area and throughout California, tried  
valiantly to stave off three bills that will weaken protections of  
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)," according to the  
PCL Insider publication.

"Unfortunately, SB 226 (Simitian), SB 292 (Padilla) and AB 900  
(Buchanan), all either introduced or dramatically amended in the last  
36 hours of the legislative session, passed the Legislature on its  
final day of session. SB 226 will, if signed into law by the  
Governor, exempt from CEQA certain urban projects deemed ‘green’,  
with inadequate definitions of for what defines ‘urban’ and ‘green,'"  
PCL said.

AB 900, while not an exemption, “streamlines” CEQA’s judicial review  
requirements, potentially limiting the public’s voice in challenging  
projects.

These questionable "reforms" take place at a time when over 11  
million fish have been killed in the state and federal Delta water  
pumping facilities since January 1. Undermining CEQA only makes the  
epic task of restoring our imperiled Central Valley salmon, Delta  
smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other  
fish populations even harder. For more information on the Delta fish  
carnage, go to: http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/09/09/ 
over-11-million-fish-salvaged-in-delta-death-pumps-since-january-1/

These "reforms" have been passed by the Legislature at a time when  
our fish populations, fishing rights and environment are under  
assault by corporate interests. The Brown and Obama administrations  
are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) process to  
build their beloved peripheral canal to export more water to  
corporate agribusiness and southern California water agencies.

The attempt to exempt so-called "green" projects from CEQA sounds  
like yet another opportunity for corporate interests to greenwash  
their legacy by setting up fake "green" projects that are not subject  
to a thorough environmental review.

This is the problem that grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and  
Tribes encountered in dealing with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's  
corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. MLPA advocates  
argued that since the MLPA, overseen by oil industry, real estate,  
marina development, agribusiness and other corporate operatives, was  
a "green" project, it was not subject to a complete environmental  
review under CEQA.

Fortunately champions of open and democratic process in California  
scored a major victory when the Office of Administrative Law on  
September 2 disapproved the so-called "marine protected areas" (MPAs)  
for the Southern California coast that were originally slated to go  
into effect on October 1, 2011. ( http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/ 
2011/09/11/office-of-administrative-law-disapproves-questionable- 
marine-reserves/)

The attempt by the Legislature to further limit the public voice by  
"streamlining" CEQA's judicial requirements under AB 900 also  
couldn't come at a worse time, a time when the state and federal  
governments have launched a virtual war on civil liberties, freedom  
of speech and assembly, democratic process and the U.S and California  
Constitutions.

SB 226, SB 292 and AB 900 exemplify how the Legislature has become  
little more than a tool of corporate interests and corrupt political  
operatives who seek to overthrow what few vestiges of democracy and  
public process remain in California!

Below is the complete statement from the PCL Insider:


PCL INSIDER: News from the Capitol

CONTROVERSIAL CEQA REFORMS APPROVED BY LEGISLATURE

PCL stands strong with coalition partners in opposing 11th-hour bills  
that weaken California’s landmark environmental and community  
protection law

The Planning & Conservation League, joining with a coalition  
including Sierra Club California, Coalition for Clean Air, Clean  
Water Action, and a host of environmental justice and community  
groups from the Los Angeles area and throughout California, tried  
valiantly to stave off three bills that will weaken protections of  
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Unfortunately, SB 226 (Simitian), SB 292 (Padilla) and AB 900  
(Buchanan), all either introduced or dramatically amended in the last  
36 hours of the legislative session, passed the Legislature on its  
final day of session. SB 226 will, if signed into law by the  
Governor, exempt from CEQA certain urban projects deemed ‘green’,  
with inadequate definitions of for what defines ‘urban’ and ‘green’.

It could, therefore, allow sprawl or other impactful projects without  
adequate environmental review. AB 900, while not an exemption,  
“streamlines” CEQA’s judicial review requirements, potentially  
limiting the public’s voice in challenging projects. And SB 292 is,  
most simply, special treatment under the law for an influential  
developer (AEG) seeking to build a downtown Los Angeles football  
stadium. By depriving petitioners of the opportunity for superior  
court jurisdiction, SB 292 and AB 900 may even violate the California  
Constitution.

PCL certainly wants to see California take necessary and overdue  
steps to promote green projects in California, while putting people  
back to work and transforming the State into a leader in sustainable  
development; but these 11th-hour efforts, while perhaps well- 
intentioned, were ill-conceived. They attack important protections of  
CEQA that have given communities a voice in the development process  
for more than four decades, with a great deal of uncertainty as to  
whether these measures were needed to, or will in fact, create more  
jobs in California.

Moreover, the measures themselves were hastily crafted and poorly  
thought-out. Some legislators, such as Senator Sam Blakeslee (R, 15th  
District), did complain about the hastily crafted nature of AB 900  
before voting against the bill. That legislation’s shortcomings were  
seemingly acknowledged by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, (D, 6th  
District), who agreed that ‘clean-up’ legislation will have to be  
introduced next year to address the problems with AB 900. In addition  
to depriving legislators with final bill language before they voted,  
the rushed process also deprived the public from having meaningful  
input into the process.

PCL would like to thank the many organizations and individuals who  
stood strong against this process, and the legislators, like Senator  
Noreen Evans (D, 2nd District) Assembly member Jared Huffman (D, 6th  
District) who spoke so eloquently for good governance and for  
environmental and community protection.

While disappointed at the outcome, PCL will continue to work with its  
environmental partners, the Legislature, and local communities to  
ensure that projects developed pursuant these streamlined processes  
will still protect our environment and public welfare, while we  
continue to advocate for CEQA to remain a strong environmental bill  
of rights for all Californians.

For more information, contact the Planning and Conservation League (PCL)
1107 9th Street, Suite 901, Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone (916) 822-5631 • Fax (916) 822-5650
pclmail [at] pcl.org • http://www.PCL.org • http://www.PCLFoundation.org
  
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