Environmental protection: California Performance Plus Program.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, 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 requires the Office of Planning and Research to prepare and develop proposed guidelines for the implementation of CEQA by public agencies. CEQA requires that the guidelines contain various objectives, criteria, and procedures. This bill would authorize the Secretary for Environmental Protection to establish programs to, among other things, recognize facilities and persons that have demonstrated a commitment to enhanced environmental performance, including, at a minimum, developing or initiating implementation of an environmental management system. The bill would define "environmental management system" as a comprehensive, cohesive set of policies and procedures adopted by a facility or person and used to establish environmental goals, meet and maintain those goals, evaluate environmental performance, and achieve measurable improvement in environmental performance. The bill would require the secretary to develop guidelines and procedures for implementation of the program, including procedures for submitting applications, guidelines for annual reports, and procedures for reviewing program implementation. The bill would require Governor's Performance Plus Awards to be awarded annually to recognize participants in the program that have demonstrated innovation in the implementation of pollution prevention practices and other efforts to reduce environmental impacts.