Environmental quality: flood control activities: Salinas River.

The California Environmental Quality Act 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. The act 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 act authorizes the court, in an action or proceeding challenging a decision of a public agency on the ground of noncompliance with the act, to enter an order that includes, among other things, a mandate to suspend any or all specific project activities that could result in an adverse change or alteration to the physical environment until the public agency has taken actions that maybe necessary to bring the public agency into compliance with the act. This bill would, for maintenance activities along the Salinas River meeting specified requirements, prohibit the court in such an action from staying or enjoining those maintenance activities unless those activities present an imminent threat to public health and safety or would materially, permanently, and adversely affect unforeseen important Native American artifacts, or unforeseen important historical, archaeological, or ecological values. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Salinas River in the County of Monterey.