California Environmental Quality Act: exemptions: projects in Town of Paradise and Butte County.

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. This bill would exempt from CEQA projects or activities related to the provision of sewer treatment or water service to the Town of Paradise or related to the improvement of evacuation routes in the Town of Paradise. The bill would also exempt from CEQA projects or activities undertaken by the Paradise Irrigation District related to the provision of water service. This bill would exempt from CEQA projects or activities undertaken in the County of Butte related to forest health and fuel reduction. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption to a project or activities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Town of Paradise, the Paradise Irrigation District, and the County of Butte. 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.