Cannabis: licenses: California Environmental Quality Act.

Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities, and requires the Department of Cannabis Control to administer its provisions. Under MAUCRSA, the Department of Cannabis Control has sole authority to license and regulate commercial cannabis activity, which MAUCRSA defines to include, among other activities, the sale of cannabis and cannabis products. Existing law, 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. MAUCRSA exempts the adoption of an ordiance, rule, or regulation by a local jurisdiction that requires discretionary review and approval of permits, licenses, or other authorizations to engage in commercial exemption if the discretionary review includes any applicable environmental review pursuant to CEQA. This bill would provide that CEQA does not apply to the issuance of a state license for a project to engage in commercial cannabis activity if the appropriate local jurisdiction has (1) approved the project, either adopted a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration for the project or certified an environmental impact report for the project, and filed a notice of determination, or (2) approved the project following a determination that the project complies with a local ordinance governing commercial cannabis activity for which an environmental impact report has been certified and the project does not result in an impact that was not analyzed in that environmental impact report. The bill, in order to qualify for the exemption, would require the local jurisdiction's determination on the project or local ordinance to be final and not the subject of pending judicial review, as described.