(1) 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 (EIR) 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. CEQA establishes a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agency's action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA. This bill would require, until January 1, 2016, the lead agency, at the request of a project applicant for specified projects, to, among other things, prepare a record of proceedings concurrently with the preparation of negative declarations, mitigated negative declarations, EIRs or other environmental documents for specified projects. Because the bill would require a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings as provided, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require, for a lead agency that is a state agency, the consent of the state agency for the concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings. (2) 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. (3) This bill would not become operative unless AB 1570 of the 2011–12 Regular Session of the Legislature is enacted on or before January 1, 2013.
Sponsored bills
This measure would designate the interchange at Hazel Avenue and State Highway Route 50 in the County of Sacramento as the Senator Dave Cox Memorial Interchange. This measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to erect those signs.
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 1 in the County of Los Angeles as the Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial Overcrossing. This measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to erect those signs.
This measure would commemorate and honor the service and sacrifice of the members of the United States Armed Forces who supported the operations in Iraq, and their families, as the official combat mission in Iraq draws to a close. This measure would encourage mayors and communities across the State of California to honor veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan on November 11, 2012, in Veterans Day parades, ceremonies, and other displays of our state's gratitude for their service and sacrifice. This measure would also request that the Department of General Services work with appropriate 3rd parties to advise and oversee the creation of a memorial for the California veterans who fought and served in Iraq and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the design, construction, and maintenance costs and ensuring that the memorial is in the best interest of the State Capitol Park, erect that memorial, in accordance with California law, in the State Capitol Park. This measure would state the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation authorizing the creation of a larger memorial commemorating and thanking those who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
This measure would urge the California delegates of Congress to protect California military bases from closure during upcoming base realignment and closure processes.
Existing law requires the Department of General Services, under the police power of the state, to supervise the design and construction of any school building or the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to any school building, if not exempted, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with specified rules, regulations, and building standards and to ensure that the work of construction is performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, for the protection of life and property. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a stop work order when construction work on a public school is not being performed in accordance with existing law and would compromise the structural integrity of the building, thereby endangering the public safety, but requires the department to allow construction of incidental and minor nonstructural additions or nonstructural alterations without invoking its stop work authority. Existing law establishes in the Department of General Services the Division of the State Architect and provides that the State Architect has general charge, under the Department of General Services, of the erection of all state buildings. This bill would require the Department of General Services to convene a workgroup, or continue to use an existing workgroup, as specified, to develop and adopt recommendations for improving the oversight of school construction projects. The bill would require the workgroup to review changes made within the Division of the State Architect to improve its oversight of school construction projects and to review the Field Act to consider changes to the act concerning occupancy of school facilities when and if significant safety concerns are identified. The bill would require the Division of the State Architect by July 1, 2013, to report the recommendations of the workgroup to the Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery, at a public hearing with an opportunity for public comment, as specified, and to the appropriate Senate and Assembly policy committees. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2015.
Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of the state highway system. Existing law creates the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority with various transportation responsibilities in the County of Santa Clara. This bill would, by July 1, 2013, require the department and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to enter into a memorandum of understanding to implement the Innovative Delivery Team Demonstration Program, which would, until January 1, 2020, provide a different business model for the application of advanced technologies with the goal of delivering transportation projects and services in the County of Santa Clara in a more responsive, cost-effective, and efficient manner. The bill would require the demonstration program to serve as a mechanism for testing innovative approaches for improving project delivery and local assistance. The bill would require the department to assign specified personnel to the demonstration program. The bill would also require the authority to provide space, equipment, and other resources, as specified, to the demonstration program. The bill would require the authority to carry out, for purposes of implementing the demonstration program, specified responsibilities for state highway projects in the County of Santa Clara. The bill would require the authority to manage the local assistance process, for purposes of implementing the demonstration program, in the County of Santa Clara. The bill would require the demonstration program to adhere to all applicable federal rules and regulations, as specified. The bill would require the authority, in consultation with the department, to evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration program and to report to the Legislature by July 1, 2015, and by July 1, 2018, on specified matters. By requiring the authority to participate in this demonstration program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also declare the intent of the Legislature in this regard. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates the receipt of gifts by public officials and also regulates the activities of members of the lobbying industry, including lobbyist employers. Under existing law, public officials are prohibited from accepting gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a total value of more than $250, as adjusted biennially by the Fair Political Practices Commission. Existing law also prohibits a lobbyist or lobbying firm from giving gifts to a public official aggregating more than $10 in a calendar month or from acting as an agent or intermediary in the making of any gift or arranging for the making of any gift by any other person. This bill would prohibit a lobbyist, lobbying firm, or lobbyist employer from giving to an elected state officer or a member of that officer's immediate family, and would prohibit an elected state officer from accepting from a lobbyist, lobbying firm, or lobbyist employer, certain gifts, including spa treatments, recreational trips, and gift cards. However, under the bill, these prohibitions would not apply to a fundraising event for a bona fide charitable organization. This bill would also prohibit a lobbyist employer from giving to an elected state officer, or a lobbyist, lobbying firm, or lobbyist employer from giving to a member of that officer's immediate family, specified entertainment tickets with face values exceeding $25, including theater, concert, and amateur sporting event tickets. Existing law makes a violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 subject to administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
This measure would proclaim June 2012 as Scleroderma Awareness Month.
Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. This bill would prohibit, from August 1, 2012, to June 30, 2014, inclusive, the Trustees of the California State University from entering into, or renewing, a contract that provides for a compensation increase for a California State University employee whose annual salary exceeds $200,000 from General Fund sources, as defined, in the fiscal year during which the contract is executed, relative to the immediately prior contract for that same position. The bill would prohibit, on or after July 1, 2014, and until July 1, 2018, the trustees from entering into, or renewing, a contract that provides for a compensation increase of more than 10% for a California State University employee whose annual salary exceeds $200,000 from General Fund sources in the fiscal year during which the contract is executed, relative to the immediately prior contract for that position. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.