AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2024
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 20, 2024
SENATE BILL No. 1159
Introduced by Senator Dodd
February 14, 2024
An act to add Section 21084.4 to the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 1159, as amended, Dodd. California Environmental Quality Act:
roadside wildfire risk reduction projects.
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 en vironmental 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 ne gative 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 ha ve a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitig ate that effect and there is no substantial e vidence that the project, as re vised, w ould ha ve a significant ef fect on the environment.
CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to prepare and develop, and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt, guidelines for the implementation of CEQA. CEQA requires the guidelines to include a list of classes of projects that ha ve been determined not to have a significant effect on the environment and are exempt from the requirements of CEQA, commonly kno wn as categorical exemptions.
97 This bill, on or before January 1, 2026, w ould require the office to evaluate, and the secretary to consider, the inclusion of roadside projects no more than 5 road miles from a municipality or census designated census-designated place that are undertak en solely for the purpose of wildfire risk reduction in the classes of projects subject to a categorical exemption. The bill w ould require the office to consider appropriate eligibility criteria for these projects, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 21084.4 is added to the Public Resources line 2 Code, to read:
line 3 21084.4. (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2026, the Office of line 4 Planning and Research Resear ch, in consultation with the line 5 Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Forestry and line 6 Fire Protection, the State Water Resources Control Board, and line 7 other relevant state agencies, shall evaluate, and the Secretary of line 8 the Natural Resources Agency shall consider , the inclusion of line 9 roadside projects no more than five road miles from a municipality line 10 or census designated census-designated place that are undertaken line 11 solely for the purpose of wildfire risk reduction in the classes of line 12 projects determined not to ha ve a significant ef fect on the line 13 environment pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21084. line 14 (2) The Office of Planning and Research Resear ch, in line 15 consultation with the Department of F ish and Wildlife, the line 16 Department of F orestry and F ire Pr otection, the State Water line 17 Resources Control Board, and other relevant state agencies, shall line 18 consider appropriate eligibility criteria for a roadside project subject line 19 to paragraph (1), including, among others, the distance from the line 20 edge of an improved road or surface, any disturbance to soil and line 21 resultant impacts on sedimentation, protection of natural resources line 22 such as trees, and tr ees and sensitive , r are, thr eatened, or line 23 endangered plants, potential impacts to wildlife. wildlife , and line 24 considerations for lands under conservation easement or identified line 25 for conservation in an adopted natur al community conservation line 26 plan pursuant to the Natural Community Conservation Planning line 27 Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3 of line 28 the Fish and Game Code), habitat conservation plan pursuant to 97 — 2 — SB 1159
line 1 the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 line 2 et seq.), or other adopted natural resource protection plan. line 3 (b) (1) An e xemption for projects described in this section line 4 pursuant to the class that may be adopted pursuant to subdivision line 5 (a) shall not limit any other statutory or categorical exemption that line 6 may otherwise apply to roadside projects undertak en to reduce line 7 wildfire risk.
line 8 (2) A project that is e xempt from the division pur suant to the line 9 class that may be adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall comply line 10 with all r equirements otherwise imposed by law , including, but line 11 not limited to, the California Endang ered Species Act (Chapter line 12 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and line 13 Game Code), the feder al Endang ered Species Act of 1973 (16 line 14 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), the Native Plant Protection Act (Chapter line 15 10 (commencing with Section 1900) of Division 2 of the Fish and line 16 Game Code), and any other applicable state and federal laws.
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