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Senate Bill 1165 makes several changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in order to improve public participation. Specifically, SB 1165 addresses two key elements of CEQA by:
- Ensuring greater transparency in the creation of draft Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) by allowing the public to comment on all EIRs drafts just as developers and their paid consultants may.
- Requiring EIRs that are older than five years to be reviewed before a project is approved. This will give the public an opportunity to identify new environmental impacts and needed mitigation measures.
Background
Under CEQA law, a public agency is responsible for preparing an environmental impact report whenever the agency is asked to approve a project that may have significant effects on the environment. The EIR must identify potential damage to the environment caused by the proposed project and determine potential mitigation to offset the damage. Current law also allows project applicants, who pay for the EIR, to comment extensively on the draft before it is released to the public by the public agency. Since the public is not privy to the contents of the draft, it has no way of assessing whether those with financial interests in the project have unduly influenced the contents of the EIR. Current law also allows the use of outdated EIRs and places the burden on the public to demonstrate the need for a new review.
SB 1165 Addresses Serious Abuses of the Public Process
A recent case involving Impact Sciences, the EIR firm hired to do the review for the Newhall Ranch project, is one egregious example of developers unduly influencing EIRs. At the request of the developer, Impact Science failed to include in the EIR critical San Fernando spine flower habitat (thought to be extinct). After much effort local residents where able to uncover the truth, but not before much of the habitat was plowed under.
SB 1165 would prevent this type of abuse from happening again by ensuring that the public has access to this critical information throughout the entire public process.
Senate Bill 1165 also addresses the troubling problem of agencies relying on outdated and irrelevant EIRs. This measure requires a public agency to consider an EIR that is older than 5 years to be a draft EIR that must be circulated for comment and re-certified.
The proposed Elephant Hill development in El Sereno demonstrates the need for this provision. In this current case, the developer is relying on an EIR is that nearly two decades old and woefully misrepresents the potential environmental impacts. Local citizens have insisted that the document be updated. SB 1165 would ensure that in every case like Elephant Hill, local citizens will be heard.
Take Action Now
If you would like to help make sure these improvements get added to the California Environmental Quality Act, please send a letter immediately to your state senator Decisions are being made on this legislation in the coming weeks, so a fast response will greatly help the effort.
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