California 2019-2020 Regular Session Status: Passed Assembly 1 D cosponsors

AB 2323 — California Environmental Quality Act: exemptions.

Last action — In committee: Held under submission.

Track this bill free

No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Assembly
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2019-2020 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Assembly” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

(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 exempts from its requirements certain residential, employment center, and mixed-use development projects meeting specified criteria, including that the project is located in a transit priority area and that the project is undertaken and is consistent with a specific plan for which an environmental impact report has been certified. This bill would additionally exempt those projects located in a very low vehicle travel area, as defined. The bill would require that the project is undertaken and is consistent with either a specific plan prepared pursuant to specific provisions of law or a community plan, as defined, for which an EIR has been certified within the preceding 15 years in order to be exempt. The bill would additionally require the project site to have been previously developed or to be a vacant site meeting certain requirements. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) CEQA exempts from its requirements agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, and housing projects on infill sites that meet certain requirements, including, among others, the site is not located within the boundaries of a state conservancy. CEQA prohibits those exempt projects from being located in certain areas. This bill would allow the location of agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, and housing projects on infill sites to be located within the boundaries of a state conservancy in order to be exempt. The bill would revise and recast the areas in which those exempt projects cannot be located, as provided. (3) CEQA exempts from its requirements residential projects on infill sites that meet certain requirements, including, among others, that the location of the residential project on an infill site is no more than 4 acres and that the project is located within 12 mile of a major transit stop. This bill instead would require that the location of a residential project on an infill site be no more than 5 acres. The bill would additionally exempt those residential projects located in a very low vehicle travel area, as defined. (4) CEQA exempts from its requirements a transit priority project meeting certain requirements and that is declared by a legislative body to be a sustainable communities project. CEQA prohibits a transit priority project declared to be a sustainable communities project from being located in certain areas and requires the project to be within 12 mile of a rail transit station or a ferry terminal included in a regional transportation plan or within 14 mile of a high-quality transit corridor included in a regional transportation plan. This bill would revise and recast the areas in which the transit priority project declared to be a sustainable communities project cannot be located, as provided. The bill would additionally authorize the transit priority project declared to be a sustainable community project if the project is located within a very low vehicle travel area, as defined. The bill would additionally require the site for the transit priority project to have been previously developed or to be a vacant lot meeting certain requirements. (5) This bill would require a lead agency approving a project that is exempt from CEQA under the provisions described in paragraphs (1) , (3) , and (4) above to file with the Office of Planning and Research a notice of exemption. By imposing additional duties on the lead agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) 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.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. In committee: Held under submission.

  2. In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

  3. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  4. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (August 11).

  5. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on EQ.

  6. Referred to Com. on EQ.

  7. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  8. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 4705.)

  9. Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 59. Noes 17. Page 4700.)

  10. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  11. Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

  12. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (June 2).

  13. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 2.) (May 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  14. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

  15. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.

  16. Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and L. GOV.

  17. From printer. May be heard in committee March 16.

  18. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Friedman · Primary
  • Chiu · Cosponsor
  • Mathis · Cosponsor
  • Juan Carrillo · Cosponsor

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 118 not signed on · 2 voted No

Sponsors (1)

  • Friedman

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (118)

118 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 118 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Placed on suspense file

Passed 7 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 1000
Unaffiliated 6000
Total 7000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Wieckowski — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Bates — Yea
Hill — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea

Official roll call →

AB 2323 Friedman Assembly Third Reading

Passed 72 Yea · 0 Nay · 7 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 47004
Democratic 19003
Republican 6000
Total 72007
% of votes cast 91%0%0%9%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Holden — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Smith — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Weber — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Diep — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Low — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Burke — Yea
Daly — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Salas — Yea
Fong — Yea
Levine — Yea
Medina — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Wood — Yea
Kamlager — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Chu — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Ting — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Gray — Yea
Chau — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Quirk — Not Voting
Eggman — Not Voting
Brough — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Not Voting
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Not Voting
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Not Voting
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Not Voting
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended.

Passed 16 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 11000
Democratic 4002
Republican 1000
Total 16002
% of votes cast 89%0%0%11%
How each member voted (18)
Member Party Vote
Fong — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Chau — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Diep — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Not Voting
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Not Voting
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

Passed 7 Yea · 2 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 5201
Democratic 1001
Republican 1000
Total 7202
% of votes cast 64%18%0%18%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
McCarty — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Chau — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Brough — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Nay
Mark Stone — Nay
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Not Voting
Flora, Heath Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

housing environment
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 2323 do?
(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 exempts from its requirements certain residential, employment center, and mixed-use development projects meeting specified criteria, including that the project is located in a transit priority area and that the project is undertaken and is consistent with a specific plan for which an environmental impact report has been certified. This bill would additionally exempt those projects located in a very low vehicle travel area, as defined. The bill would require that the project is undertaken and is consistent with either a specific plan prepared pursuant to specific provisions of law or a community plan, as defined, for which an EIR has been certified within the preceding 15 years in order to be exempt. The bill would additionally require the project site to have been previously developed or to be a vacant site meeting certain requirements. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) CEQA exempts from its requirements agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, and housing projects on infill sites that meet certain requirements, including, among others, the site is not located within the boundaries of a state conservancy. CEQA prohibits those exempt projects from being located in certain areas. This bill would allow the location of agricultural employee housing projects, affordable housing projects, and housing projects on infill sites to be located within the boundaries of a state conservancy in order to be exempt. The bill would revise and recast the areas in which those exempt projects cannot be located, as provided. (3) CEQA exempts from its requirements residential projects on infill sites that meet certain requirements, including, among others, that the location of the residential project on an infill site is no more than 4 acres and that the project is located within 12 mile of a major transit stop. This bill instead would require that the location of a residential project on an infill site be no more than 5 acres. The bill would additionally exempt those residential projects located in a very low vehicle travel area, as defined. (4) CEQA exempts from its requirements a transit priority project meeting certain requirements and that is declared by a legislative body to be a sustainable communities project. CEQA prohibits a transit priority project declared to be a sustainable communities project from being located in certain areas and requires the project to be within 12 mile of a rail transit station or a ferry terminal included in a regional transportation plan or within 14 mile of a high-quality transit corridor included in a regional transportation plan. This bill would revise and recast the areas in which the transit priority project declared to be a sustainable communities project cannot be located, as provided. The bill would additionally authorize the transit priority project declared to be a sustainable community project if the project is located within a very low vehicle travel area, as defined. The bill would additionally require the site for the transit priority project to have been previously developed or to be a vacant lot meeting certain requirements. (5) This bill would require a lead agency approving a project that is exempt from CEQA under the provisions described in paragraphs (1) , (3) , and (4) above to file with the Office of Planning and Research a notice of exemption. By imposing additional duties on the lead agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) 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.
Who sponsors AB 2323?
AB 2323 is sponsored by Friedman, Chiu, Mathis, and Carrillo, Juan (Democratic).
What is the current status of AB 2323?
This bill died with 2019-2020 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Assembly” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track AB 2323?
Track AB 2323 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on AB 2323

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of AB 2323

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →