BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2685
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 19, 2004

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                   AB 2685 (Oropeza) - As Amended:  April 27, 2004 

          Policy Committee:                               
          UtilitiesVote:12-0
                        Natural Resources                     10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill,  as proposed to be amended  :

          1)Requires the Office of Planning and Research (OPR), upon  
            request of a party involved in the development of renewable  
            electricity generation projects, to facilitate state agencies'  
            environmental impact review of the project pursuant to the  
            California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

          2)Establishes that, in conjunction with the above, an  
            environmental mitigation measure recommended by on state  
            agency shall not negate the recommendation of any other state  
            agency.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable cost to OPR.  The bill essentially codifies a  
          practice OPR has used in coordinating the state's CEQA reviews.   
          To the extent ongoing coordination by OPR reduces  
          inconsistencies in state agencies' CEQA reviews, state costs for  
          such reviews could be reduced.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . The State Clearinghouse (SCH) within OPR coordinates  
          the state level review of environmental documents pursuant to  
          the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and provides  
          technical assistance on land use planning and CEQA matters. The  
          author, citing the state's need for new electrical generating  
          capacity, and particularly from renewable sources, believes that  








                                                                  AB 2685
                                                                  Page  2

          formalizing OPR's coordination will help to expedite the  
          development of renewable energy projects. The proposed  
          amendments simply clarify the bill's intent.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081