Bill Text: CA AB1298 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Land use: local planning: housing elements.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1298 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1298-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1298 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gipson
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add and repeal Section 21168.6.9 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to environmental quality.
amend Section 65583 of the Government Code, relating to local
planning.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1298, as amended, Gipson. Environmental quality: City
of Carson: sports stadium. Land use: local planning:
housing elements.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to prepare
and adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan, and requires the
general plan to include specified, mandatory elements, including a
housing element. That law requires the housing element, in turn, to
contain, among other items, an identification and analysis of
existing and projected housing needs and a statement of goals,
policies, quantified objectives, financial resources, and scheduled
programs for the preservation, improvement, and development of
housing.
This bill would revise references to redevelopment agencies within
those housing element provisions to instead refer to housing
successor agencies.
(1) The California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as
CEQA, requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be
prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental 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 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 by which a person may seek judicial review of
the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would require the public agency in certifying the
environmental impact report and in granting approvals for a specified
entertainment and sports center project located in the City of
Carson to comply with specified procedures. Because a public agency
would be required to comply with those new procedures, this bill
would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make
applicable certain procedures established by the Judicial Council to
actions or proceedings seeking judicial review of a public agency's
action in certifying the environmental impact report and in granting
project approval that requires the actions or proceedings, including
any appeals therefrom, be resolved, to the extent feasible, within
270 days of the certification of the record of proceedings. The bill
would provide that the above provisions are inoperative and repealed
on January 1 of the following year if the applicant fails to notify
the lead agency before the release of the draft environmental impact
report for public comment that the applicant is electing to proceed
pursuant to the above provisions.
(2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as
to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Carson.
(3) 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: yes
no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65583 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
65583. The housing element shall consist of an identification and
analysis of existing and projected housing needs and a statement of
goals, policies, quantified objectives, financial resources, and
scheduled programs for the preservation, improvement, and development
of housing. The housing element shall identify adequate sites for
housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing,
mobilehomes, and emergency shelters, and shall make adequate
provision for the existing and projected needs of all economic
segments of the community. The element shall contain all of the
following:
(a) An assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources
and constraints relevant to the meeting of these needs. The
assessment and inventory shall include all of the following:
(1) An analysis of population and employment trends and
documentation of projections and a quantification of the locality's
existing and projected housing needs for all income levels, including
extremely low income households, as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 50105 and Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code. These
existing and projected needs shall include the locality's share of
the regional housing need in accordance with Section 65584. Local
agencies shall calculate the subset of very low income households
allotted under Section 65584 that qualify as extremely low income
households. The local agency may either use available census data to
calculate the percentage of very low income households that qualify
as extremely low income households or presume that 50 percent of the
very low income households qualify as extremely low income
households. The number of extremely low income households and very
low income households shall equal the jurisdiction's allocation of
very low income households pursuant to Section 65584.
(2) An analysis and documentation of household characteristics,
including level of payment compared to ability to pay, housing
characteristics, including overcrowding, and housing stock condition.
(3) An inventory of land suitable for residential development,
including vacant sites and sites having potential for redevelopment,
and an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities
and services to these sites.
(4) (A) The identification of a zone or zones where emergency
shelters are allowed as a permitted use without a conditional use or
other discretionary permit. The identified zone or zones shall
include sufficient capacity to accommodate the need for emergency
shelter identified in paragraph (7), except that each local
government shall identify a zone or zones that can accommodate at
least one year-round emergency shelter. If the local government
cannot identify a zone or zones with sufficient capacity, the local
government shall include a program to amend its zoning ordinance to
meet the requirements of this paragraph within one year of the
adoption of the housing element. The local government may identify
additional zones where emergency shelters are permitted with a
conditional use permit. The local government shall also demonstrate
that existing or proposed permit processing, development, and
management standards are objective and encourage and facilitate the
development of, or conversion to, emergency shelters. Emergency
shelters may only be subject to those development and management
standards that apply to residential or commercial development within
the same zone except that a local government may apply written,
objective standards that include all of the following:
(i) The maximum number of beds or persons permitted to be served
nightly by the facility.
(ii) Off-street parking based upon demonstrated need, provided
that the standards do not require more parking for emergency shelters
than for other residential or commercial uses within the same zone.
(iii) The size and location of exterior and interior onsite
waiting and client intake areas.
(iv) The provision of onsite management.
(v) The proximity to other emergency shelters, provided that
emergency shelters are not required to be more than 300 feet apart.
(vi) The length of stay.
(vii) Lighting.
(viii) Security during hours that the emergency shelter is in
operation.
(B) The permit processing, development, and management standards
applied under this paragraph shall not be deemed to be discretionary
acts within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code).
(C) A local government that can demonstrate to the satisfaction of
the department the existence of one or more emergency shelters
either within its jurisdiction or pursuant to a multijurisdictional
agreement that can accommodate that jurisdiction's need for emergency
shelter identified in paragraph (7) may comply with the zoning
requirements of subparagraph (A) by identifying a zone or zones where
new emergency shelters are allowed with a conditional use permit.
(D) A local government with an existing ordinance or ordinances
that comply with this paragraph shall not be required to take
additional action to identify zones for emergency shelters. The
housing element must only describe how existing ordinances, policies,
and standards are consistent with the requirements of
this paragraph.
(5) An analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints
upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all
income levels, including the types of housing identified in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (c), and for persons with disabilities as
identified in the analysis pursuant to paragraph (7), including land
use controls, building codes and their enforcement, site
improvements, fees and other exactions required of developers, and
local processing and permit procedures. The analysis shall also
demonstrate local efforts to remove governmental constraints that
hinder the locality from meeting its share of the regional housing
need in accordance with Section 65584 and from meeting the need for
housing for persons with disabilities, supportive housing,
transitional housing, and emergency shelters identified pursuant to
paragraph (7). Transitional housing and supportive housing shall be
considered a residential use of property, and shall be subject only
to those restrictions that apply to other residential dwellings of
the same type in the same zone.
(6) An analysis of potential and actual nongovernmental
constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of
housing for all income levels, including the availability of
financing, the price of land, and the cost of construction.
(7) An analysis of any special housing needs, such as those of the
elderly; persons with disabilities, including a developmental
disability, as defined in Section 4512 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code; large families; farmworkers; families with female
heads of households; and families and persons in need of emergency
shelter. The need for emergency shelter shall be assessed based on
annual and seasonal need. The need for emergency shelter may be
reduced by the number of supportive housing units that are identified
in an adopted 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness and that are
either vacant or for which funding has been identified to allow
construction during the planning period. An analysis of special
housing needs by a city or county may include an analysis of the need
for frequent user coordinated care housing services.
(8) An analysis of opportunities for energy conservation with
respect to residential development. Cities and counties are
encouraged to include weatherization and energy efficiency
improvements as part of publicly subsidized housing rehabilitation
projects. This may include energy efficiency measures that encompass
the building envelope, its heating and cooling systems, and its
electrical system.
(9) An analysis of existing assisted housing developments that are
eligible to change from low-income housing uses during the next 10
years due to termination of subsidy contracts, mortgage prepayment,
or expiration of restrictions on use. "Assisted housing developments,"
for the purpose of this section, shall mean multifamily rental
housing that receives governmental assistance under federal programs
listed in subdivision (a) of Section 65863.10, state and local
multifamily revenue bond programs, local redevelopment or
housing successor agency programs, the federal Community
Development Block Grant Program, or local in-lieu fees. "Assisted
housing developments" shall also include multifamily rental units
that were developed pursuant to a local inclusionary housing program
or used to qualify for a density bonus pursuant to Section 65916.
The analysis shall do all of the following:
(A) The analysis shall include Include
a listing of each development by project name and address, the
type of governmental assistance received, the earliest possible date
of change from low-income use, and the total number of elderly and
nonelderly units that could be lost from the locality's low-income
housing stock in each year during the 10-year period. For purposes of
state and federally funded projects, the analysis required by this
subparagraph need only contain information available on a statewide
basis.
(B) The analysis shall estimate Estimate
the total cost of producing new rental housing that is
comparable in size and rent levels, to replace the units that could
change from low-income use, and an estimated cost of preserving the
assisted housing developments. This cost analysis for replacement
housing may be done aggregately for each five-year period and does
not have to contain a project-by-project cost estimate.
(C) The analysis shall identify Identify
public and private nonprofit corporations known to
the local government which have legal and managerial capacity to
acquire and manage these housing developments.
(D) The analysis shall identify Identify
and consider the use of all federal, state, and local financing
and subsidy programs which can be used to preserve, for lower income
households, the assisted housing developments, identified in this
paragraph, including, but not limited to, federal Community
Development Block Grant Program funds, tax increment funds
received by a redevelopment agency of the community,
funding available to a housing successor agency, and
administrative fees received by a housing authority operating within
the community. In considering the use of these financing and subsidy
programs, the analysis shall identify the amounts of funds under each
available program which have not been legally obligated for other
purposes and which could be available for use in preserving assisted
housing developments.
(b) (1) A statement of the community's goals, quantified
objectives, and policies relative to the maintenance, preservation,
improvement, and development of housing.
(2) It is recognized that the total housing needs identified
pursuant to subdivision (a) may exceed available resources and the
community's ability to satisfy this need within the content of the
general plan requirements outlined in Article 5 (commencing with
Section 65300). Under these circumstances, the quantified objectives
need not be identical to the total housing needs. The quantified
objectives shall establish the maximum number of housing units by
income category, including extremely low income, that can be
constructed, rehabilitated, and conserved over a five-year time
period.
(c) A program which that sets forth
a schedule of actions during the planning period, each with a
timeline for implementation, which may recognize that certain
programs are ongoing, such that there will be beneficial impacts of
the programs within the planning period, that the local government is
undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and
achieve the goals and objectives of the housing element through the
administration of land use and development controls, the provision of
regulatory concessions and incentives, the utilization of
appropriate federal and state financing and subsidy programs when
available, and the utilization of moneys in a low- and
moderate-income housing fund of an agency if the locality
has established a redevelopment project area pursuant to the
Community Redevelopment Law (Division 24 (commencing with Section
33000) of the Health and Safety Code). a housing
successor agency. In order to make adequate provision for the
housing needs of all economic segments of the community, the program
shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify actions that will be taken to make sites available
during the planning period with appropriate zoning and development
standards and with services and facilities to accommodate that
portion of the city's or county's share of the regional housing need
for each income level that could not be accommodated on sites
identified in the inventory completed pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) without rezoning, and to comply with the
requirements of Section 65584.09. Sites shall be identified
as needed to facilitate and encourage the development of a variety
of types of housing for all income levels, including multifamily
rental housing, factory-built housing, mobilehomes, housing for
agricultural employees, supportive housing, single-room occupancy
units, emergency shelters, and transitional housing.
(A) Where the inventory of sites, pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a), does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the
need for groups of all household income levels pursuant to Section
65584, rezoning of those sites, including adoption of minimum density
and development standards, for jurisdictions with an eight-year
housing element planning period pursuant to Section 65588, shall be
completed no later than three years after either the date the housing
element is adopted pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 65585 or
the date that is 90 days after receipt of comments from the
department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 65585, whichever is
earlier, unless the deadline is extended pursuant to subdivision
(f). Notwithstanding the foregoing, for a local government that fails
to adopt a housing element within 120 days of the statutory deadline
in Section 65588 for adoption of the housing element, rezoning of
those sites, including adoption of minimum density and development
standards, shall be completed no later than three years and 120 days
from the statutory deadline in Section 65588 for adoption of the
housing element.
(B) Where the inventory of sites, pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a), does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the
need for groups of all household income levels pursuant to Section
65584, the program shall identify sites that can be developed for
housing within the planning period pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 65583.2. The identification of sites shall include all
components specified in subdivision (b) of Section 65583.2.
(C) Where the inventory of sites pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the
need for farmworker housing, the program shall provide for sufficient
sites to meet the need with zoning that permits farmworker housing
use by right, including density and development standards that could
accommodate and facilitate the feasibility of the development of
farmworker housing for low- and very low income households.
(2) Assist in the development of adequate housing to meet the
needs of extremely low, very low, low-, and moderate-income
households.
(3) Address and, where appropriate and legally possible, remove
governmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and
development of housing, including housing for all income levels and
housing for persons with disabilities. The program shall remove
constraints to, and provide reasonable accommodations for housing
designed for, intended for occupancy by, or with supportive services
for, persons with disabilities.
(4) Conserve and improve the condition of the existing affordable
housing stock, which may include addressing ways to mitigate the loss
of dwelling units demolished by public or private action.
(5) Promote housing opportunities for all persons regardless of
race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin,
color, familial status, or disability.
(6) Preserve for lower income households the assisted housing
developments identified pursuant to paragraph (9) of subdivision (a).
The program for preservation of the assisted housing developments
shall utilize, to the extent necessary, all available federal, state,
and local financing and subsidy programs identified in paragraph (9)
of subdivision (a), except where a community has other urgent needs
for which alternative funding sources are not available. The program
may include strategies that involve local regulation and technical
assistance.
(7) Include an identification of the agencies and officials
responsible for the implementation of the various actions and the
means by which consistency will be achieved with other general plan
elements and community goals.
(8) Include a diligent effort by the local government to achieve
public participation of all economic segments of the community in the
development of the housing element, and the program shall describe
this effort.
(d) (1) A local government may satisfy all or part of its
requirement to identify a zone or zones suitable for the development
of emergency shelters pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) by
adopting and implementing a multijurisdictional agreement, with a
maximum of two other adjacent communities, that requires the
participating jurisdictions to develop at least one year-round
emergency shelter within two years of the beginning of the planning
period.
(2) The agreement shall allocate a portion of the new shelter
capacity to each jurisdiction as credit toward its emergency shelter
need, and each jurisdiction shall describe how the capacity was
allocated as part of its housing element.
(3) Each member jurisdiction of a multijurisdictional agreement
shall describe in its housing element all of the following:
(A) How the joint facility will meet the jurisdiction's emergency
shelter need.
(B) The jurisdiction's contribution to the facility for both the
development and ongoing operation and management of the facility.
(C) The amount and source of the funding that the jurisdiction
contributes to the facility.
(4) The aggregate capacity claimed by the participating
jurisdictions in their housing elements shall not exceed the actual
capacity of the shelter.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this article, amendments to
this article that alter the required content of a housing element
shall apply to both of the following:
(1) A housing element or housing element amendment prepared
pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or Section 65584.02,
when a city, county, or city and county submits a draft to the
department for review pursuant to Section 65585 more than 90 days
after the effective date of the amendment to this section.
(2) Any housing element or housing element amendment prepared
pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 65588 or Section 65584.02,
when the city, county, or city and county fails to submit the first
draft to the department before the due date specified in Section
65588 or 65584.02.
(f) The deadline for completing required rezoning pursuant to
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall be
extended by one year if the local government has completed the
rezoning at densities sufficient to accommodate at least 75 percent
of the units for low- and very low income households and if the
legislative body at the conclusion of a public hearing determines,
based upon substantial evidence, that any of the following
circumstances exist:
(1) The local government has been unable to complete the rezoning
because of the action or inaction beyond the control of the local
government of any other state, federal, or local agency.
(2) The local government is unable to complete the rezoning
because of infrastructure deficiencies due to fiscal or regulatory
constraints.
(3) The local government must undertake a major revision to its
general plan in order to accommodate the housing-related policies of
a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning
strategy adopted pursuant to Section 65080.
The resolution and the findings shall be transmitted to the
department together with a detailed budget and schedule for
preparation and adoption of the required rezonings, including plans
for citizen participation and expected interim action. The schedule
shall provide for adoption of the required rezoning within one year
of the adoption of the resolution.
(g) (1) If a local government fails to complete the rezoning by
the deadline provided in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c), as it may be extended pursuant to subdivision (f),
except as provided in paragraph (2), a local government may
shall not disapprove a housing development
project, nor require a conditional use permit, planned unit
development permit, or other locally imposed discretionary permit, or
impose a condition that would render the project infeasible, if the
housing development project (A) is proposed to be located on a site
required to be rezoned pursuant to the program action required by
that subparagraph and (B) complies with applicable, objective general
plan and zoning standards and criteria, including design review
standards, described in the program action required by that
subparagraph. Any subdivision of sites shall be subject to the
Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410)).
Design review shall not constitute a "project" for purposes of
Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code.
(2) A local government may disapprove a housing development
described in paragraph (1) if it makes written findings supported by
substantial evidence on the record that both of the following
conditions exist:
(A) The housing development project would have a specific, adverse
impact upon the public health or safety unless the project is
disapproved or approved upon the condition that the project be
developed at a lower density. As used in this paragraph, a "specific,
adverse impact" means a significant, quantifiable, direct, and
unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified written public
health or safety standards, policies, or conditions as they existed
on the date the application was deemed complete.
(B) There is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or
avoid the adverse impact identified pursuant to paragraph (1), other
than the disapproval of the housing development project or the
approval of the project upon the condition that it be developed at a
lower density.
(3) The applicant or any interested person may bring an action to
enforce this subdivision. If a court finds that the local agency
disapproved a project or conditioned its approval in violation of
this subdivision, the court shall issue an order or judgment
compelling compliance within 60 days. The court shall retain
jurisdiction to ensure that its order or judgment is carried out. If
the court determines that its order or judgment has not been carried
out within 60 days, the court may issue further orders to ensure that
the purposes and policies of this subdivision are fulfilled. In any
such action, the city, county, or city and county shall bear the
burden of proof.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, "housing development project"
means a project to construct residential units for which the project
developer provides sufficient legal commitments to the appropriate
local agency to ensure the continued availability and use of at least
49 percent of the housing units for very low, low-, and
moderate-income households with an affordable housing cost or
affordable rent, as defined in Section 50052.5 or 50053 of the Health
and Safety Code, respectively, for the period required by the
applicable financing.
(h) An action to enforce the program actions of the housing
element shall be brought pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of
Civil Procedure.
SECTION 1. Section 21168.6.9 is added to the
Public Resources Code, to read:
21168.6.9. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Applicant" means a private entity or its affiliates that
proposes the project and its successors, heirs, and assignees.
(2) "City" means the City of Carson.
(3) "Entertainment and sports center project" or "project" means a
project that substantially conforms to the project description for
the stadium project described in the "Carson Football Stadium
Initiative" filed by the residents of the city on March 4, 2015.
(4) "Stadium" means the following components of the entertainment
and sports center project, from demolition and site preparation
through operation:
(A) A stadium facility located in the city that will become the
new home to a National Football League (NFL) team that does both of
the following:
(i) Receives Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
gold certification for new construction within one year of completion
of the first NFL season.
(ii) Minimizes operational traffic congestion and air quality
impacts through either or both project design and the implementation
of feasible mitigation measures that will do all of the following:
(I) Achieve and maintain carbon neutrality or better by reducing
to at least zero net emissions of greenhouse gases, as defined in
subdivision (g) of Section 38505 of the Health and Safety Code, from
private automobile trips to the stadium as compared to the baseline
as verified by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
(II) Achieve a per attendee reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
from automobiles and light trucks compared to per attendee greenhouse
gas emissions associated with the existing NFL stadium located in
the County of San Diego during the 2012-13 NFL season that will
exceed the carbon reduction targets for 2020 and 2035 achieved in
the sustainable communities
strategy prepared by the Southern California Association of
Governments for the Los Angeles region pursuant to Chapter 728 of the
Statutes of 2008.
(III) Achieve and maintain vehicle-miles-traveled per attendee for
NFL events at the stadium that is no more than 85 percent of the
baseline.
(B) Associated public spaces.
(C) Facilities and infrastructure for ingress, egress, and use of
the stadium facility.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the procedures established
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 21168.6.6 shall apply to an
action or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or
annul the certification of the environmental impact report for the
project or the granting of any project approvals.
(c) (1) The draft and final environmental impact report shall
include a notice in not less than 12-point type stating the
following:
THIS EIR IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21168.6.9 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES
CODE, WHICH PROVIDES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT THE LEAD AGENCY NEED
NOT CONSIDER CERTAIN COMMENTS FILED AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE PUBLIC
COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT EIR. ANY JUDICIAL ACTION CHALLENGING THE
CERTIFICATION OF THE EIR OR THE APPROVAL OF THE PROJECT DESCRIBED IN
THE EIR IS SUBJECT TO THE PROCEDURES SET FORTH IN SECTION 21168.6.9
OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE. A COPY OF SECTION 21168.6.9 OF THE
PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE IS INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIX TO THIS EIR.
(2) The draft environmental impact report and final environmental
impact report shall contain, as an appendix, the full text of this
section.
(3) Within 10 days after the release of the draft environmental
impact report, the lead agency shall conduct an informational
workshop to inform the public of the key analyses and conclusions of
that report.
(4) Within 10 days before the close of the public comment period,
the lead agency shall hold a public hearing to receive testimony on
the draft environmental impact report. A transcript of the hearing
shall be included as an appendix to the final environmental impact
report.
(5) (A) Within five days following the close of the public comment
period, a commenter on the draft environmental impact report may
submit to the lead agency a written request for nonbinding mediation.
The lead agency and applicant shall participate in nonbinding
mediation with all commenters who submitted timely comments on the
draft environmental impact report and who requested the mediation.
Mediation conducted pursuant to this paragraph shall end no later
than 35 days after the close of the public comment period.
(B) A request for mediation shall identify all areas of dispute
raised in the comment submitted by the commenter that are to be
mediated.
(C) The lead agency shall select one or more mediators who shall
be retired judges or recognized experts with at least five years
experience in land use and environmental law, science, or mediation.
The applicant shall bear the costs of mediation.
(D) A mediation session shall be conducted on each area of dispute
with the parties requesting mediation on that area of dispute.
(E) The lead agency shall adopt, as a condition of approval, any
measures agreed upon by the lead agency, the applicant, and the
commenter who requested mediation. A commenter who agrees to a
measure pursuant to this subparagraph shall not raise the issue
addressed by that measure as a basis for an action or proceeding
challenging the lead agency's decision to certify the environmental
impact report or to grant one or more initial project approvals.
(6) The lead agency need not consider written comments submitted
after the close of the public comment period, unless those comments
address any of the following:
(A) New issues raised in the response to comments by the lead
agency.
(B) New information released by the public agency subsequent to
the release of the draft environmental impact report, such as new
information set forth or embodied in a staff report, proposed permit,
proposed resolution, ordinance, or similar documents.
(C) Changes made to the project after the close of the public
comment period.
(D) Proposed conditions for approval, mitigation measures, or
proposed findings required by Section 21081 or a proposed reporting
and monitoring program required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
of Section 21081.6, where the lead agency releases those documents
subsequent to the release of the draft environmental impact report.
(E) New information that was not reasonably known and could not
have been reasonably known during the public comment period.
(7) The lead agency shall file the notice required by subdivision
(a) of Section 21152 within five days after the last initial project
approval.
(d) Subdivision (f) of Section 21168.6.6 applies to the
preparation of the record of proceedings for the project.
(e) (1) As a condition of approval of the project subject to this
section, the lead agency shall require the applicant, with respect to
any measures specific to the operation of the stadium, to implement
those measures that will meet the requirements of this division by
the end of the first NFL regular season or February of the first NFL
regular season, whichever is later, during which an NFL team has
played at the stadium.
(2) To maximize public health, environmental, and employment
benefits, the lead agency shall place the highest priority on
feasible measures that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the
stadium site and in the neighboring communities of the stadium.
Mitigation measures that shall be considered and implemented, if
feasible and necessary, to achieve the standards set forth in
subclauses (I) to (III), inclusive, of clause (ii) of subparagraph
(A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), including, but not limited
to:
(A) Temporarily expanding the capacity of a public transit line,
as needed, to serve stadium events.
(B) Providing private charter buses or other similar services, as
needed, to serve stadium events.
(C) Paying its fair share of the cost of measures that expand the
capacity of a public fixed or light rail station that is used by
spectators attending stadium events.
(3) Offset credits shall be employed by the applicant only after
feasible local emission reduction measures have been implemented. The
applicant shall, to the extent feasible, place the highest priority
on the purchase of offset credits that produce emission reductions
within the city or the boundaries of the South Coast Air Quality
Management District.
(f) (1) (A) In granting relief in an action or proceeding brought
pursuant to this section, the court shall not stay or enjoin the
construction or operation of the stadium unless the court finds
either of the following:
(i) The continued construction or operation of the stadium
presents an imminent threat to the public health and safety.
(ii) The stadium site contains unforeseen important Native
American artifacts or unforeseen important historical,
archaeological, or ecological values that would be materially,
permanently, and adversely affected by the continued construction or
operation of the stadium unless the court stays or enjoins the
construction or operation of the stadium.
(B) If the court finds that clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A)
is satisfied, the court shall only enjoin those specific activities
associated with the stadium that present an imminent threat to public
health and safety or that materially, permanently, and adversely
affect unforeseen important Native American artifacts or unforeseen
important historical, archaeological, or ecological values.
(2) An action or proceeding to attack, set aside, void, or annul a
determination, finding, or decision of the lead agency granting a
subsequent project approval shall be subject to the requirements of
this chapter.
(3) Where an action or proceeding brought pursuant to this section
challenges aspects of the project other than the stadium and those
portions or specific project activities are severable from the
stadium, the court may enter an order as to aspects of the project
other than the stadium that includes one or more of the remedies set
forth in Section 21168.9.
(g) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision
of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.
(h) (1) This section does not apply to the project and shall
become inoperative on the date of the release of the draft
environmental impact report and is repealed on January 1 of the
following year, if the applicant fails to notify the lead agency
prior to the release of the draft environmental impact report for
public comment that the applicant is electing to proceed pursuant to
this section.
(2) The lead agency shall notify the Secretary of State if the
applicant fails to notify the lead agency of its election to proceed
pursuant to this section.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that
a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution because of the unique need for the
development of an entertainment and sports center project in the City
of Carson in an expeditious manner.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
