Bill Text: CA SB123 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Environmental and land use court.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB123 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB123-Introduced.html

---

BILL NUMBER: SB 123	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Corbett

                        JANUARY 18, 2013

   An act to add Article 2 (commencing with Section 69540) to Chapter
5 of Title 8 of the Government Code, relating to courts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 123, as introduced, Corbett. Environmental and Land-Use Court.
   Existing law establishes a statewide system of courts with a
superior court of one or more judges in each county. Existing law
requires the presiding judge of each superior court to distribute the
business of the court among the judges, and to prescribe the order
of business, subject to the rules of the Judicial Council.
   This bill would require the presiding judge of each superior court
to establish an environmental and land-use division within the court
to process civil proceedings brought pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act or in specified subject areas, including
air quality, biological resources, climate change, hazards and
hazardous materials, land use planning, and water quality. The bill
would require the Judicial Council, by rule of court, to identify
statutes in those specified areas that would be within the
jurisdiction of the environmental and land-use court division. The
bill would require the Judicial Council, by rule of court, to
establish appropriate standards and protocols for the environmental
and land-use court division to accomplish the objectives of
consistency, expediency, and expertise, including educational
requirements and other qualifications for specialized judges assigned
to the division.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Article 2 (commencing with Section 69540) is added to
Chapter 5 of Title 8 of the Government Code, to read:

      Article 2.  Environmental and Land-Use Court


   69540.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) According to the World Resources Institute report entitled,
"Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and
Tribunals" (2009), the number of courts and tribunals specializing in
environmental issues doubled during the past decade, prompted by
increasingly complex regulations and growing concerns about natural
resources.
   (2) Environmental issues are often complex and fragmented, and
conflicting aspects of environmental management and protection have
made it difficult for governments, developers, communities, and
advocacy groups to achieve consistent and long-range sustainable
development. This has resulted in pressures to streamline and
rationalize the adjudication and enforcement process and increase
access to justice around the world.
   (3) California's environmental and land-use court cases should be
decided by specialized judges trained in environmental and land-use
law, and whose decisions would be documented and published. It is
important that the judicial selection process be unbiased.
   (4) The creation of an environmental and land-use court can
maximize both judicial competence and the speed of decisionmaking,
allowing litigants to have their cases heard and an effective remedy
delivered quickly. The court should hear the case in the county in
which the case arose.
   (b) Accordingly, it is the intent of the Legislature to establish
an environmental and land-use division within each superior court to
expedite civil proceedings within the jurisdiction of the division,
with more consistent rulings and better outcomes for all parties of
interest.
   69542.  (a) The presiding judge of each superior court shall
establish an environmental and land-use division within the court to
process all civil proceedings subject to this article. The Chief
Justice of California may direct the consolidation of two or more
superior courts in contiguous counties into a single environmental
and land-use division, which may convene at the various court
facilities within the participating counties as deemed appropriate,
with consideration given to the convenience of access of the parties.

   (b) Both of the following shall be subject to this article:
   (1) A civil proceeding brought pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code).
   (2) A civil proceeding brought in any of the following subject
areas:
   (A) Air quality.
   (B) Biological resources.
   (C) Climate change.
   (D) Hazards and hazardous materials.
   (E) Land use planning.
   (F) Water quality.
   (c) The Judicial Council shall, by rule of court, identify those
statutes within the subject areas identified in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) that are within the jurisdiction of the environmental
and land-use court division.
   69544.  The Judicial Council shall, by rule of court, establish
appropriate standards and protocols for the environmental and
land-use court division to accomplish the objectives of consistency,
expediency, and expertise identified in Section 69540, including
educational requirements and other qualifications for specialized
judges assigned to the division.