AB 3238 - Circumventing CEQA

For years Californians have been afforded the due process protections of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As imperfect as it is, CEQA has been a hurdle that many environmentally destructive projects could not clear. CEQA has been the bane of unbridled development.

CEQA would be a challenging hurdle for the Imperial Valley-North of SONGS line slated to go through the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. However, Assembly Bill 3238, now winding its way through the California Legislature, would exempt electrification projects on existing utility rights of way from CEQA.  In a former iteration of the Bill, Section 2 of AB 3238 sponsored by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), “would, until January 1, 2035, exempt from CEQA projects for the expansion of an existing public right-of-way across state-owned land to accommodate the construction, expansion, modification, or update of electrical infrastructure, as defined.” This section of the bill means that expanding the right-of-way of the existing 69 kV line through the State Park would be exempt from CEQA. Such an exemption would be a direct blow to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and 78 other Parks with existing utility lines running through them.

As a result of Anza-Borrego Foundation’s (ABF) efforts and the Desert Protective Trust’s support, AB 3238 was amended to remove the CEQA exemption for rights of way. The amendment fully eliminates the CEQA exemption, strikes the existing rebuttable presumption—which deemed utility projects to be so important as to override environmental concerns—and includes placeholder language from the settlement agreement between the CEC, CAISO and the CPUC, written with the goal of streamlining the process for electrification projects. You can read the full settlement agreement here. 520714203.PDF (ca.gov).

While this amendment represents progress against those who fought tooth and nail to kill it, the battle is not over. For the moment, the current attempt to legislate a CEQA exemption for these proposed transmission lines has been neutralized. Moving forward, our work is to hold onto these gains and ensure the language developed for the final version of this bill will not threaten our critically important California Deserts.

Ongoing Efforts and Continued Support Needed

Our work is far from over. The bill language is still being negotiated, and we cannot be certain that the author and the Investor-Owned Utility lobbyists will not attempt to reintroduce the CEQA exemption when the bill reaches the Senate floor. We must continue to show our support for the legislators who have stood with us so they will resist any efforts to reverse our progress. Through education and support we have built the critical relationships needed to protect Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and other California deserts.

How you can help!

The next hurdle for this bill will be the Appropriations Committee on August 17th. If it clears that hurdle, the bill will be heard on the Senate Floor sometime ​between August 19th and August 31st. To ensure our recent wins are not reversed at the last minute we need to raise $15,000 to maintain our progress. 

Please consider a donation today to help protect our precious natural resources.