UPDATE: California Natural Resources Agency Commences CEQA Guidelines Amendments Rulemaking

On January 26, 2018, the California Natural Resources Agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding proposed amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations).

The proposed CEQA Guidelines amendments were informally released by the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) on November 27, 2017. For a detailed discussion of significant proposed changes to the CEQA Guidelines included in the proposed amendments, please click here for our December 1, 2017 Legal Alert regarding the OPR draft.

Public comment on the proposal is due by 5 p.m. March 15, and public hearings will be held in Sacramento and Los Angeles as follows:

Sacramento

March 15, 2018 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
California Energy Commission, Rosenfield Hearing Room,
1516 9th Street, Sacramento
(This hearing will be webcast.)

Los Angeles

March 14, 2018 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
California Science Center, Annenberg Building, Muses Room,
700 Exposition Park Dr., Los Angeles

After receiving and considering comments and incorporating any revisions, the Secretary for the Natural Resources Agency will then adopt the proposed changes and submit the final CEQA Guidelines amendments to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for review and approval. The effective date of the CEQA Guidelines amendments will be set when OAL files them with the Secretary of State. Compliance will become mandatory 120 days following the effective date for the majority of the CEQA Guidelines amendments.