SB 286

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government with a certified local coastal program, as provided. The act authorizes the commission to process and act upon a consolidated coastal development permit application if a proposed project requires a coastal development permit from both a local government with a certified local coastal program and the commission and if the applicant, the local government, and the commission consent to consolidate the permit action. This bill would require the commission to process a consolidated coastal development permit for any new development that requires a coastal development permit and that is associated with, appurtenant to, or necessary for the construction and operation of offshore wind energy projects, and transmission facilities needed for those projects, located in the coastal zone, provided that public participation is not substantially impaired by the review of the consolidated coastal development permit, as provided. The bill would require the commission to forward an application for a consolidated coastal development permit to local governmental agencies having land use and related jurisdiction in the area in which the project would occur and would authorize those local governmental agencies to review and comment on the application, as provided. (2) The California Environmental Quality Act (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. This bill would require the State Lands Commission to be the lead agency for purposes of CEQA for offshore wind energy projects and to prepare, or cause to be prepared, all environmental documents required by law. The bill would require the California Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission to coordinate with relevant local, state, and federal agencies to encourage and facilitate the preparation of joint environmental documents pursuant to CEQA and the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for proposed offshore wind energy projects. (3) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in coordination with specified state entities and other relevant federal, state, and local agencies, to develop a strategic plan for offshore wind energy developments installed off the California coast in federal waters, and requires the Energy Commission to submit the strategic plan to the Natural Resources Agency and the Legislature on or before June 30, 2023. This bill would establish the California Offshore Wind Energy Fisheries Working Group, composed of representatives of the California Coastal Commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Lands Commission, the Ocean Protection Council, representatives of the commercial and recreational fishing industries, the offshore wind energy industry, representatives of relevant federal agencies, representatives of California Native American tribes with affected tribal fisheries, and other stakeholders, as determined by the California Coastal Commission. The bill would require the California Coastal Commission, in coordination with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to convene the working group on or before January 1, 2025, for the purpose of developing a statewide strategy for ensuring that offshore wind energy projects avoid and minimize impacts to ocean fisheries to the maximum extent possible, avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to fishing and fisheries in a manner that prioritizes fishery productivity, viability, and long-term resilience, and fairly and reasonably compensate persons engaged in the commercial and recreational fishing industries and tribal fisheries for economic impacts to ocean fisheries resulting from offshore wind energy projects. The bill would require the statewide strategy to include best practices for addressing impacts to the commercial and recreational fishing industries, tribal fisheries, and environmental resources associated with offshore wind energy projects, as specified, and to be completed on or before January 1, 2026. The bill would require the California Coastal Commission to adopt the statewide strategy on or before May 1, 2026, and to review the statewide strategy as needed to determine if changes are necessary. The bill would require an applicant seeking approval or concurrence from a state agency for an offshore wind energy project to comply with the terms, recommendations, and best practices established in the statewide strategy. The bill would require the working group to develop a framework for reasonable compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts associated with offshore wind energy projects, including a payment structure to reasonably compensate commercial, tribal, and recreational fisheries and impacted commercial fish processors. The bill would require the payment structure to include, among other things, investments in fleet improvements to promote resiliency, reasonable compensation for the commercial fishing industry for personal property losses caused by offshore wind energy projects, and reasonable compensation for lost commercial and tribal revenue due to reduced fishing grounds, as specified. The bill would require the State Lands Commission or a local trustee of granted public trust lands to consider including within a lease for an offshore wind energy project reasonable compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to fishing and tribal interests. The bill would create the Offshore Wind Energy Resiliency Fund and would require the State Lands Commission to deposit revenue generated from an offshore wind energy project lease in the fund. The bill would make moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for reasonable compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts associated with offshore wind energy projects.