SECTIONS 71020-71029 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 71020-71029

71020. (a) On or before January 1, 1995, the secretary shall
establish an administrative process which may be used, at the request
of a permit applicant for a project pursuant to Section 71021, for
the designation of a consolidated permit agency for the project.
(b) That administrative process shall consist of the establishment
of guidelines for designating the consolidated permit agency for the
project. The guidelines shall be adopted as regulations pursuant to
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code. In those cases where an environmental agency
is the lead agency for purposes of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 65920) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, or
Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000), that environmental
agency shall be the consolidated permit agency. In other cases, the
guidelines shall require that at least the following factors be
considered in determining which environmental agency has the greatest
overall jurisdiction over the project:
(1) The types of facilities or activities that make up the
project.
(2) The types of public health and safety and environmental
concerns that should be considered in issuing environmental permits
for the project.
(3) The environmental medium that may be affected by the project,
the extent of those potential effects, and the environmental
protection measures that may be taken to prevent the occurrence of,
or to mitigate, those potential effects.
(4) The regulatory activity that is of greatest importance in
preventing or mitigating the effects that the project may have on
public health and safety or the environment.
(5) The statutory and regulatory requirements that apply to the
project and the complexity of those requirements.
(c) The secretary shall also establish a procedure for referring
projects to the council for the designation of a consolidated permit
agency in any of the following circumstances:
(1) Because of the nature of the project, the guidelines adopted
pursuant to subdivision (a) do not provide clear guidance concerning
which environmental agency should be designated the consolidated
permit agency.
(2) The consolidated permit agency or a participating permit
agency disagrees with the designation of the consolidated permit
agency.
(3) The environmental agency designated as the consolidated permit
agency under the guidelines declines the designation and
participating permit agencies are not willing to accept designation
as the consolidated permit agency.

71021. (a) A permit applicant for a project may request the
secretary to designate a consolidated permit agency to administer the
processing and issuance of a consolidated permit for the project
pursuant to this division. The secretary, in accordance with the
guidelines and procedures adopted pursuant to Section 71020, shall,
within 30 days of the date that the request is received, either
designate a consolidated permit agency for the project or refer the
designation to the council.
(b) A permit applicant who requests the designation of a
consolidated permit agency shall provide the secretary with a
description of the project, a preliminary list of the environmental
permits that the project may require, the identity of any public
agency that has been designated the lead agency for the project
pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 65920) of Division 1
of Title 7 of the Government Code or Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, and the identity of the
participating permit agencies. The secretary may request any
information from the permit applicant that is necessary to make the
designation under subdivision (a), and may convene a scoping meeting
of the likely consolidated permit agency and participating permit
agencies in order to make that designation.
(c) The consolidated permit agency shall serve as the main point
of contact for the permit applicant with regard to the processing of
the consolidated permit for the project and shall manage the
procedural aspects of that processing consistent with existing laws
governing the consolidated permit agency and participating permit
agencies, and with the procedures agreed to by those agencies in
accordance with Section 71022. In carrying out these
responsibilities, the consolidated permit agency shall ensure that
the permit applicant has all the information needed to apply for all
the component environmental permits that are incorporated in the
consolidated permit for the project, coordinate the review of those
environmental permits by the respective participating permit
agencies, ensure that timely environmental permit decisions are made
by the participating permit agencies, and assist in resolving any
conflict or inconsistency among the environmental permit requirements
and conditions that are to be imposed by the participating permit
agencies with regard to the project.
(d) This division shall not be construed to limit or abridge the
powers and duties granted to a participating permit agency pursuant
to the law that authorizes or requires the agency to issue an
environmental permit for a project. Each participating permit agency
shall retain its authority to make all decisions on all nonprocedural
matters with regard to the respective component environmental permit
that is within its scope of its responsibility, including, but not
limited to, the determination of environmental permit application
completeness, environmental permit approval or approval with
conditions, or environmental permit denial. The consolidated permit
agency may not substitute its judgment for that of a participating
permit agency on any such nonprocedural matters.

71022. (a) Within 15 working days of the date that the consolidated
permit agency is designated, the consolidated permit agency shall
convene a meeting with the permit applicant for the project and the
participating permit agencies. The meeting agenda shall include at
least all of the following matters:
(1) A determination of the environmental permits that are required
for the project.
(2) A review of the environmental permit application forms and
other application requirements of the agencies that are participating
in the consolidated permit.
(3) A discussion of the option available to the permit applicant
to use the consolidated permit application form that is authorized by
subdivision (e) or (f) of Section 15399.56 of the Government Code in
lieu of the separate application forms for each component
environmental permit that would be provided by the consolidated
permit agency and the participating permit agencies.
(4) A determination of the time lines that will be used by the
consolidated permit agency and each participating permit agency to
make environmental permit decisions, including the time periods
required to determine if the environmental permit applications are
complete or the consolidated permit application is complete, to
review the application or applications, and to process the component
environmental permits, and the timelines that will be used by the
consolidated permit agency to aggregate the component environmental
permits into, and to issue, the consolidated permit. Notwithstanding
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 15374) of Part 6.7 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code, and Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 65920) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, the
timelines established pursuant to this paragraph may, with the assent
of the consolidated permit agency and each participating permit
agency, commit the consolidated permit agency and each participating
permit agency to act on the component environmental permit within
time periods that are different than those required by Sections 65950
and 65952 of the Government Code, subdivisions (a) and (b) of
Section 15376 of the Government Code, or other applicable provisions
of law. However, no accelerated time period for the consideration of
an environmental permit application may be set if that accelerated
time period would be inconsistent with, or in conflict with, any time
period or series of time periods set by statute for that
consideration, or with any statute, rule, or regulation, or adopted
state policy, standard, or guideline, which require any of the
following:
(A) Other agencies, interested persons, or the public to be given
adequate notice of the application.
(B) Other agencies to be given a role in, or be allowed to
participate in, the decision to approve or disapprove the
application.
(C) Interested persons or the public to be provided the
opportunity to challenge, comment on, or otherwise voice their
concerns regarding the application.
(5) The scheduling of any public hearings that are required to
issue environmental permits for the project and a determination of
the feasibility of coordinating or consolidating any of those
required public hearings.
(6) A discussion of fee arrangements for the consolidated permit
process, including an estimate of the fee required under Section
71026 and the billing schedule.
(b) The consolidated permit agency may request any information
from the applicant that is necessary to comply with its obligations
under this section, consistent with the timelines set pursuant to
this section.
(c) A summary of the decisions made pursuant to this section shall
be made available for public review upon the filing of the
consolidated environmental permit application or environmental permit
applications.

71023. (a) The permit applicant may withdraw from the consolidated
permit process by submitting to the consolidated permit agency a
written request that the process be terminated. Upon receipt of the
request, the consolidated permit agency shall notify the secretary
and each participating permit agency that a consolidated permit is no
longer applicable to the project.
(b) The permit applicant may submit a written request to the
consolidated permit agency that the permit applicant wishes a
participating permit agency to withdraw from participation on the
basis of a reasonable belief that the issuance of the consolidated
permit would be accelerated if the participating permit agency
withdraws. In that event, the participating permit agency shall
withdraw from participation if the consolidated permit agency
approves the request.

71024. The consolidated permit agency shall ensure that the
participating permit agencies make all the environmental permit
decisions that are necessary for the incorporation of the
environmental permits into the consolidated permit and act on the
component environmental permits within the time periods established
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 71022.

71025. Each environmental permit incorporated in the consolidated
permit shall have the legal status and the regulatory effect that is
specified in the statute and regulations under which the
environmental permit would be separately issued and shall be
administered and enforced by the environmental agency that would have
separately issued it.

71026. (a) A consolidated permit agency may charge and collect a
reasonable fee from any person seeking a consolidated permit to
recover the estimated costs incurred by the consolidated permit
agency in carrying out the requirements of this division.
(b) The fees charged shall recover only the costs of performing
those consolidated permit services and shall be either negotiated
with the permit applicant in the meeting required pursuant to Section
71022, or shall be set by the environmental agency in advance of its
designation as a consolidated permit agency for the project in a fee
schedule adopted by the environmental agency for use in the event
that the environmental agency is so designated. In addition, the
billing process shall provide for accurate time and cost accounting
and a billing cycle that provides for progress payments.

71027. A petition by the permit applicant for review of an
environmental agency action in issuing, denying, or amending an
environmental permit, or any portion of a consolidated permit agency
permit, shall be submitted by the permit applicant to the
consolidated permit agency or the participating permit agency having
jurisdiction over that portion of the consolidated permit and shall
be processed in accordance with the procedures of that environmental
agency. The environmental agency receiving the petition shall, within
30 days, notify the other environmental agencies participating in
the original consolidated permit.

71028. If an applicant petitions for a significant amendment or
modification to a consolidated permit application or any of its
component environmental permit applications, the consolidated permit
agency shall reconvene a meeting of the participating permit
agencies, conducted in accordance with Section 71022.

71029. If an applicant fails to provide information required for
the processing of the component environmental permit applications for
a consolidated permit or for the designation of a consolidated
permit agency, the time requirements of this division shall be tolled
until such time as the information is provided.