Bill Commons

CA SB 232

dead

California Environmental Quality Act: guidelines: study.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper

Quick answers

Did CA SB 232 pass?

No. CA SB 232 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process (2026-02-02). Latest recorded action (2026-02-02): Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

What is CA SB 232 about?

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. CEQA requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, formerly named the Office of Planning and Research, to prepare and develop, and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt, guidelines for the implementation of CEQA. The CEQA guidelines require a lead agency, immediately after deciding that an environmental impact report is required for a project, to send a notice of preparation stating that an environmental impact report will be prepared to the office and each responsible and trustee agency, as specified. This bill would require the office to conduct a study to, among other things, evaluate how locked-in guidelines could impact regulatory certainty for future project proponents, lead agencies, and stakeholders and assess how locked-in guidelines could affect the speed and efficiency of the environmental review process pursuant to CEQA. The bill would define "locked-in guidelines" as CEQA guidelines, that are in effect at the time of the first issuance of the notice of preparation for a project, that apply to the project throughout the course of the environmental review process pursuant to CEQA, regardless of changes in the guidelines that occur after the first issuance of the notice of preparation. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the office to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on the study. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2028.

Who sponsors CA SB 232?

Seyarto is the primary sponsor of CA SB 232, joined by 7 cosponsors.

Description

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. CEQA requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, formerly named the Office of Planning and Research, to prepare and develop, and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt, guidelines for the implementation of CEQA. The CEQA guidelines require a lead agency, immediately after deciding that an environmental impact report is required for a project, to send a notice of preparation stating that an environmental impact report will be prepared to the office and each responsible and trustee agency, as specified. This bill would require the office to conduct a study to, among other things, evaluate how locked-in guidelines could impact regulatory certainty for future project proponents, lead agencies, and stakeholders and assess how locked-in guidelines could affect the speed and efficiency of the environmental review process pursuant to CEQA. The bill would define "locked-in guidelines" as CEQA guidelines, that are in effect at the time of the first issuance of the notice of preparation for a project, that apply to the project throughout the course of the environmental review process pursuant to CEQA, regardless of changes in the guidelines that occur after the first issuance of the notice of preparation. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the office to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on the study. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2028.

Introduced
2025-01-28
Latest action
2026-02-02 — Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Seyartoauthor
  • Choicoauthor
  • Niellocoauthor
  • Ochoa Boghcoauthor
  • Valladarescoauthor
  • Alaniscoauthor
  • Lackeycoauthor
  • Pattersoncoauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2025-01-28

    Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

    introduction,reading-1,referral-committee

  2. 2025-01-29

    From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 28.

  3. 2025-02-05

    Referred to Com. on E.Q.

    referral-committee

  4. 2025-02-25

    Set for hearing March 5.

  5. 2025-02-27

    March 5 hearing postponed by committee.

  6. 2025-03-03

    Set for hearing March 19.

  7. 2025-03-19

    From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 421.) (March 19).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  8. 2025-03-20

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  9. 2025-03-28

    Set for hearing April 7.

  10. 2025-04-07

    April 7 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  11. 2025-05-16

    Set for hearing May 23.

  12. 2025-05-23

    May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

  13. 2026-02-02

    Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

    failure

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations]

    2025-03-19 · pass · 8-0

    Member-level votes (8)
    • Padilla: yes
    • Menjivar: yes
    • Gonzalez: yes
    • Hurtado: yes
    • Pérez: yes
    • Valladares: yes
    • Blakespear: yes
    • Dahle: yes

  • Placed on suspense file

    2025-04-07 · pass · 7-0

    Member-level votes (7)
    • Richardson: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • Grayson: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Seyarto: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Dahle: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB232

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

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