• State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) introduced a bill on Jan. 16 to streamline and expedite the environmental review process under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the state’s landmark law for evaluating and mitigating the envorinmental impacts of major development projects. SB 122—jointly authored with state Sens. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and Richard Roth (D-Riverside)—seeks to create efficiencies in the environmental review process without undermining the law’s goal of informed environmental decision-making. “This bill is a modest and practical measure designed to help bring this process into the 21st century and make it more efficient and more accessible to the public,” Jackson said in a press release. “It is not intended to upend or undermine the environmental goals of CEQA in any way. It is also not designed to solve all of the challenges of CEQA. But rather than throw up our hands and do nothing, I believe it’s improtant that we work on these areas of common agreement, where I’m hoping we can make significant improvements.” According to the release, the senators gathered input from a variety of stakeholders, including business and environmental groups, lawyers, academics, and local government groups. The bill would create an Internet clearinghouse of all CEQA documents; save time and money by preparing a concurrent record of the administration of proceedings—a written record of all the materials supporting the lead agency’s decision, which is currently done when a CEQA decision is challenged in court; and establish new procedures that would enable to public to better participate, expecially when late information is added into the decision-making process.
• U.S. Rep. Lois Capps took Richard Martinez as her guest to the Jan. 20 State of the Union Address. Martinez is the father of Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, one of the UCSB students who was shot and killed during the Isla Vista tragedy in May 2014. Coinciding with the State of the Union, Capps also reintroduced her Pause for Safety Act, legislation she introduced last year following the tradgedy. “It has been nearly eight months since the Isla Vista community—and the nation—was rocked by the unspeakable violence in I.V.,” Capps said in a press release. “And the State of the Union is an important time to highlight that we will not let this issue fade without action.” She added that Martinez has dedicated his life to making sure that “not one more” family will have to endure the pain he has and that she will continue to work with him and Congress to push legislation forward to make communities safer. The Pause for Safety Act would essentially be the federal version of California’s recently passed gun restraining order bill, which enables families and others to go to court seeking an order to temporarily stop someone who poses a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing a gun. “This past May, I vowed to honor the life of my son, Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, by fighting for gun safety measures that will help save lives,” Martinez said in the press release. “Legislators like Congresswoman Capps and others from around the country have helped me to fulfill this promise.”
This article appears in Jan 22-29, 2015.