SB 1097: California Environmental Quality Act: electrical distribution: exemptions.

California · Senate · 2025–2026 Regular Session · last verified June 1, 2026

What SB 1097 does, verified June 1, 2026

The bill aims to exempt certain projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) if they meet specific requirements. These projects include the inspection, maintenance, and replacement of transmission wires and cables, as well as the construction of solar photovoltaic and wind power plants, energy storage systems, and stationary electrical generating power plants. The bill also establishes a modified approval process for these projects, which would require the lead agency to determine that the project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. Additionally, the bill requires that actions challenging CEQA decisions be resolved within 270 days. The bill does not require reimbursement for certain costs associated with implementing the exemptions and modified approval process.

Bill journey

1IntroducedCurrent

2In CommitteePending

3First Chamber FloorPending

4Second ChamberPending

5GovernorPending

6ChapteredPending

Last action: May 14 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. (2026-05-14)Alert me

Author and sponsors

Sen. Scott WienerAuthor · California State Senate

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Coauthors

Josh Becker

Recent actions14 total · showing 5

May. 14, 2026	May 14 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
May. 12, 2026	Set for hearing May 14.
May. 11, 2026	May 11 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
May. 04, 2026	Set for hearing May 11.
Apr. 23, 2026	Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

Full action history, 9 earlier actionsConnect Plus

Latest bill textAmended version, April 23, 2026 · 1,609 words

Amended IN Senate April 23, 2026

Amended IN Senate March 25, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1097

Introduced by Senator Wiener
(Coauthor: Senator Becker)

February 13, 2026

An act to add ~~Sections~~ Section 21080.39 ~~and 21080.80~~ to the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1097, as amended, Wiener. California Environmental Quality Act: electrical distribution: ~~clean energy: exemptions: standard of review.~~ exemptions.

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 (EIR) on a project that the lead agency 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 exempt from CEQA projects that consist of the inspection, maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, reconductoring with advanced conductors, replacement, or removal of a an existing transmission wire or cable used to conduct electricity or other piece of equipment that is directly attached to the wire or cable and that meet certain ~~requirements.~~ requirements, including, among other things, that for a project that is not located on a sensitiva site, the project is undertaken entirely within an existing right-of-way. For projects that are located on a sensitive site, as defined, the bill would also require that the project not increase the footprint of the existing transmission line by more than 10%. In addition to those requirements, for projects that are located within a national park, a national monument, a national wilderness area, or a national recreation area, the bill would also require that the existing right-of-way that the project is undertaken within have a certified EIR, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. For any of these above-described projects that are undertaken within a private right-of-way, the bill would require the project applicant to obtain permission from each underlying property owner to access the property for the project and to enter into an agreement to restore the right-of-way to its condition before the commencement of the project. If a lead agency determines that a project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to the above-described provision, the bill would require the lead agency to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the county clerk in each county in which the project is located, as provided. By increasing the duties of a lead agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would, for a project to construct (1) a solar photovoltaic or terrestrial wind electrical generating powerplant, (2) an energy storage system, (3) a stationary electrical generating powerplant using any source of thermal energy, as provided, or (4) specified overhead electrical transmission lines, establish a modified approval process for a lead agency to follow when approving those projects, as provided. In order to use the modified approval process, the bill would require certain of these projects to not be located on specified lands and, for a project to construct specified overhead electrical transmission lines, to, among other things, not include construction that physically disturbs specified lands, as provided. The bill would, for the above-described projects, require that the lead agency determine, based upon substantial evidence in light of the whole record before the lead agency, that it is more likely than not that a project will have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, for purposes of the preparation of an EIR. Because the bill would require a lead agency to make these determinations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
CEQA provides that the existence of a public controversy over the environmental effects of a project shall not require the preparation of an EIR if there is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record before the lead agency that the project may have a significant effect on the environment.
This bill would instead provide, for the above-described projects, that the existence of public controversy over the environmental effects of a project shall not require preparation of an EIR if an EIR would not otherwise be required by CEQA. The bill would also require that an action or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the adoption of a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration as described above, or the granting of any project approvals, including any potential appeals to the court of appeal or the Supreme Court, be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
~~The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:~~
(a)The projects listed in subdivision (b) of Section 21080.80 of the Public Resources Code are necessary to achieve the clean energy policy of The 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 (Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018).
(b)Application of the substantial evidence standard of review, instead of the fair argument standard, to the review of negative declarations and mitigated negative declarations for projects described in subdivision (b) of Section 21080.80 of the Public Resources Code furthers California’s clean energy and climate goals, and therefore results in the greatest long-term environmental benefits.

~~SEC. 2.~~SECTION 1.

Section 21080.39 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

21080.39.

(a) ~~This~~ For purposes of this section, both of the following definitions apply:

(1) “Reconductoring with advanced conductors” has the same meaning as the term “reconductored with advanced conductors” is used in Section 454.58 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2) “Sensitive site” means any of the following areas:
(A) The state park system, as described in Article 1 (commencing with Section 5001) of Chapter 1 of Division 5.
(B) A wilderness area, as defined in Section 5093.32.
(C) A national park.
(D) A national monument.
(E) A national recreation area.
(F) A national wilderness area.
(G) Habitat for protected species identified as candidate, sensitive, or species of special status by state or federal agencies, fully protected species, or species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code), or the Native Plant Protection Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 1900) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code).
(H) Lands with a conservation easement, as defined in Section 815.1 of the Civil Code and recorded as required by Section 815.5 of the Civil Code, unless the project is determined by the lead agency to be consistent with the terms or requirements of the easement.

(b) This division does not apply to a project that consists of the inspection, maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, reconductoring with advanced conductors, replacement, or removal of a an existing transmission wire or cable used to conduct electricity or other piece of equipment that is directly attached to the wire or cable and that meets ~~both~~ all of the following requirements:

(1) ~~(A)The~~ For a project that is not located on a sensitive site, the project is undertaken entirely within an existing right-of-way.

(2) For a project that is located on a sensitive site, the project meets both of the following requirements:
(A) The project is undertaken entirely within an existing right-of-way.
(B) The project does not increase the footprint of the existing transmission line by more than 10 percent.
(3) For a project that is located on a national park, a national monument, a national wilderness area, or a national recreation area, the project meets both of the following requirements:
(A) The project is undertaken entirely within an existing right-of-way that has a certified environmental impact report, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration.
(B) The project does not increase the footprint of the existing transmission line by more than 10 percent.
(4) For a project that is located on any of the locations listed in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, that is undertaken within a private right-of-way, the project meets both of the following requirements:
~~(B)For a project undertaken within a private right-of-way, the~~

(A) The
project applicant has permission from ~~the~~ each underlying property owner to access the property for the project.

~~(2)~~
(B)
The project applicant enters into a legally binding agreement to restore the right-of-way to its condition before the commencement of the project.

~~(b)~~

(c) If the lead agency determines that a project is exempt from this division pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and with the county clerk in each county in which the project is located in a manner specified in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 21108 or subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 21152.

~~(c)For purposes of this section, “reconductoring with advanced conductors” has the same meaning as the term used in subdivision (b) of Section 454.58 of the Public Utilities Code.~~

Text of SB 1097 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions