California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: Five-Mile Basin.

Assembly Member Gallagher's proposal to exempt sediment removal at Chico's Five-Mile Basin from California Environmental Quality Act requirements reflects legislative efforts to address localized flooding concerns through targeted regulatory relief. The measure would add Section 21080.65 to the Public Resources Code, creating a specific CEQA exemption for this single infrastructure project.

The bill's findings cite unique flooding risks in the Five-Mile Basin area as justification for bypassing standard environmental review processes. Under current law, such projects typically require either an environmental impact report or a negative declaration documenting the absence of significant environmental effects. This exemption would allow sediment removal work to proceed without these procedural requirements.

While narrowly focused on one geographic location, the measure maintains CEQA's broader framework of environmental protections for other projects throughout California. The bill requires a simple majority vote for passage and involves no direct state funding or fiscal implications for local governments. Upon enactment, the City of Chico could initiate sediment removal operations without conducting the environmental assessments typically mandated under CEQA.