This section emphasizes the importance of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires assessing and mitigating the environmental impacts of development projects. It highlights the significance of public involvement in reviewing and mitigating project impacts.

The law acknowledges upcoming large projects in California that aim to replace outdated facilities, create jobs, and introduce advanced environmental benefits without using taxpayer money.

These proposed projects promise to create significant employment opportunities and implement innovative measures to reduce environmental impacts like traffic and air quality issues, setting a national standard for pollution reduction.

Overall, for a limited time, these projects will receive special fast-tracking benefits under CEQA to expedite job creation and environmental improvements.

This section defines key terms for projects that aim to be environmentally friendly and sustainable. An 'applicant' refers to anyone proposing or involved in such a project, including public or private entities. 'Environmental leadership development projects' are projects like housing or commercial developments certified as energy-efficient by the LEED standards. Such projects might include renewable energy initiatives, housing developments with affordable housing components, or clean energy manufacturing. These projects should ideally be located on infill sites and align with local strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, often requiring significant financial investment and a minimum percentage of affordable housing.

Housing projects must focus primarily on residential use and can't serve as temporary accommodations. The goal is to ensure these projects contribute to environmental sustainability while supporting the community's housing needs.

This law says that a project isn’t covered by the rules in this section unless the Governor certifies it as a special type of environmental project that qualifies for faster processing before January 1, 2032.

If you want to build a leadership project and speed up the approval process, you can apply to the Governor for certification. You'll need to provide any evidence or materials the Governor requires to decide on your application. This information must be publicly available at least 15 days before the Governor approves the project.

If a project wants a quicker approval process in California, it must meet several conditions before the Governor can certify it. The project needs to invest at least $100 million, unless it's a special type of project. It has to create good jobs in California, paying competitive wages and offering opportunities for apprenticeships. The project should also not increase greenhouse gas emissions, or it must align with state environmental goals.

The applicant must follow specific recycling and environmental mitigation standards. A binding agreement is needed to ensure all required environmental fixes are carried out and monitored. The applicant must also commit to covering court and record preparation costs for any legal challenges related to the project.

This law sets rules for how workers must be hired for construction projects carried out by public and private agencies. Firstly, any entity participating in a public project must use skilled and trained workers for jobs in the construction sector that require apprenticeships. However, if the public agency has a project labor agreement, the entity can follow its rules instead.

For private projects, the applicant must ensure all workers are paid the prevailing wage rate, which means they get at least the average wage for their job type and area. Contractors should also maintain payroll records and be prepared for wage reviews. Penalties can be imposed for non-compliance, including financial penalties per worker per day.

In both public and private projects, a project labor agreement can make certain requirements easier, such as regular compliance reports and wage assessments, provided everything is handled according to agreed arbitration processes. Overall, these rules aim to ensure fair wages and skilled labor use in construction, with checks in place to ensure compliance.

This law section outlines how a project's greenhouse gas emissions should be calculated and reduced. First, to measure emissions, the current environmental conditions at the project site are used as a baseline. Then, projects must prioritize reducing emissions directly, trying first to cut both greenhouse gases and other air pollutants through project design or adding features like energy efficiency and renewables. If direct reductions don't fully mitigate the impacts, additional reductions must occur within the same air pollution district, or through environmental offsets. These offsets must adhere to strict standards and benefit the area where the project is located.

Finally, the law emphasizes that the steps taken to offset emissions should prioritize enhancing the environment and public health of communities most affected by the project.

This law allows the Governor to certify projects to speed up their approval process, but only if they meet specific criteria outlined in another section (21183). Before granting this certification, the Governor needs to confirm compliance with these conditions, and this decision cannot be challenged in court.

If the Governor thinks a leadership project qualifies for expedited processing, this decision and its supporting details must be sent to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, who has 30 days to agree or disagree. If they don't respond in time, the project is automatically certified.

Additionally, the Governor can create guidelines for how to apply for and certify these projects, and these guidelines don't have to follow the usual procedural rules set by another government act.

This law requires that parking spaces for multifamily residential projects be priced and sold or rented separately from the dwelling units. It's like having the option to choose whether or not you want to pay extra for a parking space. However, this rule does not apply to units with rent or sale prices already set by affordability laws, where parking and housing costs must stay combined.

This law allows the Office of Planning and Research to charge a fee to applicants who are trying to get certified, to cover the costs the Governor's office incurs from handling these certifications.

This law requires the Judicial Council to create court rules for handling cases that challenge environmental impact reports for certain special projects. These cases, including appeals, should ideally be settled within 270 days once the court has the necessary documents.

This law explains how the record of proceedings for a leadership project must be prepared and shared. The project’s lead agency must prepare this record while the project is ongoing. Once the draft environmental impact report is released, all relevant documents must be posted online for public access.

The lead agency should make these documents available in an electronic format, and continue to upload new documents within five days of their creation or receipt. Public comments are encouraged to be submitted electronically and should also be made publicly accessible within the same timeframe.

If comments are submitted non-electronically, they must be converted to an electronic format within seven days. Copyrighted materials used by the lead agency must be listed in an index, noting where physical copies can be reviewed if they can't be shared online.

The final record of proceedings needs certification within five days after project approval. Any disputes regarding the record are handled by the superior court, where issues need to be raised in a motion with the initial brief.

This law says that when the Governor certifies a project as an environmental leadership development project, the lead agency has 10 days to inform the public. The notice should be written in at least 12-point font and paid for by the applicant. It announces the project will follow certain procedures if there's a legal challenge to its environmental impact report. The notice must also include a copy of the relevant legal chapter and be distributed according to specific public notice rules.

This section outlines the process for the Governor to certify a project alternative as part of a leadership project. A 'project alternative' is defined as one examined in an environmental impact report under specific existing regulations. Before a lead agency approves such an alternative, the Governor can certify it if it meets certain criteria provided by the applicant and aligns with the definitions of a leadership project as of the time of certification. The applicant must provide necessary documents, which are shared with the public at least 15 days prior to certification. Notably, the Governor’s decisions in this process cannot be legally challenged. Additionally, a specific court rule applies to legal challenges concerning the approval of these project alternatives.

This law means that if any part of this chapter is found to be invalid or can't be applied, the rest of the chapter is still valid. This ensures that the other parts continue to work even if one part doesn't.

This section states that, unless this chapter explicitly says otherwise, everyone still has to follow all the rules set out in this division.

If a lead agency doesn't approve a Governor-certified project by January 1, 2033, the project's certification will become invalid.

This law is set to be in effect until January 1, 2034. After that date, it will be canceled unless a new law is passed to change or extend it.