CEQA Exemption for Drinking Water Well Projects Moves Forward in Legislature

Assembly Bill 1642 (Salas, D-Bakersfield) passed out of Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Monday, March 21st.

RCRC was an early supporter of AB 1642, which creates a new statutory CEQA exemption for projects to prevent or mitigate failure of a well that would leave residents without an adequate supply of drinking water. This exemption only applies to those wells in areas designated by the State Water Resources Control Board as being at high risk or medium risk in the state’s annual Drinking Water Needs Assessment.

The bill was narrowed significantly by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee; however, it still provides additional certainty and reduces costs and delays to improve access to clean drinking water in many of the most severely drought-impacted areas in the state.

RCRC’s letter of support can be found here. For more information, please contact RCRC Policy Advocate, John Kennedy.