SB 18 Protection of "Traditional Tribal Cultural Sites"

 
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AEP Legislative Committee Comments on SB 18   

To the AEP Membership:

Last year, one of the more controversial measures introduced was SB 1828 (Burton, D- San Francisco).  Known as the “Native American Sacred Sites” bill, this measure was intended to provide special protection for NASS through the application of CEQA.  After considerable deliberation, the AEP Legislative Committee concluded that CEQA  is not well-suited for accomplishing the objectives of SB 1828, including the protection of spiritual practices, religious significance, and cultural uses of land by Native Americans.

The Committee ultimately took an oppose position as this bill went to the Governor’s Office for his consideration.  Many other entities opposed SB 1828 as well, including the APA, League of Cities, CSAC, realtors and developers.  In the end, Governor Davis vetoed the measure but expressed a willingness to sign a new bill in 2003 that did not impair the operation of CEQA. 

SB 18, introduced again by Senator Burton, is an attempt to address the concerns raised by SB 1828.  Known as the “Traditional Tribal Cultural Sites” bill, SB 18 would establish new procedures, standards and time frames relating to the operation of CEQA in the interest of protecting TTCS.  Among other things, this bill would:

• Define TTCS and various terms relating to Native American tribes.
   

• Establish a TTCS Register to be developed, maintained, and administered by the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC). The bill would specifically exempt the TTCS Register from California’s Public Records Act.
   

• Declare various powers and duties of the NAHC relating to the protection of TTCS.  More specifically, the bill would establish specific duties within the context of CEQA concerning the determination of whether a proposed development project may affect a TTCS and whether that project will cause a substantial adverse change in a TTCS.  The bill would establish procedures for challenging and reviewing the commission's determinations, including procedures to protect the confidentiality of any information that would create a risk of harm to a TTCS.
   

• Establish special standing of tribes in the review of CEQA documents for projects affecting TTCS.
   

• Establish new , more restrictive criteria  for overriding significant impacts on TTCS located within state or federal lands.
   

• Extends certain public comment time frames within CEQA for that may affect a TTCS.
   

• Add a new 30-day notice requirement for lead agencies prior to adopting findings at the end of the CEQA process for a project potentially affecting a TTCS in order to receive comments from Native American tribes only.

Finally, the bill would declare that this bill is not intended to substantially alter, change, or interfere with the existing CEQA process except to formalize a process for the consideration of the impacts of a development on a Traditional Tribal Cultural Site.

Once again, this bill was the object of extensive negotiations by a wide range of special interests, including AEP, APA, the League of Cities, CSAC, realtors, developers, universities, utilities, oil and gas companies, environmental organizations and Native American tribes. The AEP Legislative Committee concluded that SB 18 would do more harm to CEQA (and possibly TTCS) than good and ultimately determined they could not support this bill. 

Intense negotiations continuing right up to the last day of the 2003 Session failed to produce a consensus and the measure failed passage on the Assembly Floor on September 12.  Once again the amendments to CEQA were a key deciding factor in determining the fate of this bill.

Because reconsideration of this bill is expected to be granted when the Legislature reconvenes in January 2004, the AEP Committee thought it important to share with the membership the Committee’s comments on SB 18 at a crucial stage in the development of the bill.  A link to those comments is provided below:

AEP Legislative Committee Comments on SB 18      

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