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California 20252026

SB 887

California Environmental Quality Act: environmental leadership development projects: data centers: geothermal powerplant projects.

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Source: Open States / PluralUpdated 2026-09-12 13:12:55 UTC.

Official record

Measure details

Jurisdiction
California
Session
20252026
Chamber
upper
Classification
bill
Subjects
CaliforniaEnvironmentalQualityAct, datacenters, environmentalleadershipdevelopmentprojects, geothermalpowerplantprojects
Introduced / first action
2026-01-13 00:00:00

Alternate titles

  • California Environmental Quality Act: environmental leadership development projects: data centers.
  • California Environmental Quality Act: environmental leadership development projects: data centers: clean energy powerplant projects.

Source-supplied abstracts

(1) 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 on a project that it 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. CEQA requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to prepare and develop proposed guidelines for the implementation of CEQA by public agencies and requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt the guidelines. CEQA requires the guidelines to include a list of classes of projects that have been determined not to have a significant effect on the environment and that are exempt from CEQA, commonly known as categorical exemptions. This bill would define "data center" for the purposes of CEQA and prohibit the application of categorical exemption to a project for the development and operation of a data center, as specified. By increasing the duties of a lead agency in relation to the environmental review of a data center project, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2032, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet specified requirements for certain streamlining benefits related to CEQA. The act, among other things, requires a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings for an environmental leadership development project concurrent with the administrative process and to provide a specified notice within 10 days of the Governor certifying the project. The act specifies the process for the quantification and mitigation of impacts from emissions of greenhouse gases of certain environmental leadership projects, as provided. The act is repealed by its own terms on January 1, 2034. This bill would authorize the Governor to certify a data center project that is certified by the lead agency to meet specified conditions as an environmental leadership development project. The bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and other state agencies, as necessary, to develop uniform statewide standards for satisfying those conditions for data center projects, as specified. The bill would also authorize the Governor to certify a geothermal powerplant that is certified by the lead agency to meet certain criteria as an environmental leadership development project. The bill would require the quantification and mitigation of impacts for emissions of greenhouse gases of a data center project and a geothermal powerplant project to be determined in the same manner as for those certain environmental leadership projects. By increasing the duties of a lead agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.

Sponsors

Source-supplied history

Actions

  1. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  2. Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 29. Noes 8.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable

  3. In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

  4. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.

    passage, reading-1, reading-3

  5. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-3

  6. Read third time and amended.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3

  7. Joint Rule 61(b)(16) suspended.

  8. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-3

  9. Read third time and amended.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3

  10. Assembly Rule 69(b)(1) suspended. (Ayes 55. Noes 17. Page 6296.)

  11. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-2, reading-3

  12. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 4.) (August 13).

    committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable

  13. Assembly Rule 63 suspended.

  14. August 5 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.

  15. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  16. From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 14. Noes 1.) (June 24).

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee

  17. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on U. & E. (Ayes 10. Noes 3.) (June 22). Re-referred to Com. on U. & E.

    committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee

  18. Assembly Rule 56 suspended.

  19. Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and U. & E.

    referral-committee

  20. In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

    reading-1

  21. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 29. Noes 9. Page 4451.) Ordered to the Assembly.

    passage, reading-1, reading-3

  22. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1, reading-2, reading-3

  23. Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2

  24. From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 4256.) (May 14).

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable

  25. Set for hearing May 14.

  26. May 4 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  27. Set for hearing May 4.

  28. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 3. Page 3973.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee

  29. Set for hearing April 21.

  30. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E., U & C.

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  31. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E., U & C.

    amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  32. From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on E., U & C. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 3600.) (March 18).

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee

  33. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.Q.

    amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee

  34. Set for hearing March 18.

  35. Referred to Coms. on E.Q. and E., U & C.

    referral-committee

  36. From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 13.

  37. Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

    introduction, reading-1, referral-committee

Documents and versions

Official links

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Related measures

No resolvable related measure is supplied.