LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 696, as amended, Wright. South Coast Air Quality
Management District: CEQA: permits. Child support:
compromise of arrears.
Existing law establishes a statewide compromise of arrears program
pursuant to which the Department of Child Support Services may
accept offers in compromise of child support arrears and interest
accrued thereon owed to the state for reimbursement of aid paid
pursuant to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids Act. An offer in compromise must be rescinded and any
compromised liability reestablished unless there is a finding of good
cause or a determination by the director that it is in the best
interest of the state to do otherwise. Existing law provides that the
acceptance of an offer in compromise is deemed to be in the best
interest of the state with regard to arrears that accrued as a result
of a decrease in income when an obligor was a reservist or member of
the National Guard activated to United States military service, and
failed to modify the support order to reflect the reduction in
income.
This bill would provide that acceptance of an offer in compromise
is deemed to be in the best interest of the state with regard to
arrears that accrued as a result of a decrease in income when the
obligor failed to modify the support order to reflect the reduction
in income when an obligor was a reservist or member of the National
Guard activated to United States military service, when the obligor
was incarcerated for more than 90 days and does not have other
sources of income, when the obligor's sole income was based on
specified forms of public assistance, or when the obligor was
receiving inpatient services in a medical facility for more than 90
days and does not have other sources of income.
(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 (EIR) 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
exempts certain specified projects from its requirements.

Under existing law, every air pollution control district or air
quality management district in a federal nonattainment area for any
national ambient air quality standard is required to establish by
regulation, a system by which all reductions in emissions of air
contaminants that are to be used to offset certain future increases
in the emission of air contaminants are banked prior to use. The
South Coast Air Quality Management District (district) promulgated
various rules establishing offset exemptions, providing Priority
Reserve offset credits, and creating or tracking credits used for
offset exemption or Priority Reserve projects. In Natural Resources
Defense Council v. South Coast Air Quality Management District
(Super. Ct. Los Angeles County, 2007, No. BS 110792), the superior
court found the promulgation of certain of these district rules to be
in violation of CEQA.
This bill would authorize the district to issue permits under
specified circumstances, notwithstanding this court decision. The
provisions of the bill would be repealed on May 1, 2012.

(2) This bill would state the findings and declarations of the
Legislature concerning the need for special legislation.

(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.

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Comments/questions on SB 696 (Wright): Child support: compromise of arrears.