---
type: "Bill"
title: "California Environmental Quality Act: streamlined judicial review: environmental leadership transit projects."
description: "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 establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "SB 44"
citation: "California SB 44 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["California Environmental Quality Act: streamlined judicial review: environmental leadership transit projects."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Allen"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 33
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2020-12-07"
last_action: "2021-10-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/07a802d6-8cb5-4ed5-9597-583c19c5822c"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44"
source_hash: "177be9aaff8e27116c2c0f9babefdfd3714bc963ef54a4c16886668faccf801e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 44 (20212022) — California Environmental Quality Act: streamlined judicial review: environmental leadership transit projects.

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 establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **12/07/20 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4499INT)
2. **03/01/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4498AMD)
3. **04/05/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4497AMD)
4. **04/27/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4496AMD)
5. **06/28/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4495AMD)
6. **07/14/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4494AMD)
7. **08/30/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4493AMD)
8. **10/07/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4491CHP)
9. **SB44** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44)
10. **09/07/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB44&version=20210SB4492ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading SB44 Allen et al. — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **9–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB44 Allen et al. Concurrence — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 44 Allen Senate Third Reading By Carrillo — **76–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Allen — primary (person)
- Caballero — coauthor (person)
- Carrillo — coauthor (person)
- Cortese — coauthor (person)
- Durazo — coauthor (person)
- Grayson — coauthor (person)
- Hertzberg — coauthor (person)
- Mullin — coauthor (person)
- Wiener — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-12-07** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2020-12-08** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 7.
- **2021-01-28** Referred to Coms. on EQ. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-01** 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`
- **2021-03-03** Set for hearing March 15.
- **2021-03-16** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 500.) (March 15). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** Set for hearing April 13.
- **2021-04-05** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 775.) (April 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21** Set for hearing May 3.
- **2021-04-27** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-04** May 3 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.
- **2021-05-14** Set for hearing May 20.
- **2021-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 1180.) (May 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-26** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1254.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-05-26** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2021-06-03** Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-24** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (June 23). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-28** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-13** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (July 13). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-07-14** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-08-19** August 19 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.
- **2021-08-26** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (August 26). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-08-30** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-31** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-09-01** Coauthors revised.
- **2021-09-02** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 2691.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-02** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2021-09-03** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 33. Noes 0. Page 2384.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-09** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1 p.m.
- **2021-10-07** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-10-07** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 633, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/07a802d6-8cb5-4ed5-9597-583c19c5822c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).