---
type: "Bill"
title: "Environmental quality."
description: "(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 226"
citation: "California SB 226 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Environmental quality."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Simitian"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 38
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2011-02-09"
last_action: "2011-10-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e7712d4d-c84e-4426-ad55-7b1820cd341b"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226"
source_hash: "31cae74aae012d05981a1e8a3ef1f92411775d44aeb61ac4a849ead9e941b540"
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 226 (20112012) — Environmental quality.

(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/09/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22699INT)
2. **07/14/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22698AMD)
3. **08/17/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22697AMD)
4. **08/23/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22696AMD)
5. **09/01/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22695AMD)
6. **09/06/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22694AMD)
7. **09/09/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22693AMD)
8. **10/04/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22691CHP)
9. **SB226** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226)
10. **09/14/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB226&version=20110SB22692ENR)

## Votes

- Consent Calendar 2nd — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations to Consent Calendar. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 226 Simitian Senate Third Reading By FEUER — **59–12** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations Recommend Consent. — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Local Government to Consent Calendar. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Agriculture. — **6–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Supp 2 — **22–11** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **5–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Simitian — primary (person)
- Perea — coauthor (person)
- Rubio — coauthor (person)
- Solorio — coauthor (person)
- Vargas — author (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-02-09** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2011-02-10** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 12.
- **2011-02-17** Referred to Com. on E.Q. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-10** Set for hearing March 21.
- **2011-03-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 414.) (March 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-01** Set for hearing April 11.
- **2011-04-11** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage`
- **2011-04-12** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-04-14** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 654.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-04-14** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-04-28** Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and L. GOV. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on L. GOV. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 13). Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-06-23** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-07-06** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (July 6). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-07-07** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-07-11** From consent calendar.
- **2011-07-11** Ordered to third reading.
- **2011-07-14** Read third time and amended. (Page 2348.) `reading-3, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2011-07-14** Ordered to third reading.
- **2011-07-14** Re-referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and AGRI. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2011-08-17** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-08-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on AGRI. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (August 22). Re-referred to Com. on AGRI. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-23** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on AGRI. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-08-25** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (August 25). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-29** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-08-29** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2011-09-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-09-06** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-09-08** Joint Rule 62(a) file notice suspended. (Page 3036.)
- **2011-09-08** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (September 8). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-09-09** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2011-09-09** Consent granted to take up without reference to file.
- **2011-09-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 59. Noes 12. Page 3222.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-09-09** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2011-09-09** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 22. Noes 11. Page 2478.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2011-09-16** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2011-10-04** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-10-04** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 469, Statutes of 2011.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e7712d4d-c84e-4426-ad55-7b1820cd341b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).