Amended  IN  Assembly  January 04, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  September 09, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1212

Introduced by Assembly Member Wood
(Principal coauthor: Senator McGuire)

February 19, 2021

An act to add Section 12012.104 to the Government Code, relating to tribal gaming.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1212, as amended, Wood. Tribal gaming: compact ratification.
The existing federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude tribal-state gaming compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments of tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes.
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 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.
This bill would ratify the tribal-state gaming compact entered into between the State of California and the following tribes: the Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, the Resighini Rancheria, and the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to this compact are not projects for purposes of CEQA.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 12012.104 is added to the Government Code, to read:

12012.104.
 (a) The following tribal-state gaming compacts entered into in accordance with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (18 U.S.C. Secs. 1166 to 1168, inclusive, and 25 U.S.C. Sec. 2701 et seq.) are hereby ratified:
(1) The compact between the State of California and the Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, executed on August 10, 2021. ____.
(2) The compact between the State of California and the Resighini Rancheria, executed on August 10, 2021. ____.
(3) The compact between the State of California and the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California, executed on August 10, 2021. ____.
(b) (1) In deference to tribal sovereignty, none of the following shall be deemed a project for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code):
(A) The execution of a tribal-state gaming compact ratified by this section.
(B) The execution of an amendment to a tribal-state gaming compact ratified by this section.
(C) The execution of an intergovernmental agreement between a tribe and a county or city government negotiated pursuant to the express authority of, or as expressly referenced in, a tribal-state gaming compact ratified by this section.
(D) The execution of an intergovernmental agreement between a tribe and the Department of Transportation, or other state agency, negotiated pursuant to the express authority of, or as expressly referenced in, a tribal-state gaming compact ratified by this section.
(E) The on-reservation impacts of compliance with the terms of a tribal-state gaming compact ratified by this section.
(2) Except as expressly provided in this section, this subdivision does not exempt a city, county, or city and county, the Department of Transportation, or any state agency or local jurisdiction from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.