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State Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster) said Friday that he is open to expediting the environmental approval process for projects but an exemption from environmental law may be difficult with only days left in the legislative session.
"This is a difficult time to move that bill that quickly," said Runner, the vice-chair of the Environmental Quality Committee that oversees the California Environmental Quality Act, the environmental law that governs new development.
The proposed exemption's bill language appears not to be finalized and doesn't have an author, officials said Friday.
Billionare developer Ed Roski Jr. and his representatives from his company, Majestic Realty Co., met with two legislative leaders Thursday in Sacramento to pitch the 75-000-seat stadium in Industry as a job-generating project.
But it turns out Majestic and its lobbyists have been seeking an exemption from environmental rules holding up the proposed football stadium near the 57/60 freeway interchange, according to local officials. A neighboring city, Walnut, filled a lawsuit against the project in March, objecting to its environmental impact study.
Roski met Thursday with Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), which also included Maria Elena Durazo, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, legislative officials said.
Runner said he hasn't been approached by Roski or stadium proponents about the exemption. "All we know is that the discussion is going on," he said.
State Sen. Bob Huff (R-Glendora), who oversees the portion of Industry where the stadium is proposed, also wasn't approached by stadium proponents, said Huff's spokeswoman Junay Gardner.
Huff, whose wife Mei Mei Huff is on Majestic's payroll, has publicly supported the stadium.
Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) was approached by "stadium proponents," said Hollingsworth's spokeswoman Melanie Reagan. It wasn't immediately clear with whom and when Hollingsworth met them.
Hollingsworth pushed hard for a controversial bill some critics argued would have benefited the proposed NFL stadium during the recent state budget stalemate. The bill, named after Industry, would have extended the life of redevelopment agencies for 40 years without having to prove blight as long as the state received a 10 percent cut of the property-tax revenue.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Democrat from Los Angeles, pulled the bill after critics said it would help fund the infrastructure for the stadium project.
The legislature ends its session Sept. 11.
For an archive of NFL stadium stories, click here. Follow news on the NFL stadium in the LA-area and more on Twitter @jmswgnr
Now that Walnut has expressed its strong opposition to an NFL stadium in its backyard, the commenters on Topix are looking for an explanation. CJ Peters of Los Angeles blames the Raiders for causing all the animosity. Here's his comment:
Lets face it what everyone is afraid of is the Raiders and their sorry team and fans running amuck in Industry,Walnut and Diamond Bar.
Granny Al Davis Still claims Los Angeles to be a fan base of his Raiders since he once had his team here.
Al Davis will move back and then all cities surrounding this new stadium will have a ghetto forming all around them.
Your lawns are green now but wait til those Raiders fans pee all over them and kill people on them. Keep the Pro Football out of LA we have done great without it and USC is the top dog here. who needs the NFL.
NFL media types told SGVN business reporer Ben Baeder that the idea of a Ed Roski-built LA stadium in Industry is an interesting possibility.
The story is here.
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