Gov. Brown Signs Stadium Bill to Move Project Forward

Gov. Jerry Brown today signed a bill that limits the time frame the proposed $1.5 billion football stadium and convention center in downtown Los Angeles can be legally challenged. It would also establish environmental protections for the project.

Senate Bill 292, authored by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), puts a 175-day time limit on legal challenges to the proposal by
Anschutz Entertainment Group.

Proponents say the project could create 12,000 jobs during the construction phase and another 11,000 permanent jobs upon completion of the project, according to a press release from Padilla's office.

"It's time for big thinking and big projects that put Californians back
to work," Brown said at a signing ceremony Tuesday morning at the site of the new stadium, which would be called Farmers Field. "Projects like Farmers Field can create thousands of jobs during a tough economic time, so it is imperative for the state to cut the red tape that could delay projects like this for years."

The law requires AEG's project to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. It also adds new environmental requirements on the project.

Padilla praised Brown's signing of the bill.

"Environmental standards are enhanced, the project is expedited and jobs are created at a time when they are desperately needed," Padilla said in a statement Tuesday.

The new law will also:

• Require that the project result in air emission neutrality by the end of the first full NFL season played at the stadium, with at least 10 percent fewer car trip emissions than any NFL stadium in the country.
• Require AEG to use environmental mitigation measures to balance out greenhouse gas emissions from private car trips to the stadium, including buying carbon off-set credits.

The responsibility would be with the city to determine whether AEG has met the environmental and traffic conditions. AEG land-use attorney William Delvac said Monday that AEG is likely to pay for the monitoring, which would require a significant amount of staff and time energy from an already strapped Planning Department.

City News Service contributed to this report.