Notwithstanding any other law, the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings for an infrastructure project shall be performed in the following manner:

(a) The lead agency for the project shall prepare the record of proceedings under this division concurrently with the administrative process.

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(b) All documents and other materials placed in the record of proceedings shall be posted on, and be downloadable from, an internet website maintained by the lead agency commencing with the date of the release of the draft environmental impact report.

(c) The lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental impact report and all other documents submitted to, or relied on by, the lead agency in preparing the draft environmental impact report.

(d) Any document prepared by the lead agency or submitted by the applicant after the date of the release of the draft environmental impact report that is a part of the record of proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within five days after the document is released or received by the lead agency.

(e) The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any comment available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within five days of its receipt.

(f) Within seven days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.

(g) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b) to (f), inclusive, documents submitted to or relied on by the lead agency that were not prepared specifically for the project and are copyright protected are not required to be made readily accessible in an electronic format. For those copyright-protected documents, the lead agency shall make an index of these documents available in an electronic format no later than the date of the release of the draft environmental impact report, or within five days if the document is received or relied on by the lead agency after the release of the draft environmental impact report. The index shall specify the libraries or lead agency offices in which hardcopies of the copyrighted materials are available for public review.

(h) The lead agency shall certify the final record of proceedings within five days of its approval of the project.

(i) Any dispute arising from the record of proceedings shall be resolved by the superior court. Unless the superior court directs otherwise, a party disputing the content of the record of proceedings shall file a motion to augment the record of proceedings at the time it files its initial brief.

(j) The contents of the record of proceedings shall be as set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.

(k) The applicant shall pay the costs of preparing the record of proceedings for the project concurrent with review and consideration of the project under this division, in a form and manner specified by the lead agency for the project. The cost of preparing the record of proceedings for the project shall not be recoverable from the plaintiff or petitioner before, during, or after any litigation.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 60, Sec. 6. (SB 149) Effective July 10, 2023. Repealed as of January 1, 2034, pursuant to Section 21189.91.)