Notwithstanding Section 21166, the environmental review set forth in the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Lower Klamath Project License Surrender (State Clearinghouse No. 2016122047) issued in April 2020 in combination with other environmental review documents related to removal of facilities on the Klamath River prepared and adopted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pursuant to the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. § 321 et seq.) shall be conclusively presumed to satisfy the requirements of this division for any project for the removal of hydroelectric dams and associated facilities, along with associated restoration of formerly inundated lands, hatchery modifications, and implementation of mitigation measures in the Klamath River Basin, undertaken or approved by a public agency if all of the following apply:

(a) The dams proposed to be removed are upstream of a river segment designated as a wild river, a scenic river, or a recreational river pursuant to the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Chapter 1.4 (commencing with Section 5093.50) of Division 5).

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(b) There are no downstream dams on the same river, other than the dams proposed to be removed as a part of the same project that are significant barriers to fish passage.

(c) The lead agency certified or adopted the environmental review document prepared under this division and approved the project at least 180 days before the effective date of this section and no action or proceeding challenging the lead agency’s approval was commenced within the applicable statute of limitations.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 258, Sec. 24. (SB 155) Effective September 23, 2021.)