(a) Within 120 days of the commencement of the first public hearing on the petition, the county committee shall recommend approval or disapproval of a petition to form one or more new districts or for the division of the entire territory of a school district into two or more new or acquiring districts, as the petition may be augmented, or shall approve or disapprove a petition for the transfer of territory, as the petition may be augmented. The county committee also shall approve or disapprove a petition to form one or more new districts if the conditions of subdivision (b) of Section 35710 are met.
(b) The 120-day period for approving or disapproving a petition pursuant to Section 35709 or 35710 shall commence after certification of an environmental impact report, approval of a negative declaration, or a determination that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 186, Sec. 22. (AB 2659) Effective January 1, 2017.)