BILL NUMBER: AB 156 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Laird
JANUARY 18, 2007
An act to amend Sections 12878.1, 12878.21, and 12878.23 of, to
add Sections 8306, 8612, 8613, and 12585.12 to, and to add Chapter 9
(commencing with Section 9110) to Part 4 of, and to add Part 8
(commencing with Section 9650) to, Division 5 of, the Water Code,
relating to flood control.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 156, as introduced, Laird. Flood control.
(1) The Department of Water Resources performs various flood
control activities throughout the state. Existing law also authorizes
the Reclamation Board to engage in various flood control activities
along the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, their tributaries,
and related areas. Existing law requires the board to establish and
enforce standards for the maintenance and operation of, and to
undertake other responsibilities with regard to, flood control works
under its jurisdiction.
This bill would authorize the department to provide meals and
other necessary support to any person engaged in emergency flood
fight activities, as defined, on behalf of, or in cooperation with,
the department. The bill would require the department, on or before
December 31, 2008, to prepare, and the board to adopt, a schedule for
mapping areas at risk of flooding in the Sacramento River and San
Joaquin River drainage. The bill would authorize the board or the
department to establish a program of mitigation banking for the
activities of the board or the department and for the benefit of
local districts in the discharge of specified flood control
responsibilities.
The bill would require the department to prepare, and the board to
adopt, a flood control system status report, to be updated
periodically, for the State Plan of Flood Control, as defined, and to
undertake a related inspection of project levees, as defined. The
bill would require the department, on or before September 1, 2010,
and on or before September 1 of each year thereafter, to provide
written notice to each landowner whose property is determined to be
within a levee flood protection zone. The bill would require the
department to prepare, update, and maintain maps for levee flood
protection zones.
The bill would require, on or before September 30 of each year, a
local agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of a
project levee to prepare and submit to the department a specified
report of information for inclusion in periodic flood management
reports prepared by the department. By establishing these
requirements on a local agency, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department,
on or before December 31, 2008, to prepare and transmit to the board
a report on project levees that are operated and maintained by each
local agency using certain information. The bill would specify that a
local agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of a
project levee may propose to the board an upgrade of the project
levee.
(2) Existing law authorizes, on a project-by-project basis, and in
accordance with designated plans, state participation in federal
flood control projects and specifies the degree of cooperation to be
assumed by the state and local agencies in connection with those
projects. Existing law, except as otherwise provided, requires the
board to give assurances satisfactory to the Secretary of the Army
that local cooperation as required by federal law will be furnished
by the state in connection with described flood control projects.
This bill would authorize the department and the board to
participate with the federal government or local agencies in the
design of environmental enhancements associated with a federal flood
control project, and to participate in the construction of
environmental enhancements associated with a federal flood control
project for which the state has authorized state participation.
(3) Existing law establishes procedures for the assumption of
flood control maintenance and operation duties by the department in
connection with the formation of a maintenance area on behalf of a
federal flood control project unit. Under existing law, the
department and the board are not required to form a maintenance area
if neither agency has given the nonfederal assurances to the United
States required for the project, except as otherwise provided for a
project for which an application for the formation of the maintenance
area has been submitted on or before July 1, 2003. Existing law
prescribes requirements relating to the imposition of assessments on
behalf of a maintenance area. Existing law requires the funds
generated by the imposition of the assessments to be deposited in the
Water Resources Revolving Fund and continuously appropriates those
funds to pay the operation and maintenance costs of maintenance
areas. Existing law provides for the dissolution of a maintenance
area.
This bill would delete the provisions relating to the formation of
a maintenance area for a project for which an application for the
formation of a maintenance area has been submitted on or before July
1, 2003. The bill would provide that the department is not required
to perform certain work in connection with the formation of a
maintenance area requested by a local agency until the local agency
requesting the formation of the maintenance area pays to the
department an amount of money that reflects certain costs incurred by
the department.
The bill would authorize the board or the department to form a
maintenance area for a project unit, or any portion of a project
unit. The bill would provide that, if a maintenance area is formed
for a portion of a project unit, any remaining portion of the project
unit not included in the maintenance area shall remain the
responsibility of the local agency obligated to operate and maintain
that unit. The bill would authorize the board and the department to
consolidate maintenance areas that share a common boundary.
(4) Under existing law, the department expends or allocates funds
on behalf of various flood control projects within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and related areas.
This bill, commencing July 1, 2008, would subject the allocation
or expenditure of funds by the state for the upgrade of a project
levee, if that upgrade is authorized by a statute that becomes
operative on or after July 1, 2008, that protects an urban area in
which more than 1,000 people reside to a requirement that the local
agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of the project
levee and any city or county protected by the project levee enter
into an agreement to adopt a safety plan that includes specified
components, within 2 years. If a city or county is responsible for
the operation or maintenance of the project levee, the bill would
require the governing body to approve a resolution committing to the
preparation of a safety plan within 2 years. The bill would define
the "upgrade of a project levee" to mean specified improvements,
excluding any action undertaken on an emergency basis.
(5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The central valley of this state is experiencing unprecedented
development, resulting in the conversion of historically
agricultural lands and communities to densely populated residential
and urban centers.
(b) The Legislature recognizes that by their nature, levees, which
are earthen embankments typically founded on fluvial deposits,
cannot offer complete protection from flooding, but can decrease its
frequency.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that the level of flood protection
afforded rural and agricultural lands by the original flood control
system is not considered adequate to protect those lands when
developed for urban uses, and that a dichotomous system of flood
protection for urban and rural lands has developed through many years
of practice.
(d) The Legislature further recognizes that levees built to
reclaim and protect agricultural land may be inadequate to protect
urban development unless those levees are significantly improved.
(e) Local agencies are primarily responsible for making land use
decisions in the state, and the Legislature intends that they retain
that lead role.
(f) Local agencies rely upon federal flood plain information when
approving developments, but the information available is often
out-of-date and the flood risk may be greater than that indicated
using available federal information.
(g) Flood plain management tools such as flood plain mapping, the
National Flood Insurance Program, and the designated floodway
program, represent important supplemental activities to educate the
public about, and protect the public from, flood hazards.
(h) It is necessary for the state to immediately undertake the
task of mapping flood plains and submitting up-to-date information to
the federal government so that the federal National Flood Insurance
Program maps reflect current and accurate conditions. In this way,
the public can be provided with reliable information regarding
flooding potential, and local agencies can make informed land use and
flood management decisions so that the risk to life and property can
be effectively reduced.
SEC. 2. Section 8306 is added to the Water Code, to read:
8306. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
department may provide meals and other necessary support to any
person, including, but not limited to, an employee of the department,
who is engaged in emergency flood fight activities on behalf of, or
in cooperation with, the department.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "emergency flood fight
activities" mean actions taken under emergency conditions to maintain
flood control features, the failure of which threaten to destroy
life, property, or resources.
SEC. 3. Section 8612 is added to the Water Code, to read:
8612. (a) On or before December 31, 2008, the department shall
prepare, and the board shall adopt, a schedule for mapping areas at
risk of flooding in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River
drainage.
(b) The department shall update the schedule annually and shall
present the updated schedule to the board for adoption on or before
December 31 of each year. The update shall include the status of
mapping in progress and an estimated time of completion. The schedule
shall be based on the present and expected future risk of flooding
and associated consequences.
SEC. 4. Section 8613 is added to the Water Code, to read:
8613. (a) The board or the department may establish a program of
mitigation banking for the activities of the board or the department
under this part and for the benefit of local districts in the
discharge of their flood control responsibilities under this part and
the State Water Resources Law of 1945 (Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 12570) and Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) of Part
6 of Division 6).
(b) For the purposes of carrying out subdivision (a), the board or
the department, in consultation with all appropriate state, local,
and federal agencies with jurisdiction over environmental protection
that are authorized to regulate and impose requirements upon the
flood control work performed under this part or the State Water
Resources Law of 1945 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 12570) and
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) of Part 6 of Division 6),
may establish a system of mitigation banking by which mitigation
credits may be acquired in advance for flood control work to be
performed by the board, the department, or a local agency authorized
to operate and maintain facilities of the State Plan of Flood
Control.
SEC. 5. Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 9110) is added to Part
4 of Division 5 of the Water Code, to read:
CHAPTER 9. REPORTS
Article 1. Definitions
9110. Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions set
forth in this article govern the construction of this chapter.
(a) "Fiscal year" has the same meaning as that set forth in
Section 13290 of the Government Code.
(b) "Levee flood protection zone" means the area, as determined by
the board or the department, that is protected by a project levee.
(c) "Local agency" means a local agency responsible for the
maintenance of a project levee.
(d) "Maintenance" has the same meaning as that set forth in
subdivision (f) of Section 12878.
(e) "Project levee" means any levee that is part of the facilities
of the State Plan of Food Control.
(f) "State Plan of Flood Control" means the state and federal
flood control works, lands, programs, plans, policies, conditions,
and mode of maintenance and operations of the Sacramento River Flood
Control Project described in Section 8350, and of flood control
projects in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds
authorized pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 12648) of
Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 6 for which the board or the
department has provided the assurances of nonfederal cooperation to
the United States, and those facilities identified in Section 8361.
Article 2. State Reports
9120. (a) The department shall prepare and the board shall adopt
a flood control system status report for the State Plan of Flood
Control. This status report shall be updated periodically, as
determined by the board. For the purposes of preparing the report,
the department shall inspect the project levees and review available
information to ascertain whether there are evident deficiencies.
(b) The status report shall include identification and description
of each facility, an estimate of the risk of levee failure, a
discussion of the inspection and review undertaken pursuant to
subdivision (a), and appropriate recommendations regarding the levees
and future work activities.
(c) The status report shall identify deficiencies in the State
Plan of Flood Control and shall include recommendations for resolving
those deficiencies.
(d) On or before December 31, 2008, the board shall advise the
Legislature, in writing, as to the board's schedule of implementation
of this section.
9121. (a) On or before September 1, 2010, and on or before
September 1 of each year thereafter, the department shall provide
written notice to each landowner whose property is determined to be
entirely or partially within a levee flood protection zone.
(b) The notice shall include statements regarding all of the
following:
(1) The property is located behind a levee.
(2) Levees reduce, but do not eliminate, the risk of flooding and
are subject to catastrophic failure.
(3) If available, the level of flood risk as described in the
flood control system status report described in Section 9120 and a
levee flood protection zone map prepared in accordance with Section
9130.
(4) The state recommends that property owners in a levee flood
protection zone obtain flood insurance, such as insurance provided by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the National Flood
Insurance Program.
(5) Information about purchasing federal flood insurance.
(6) The Internet address of the Web site that contains the
information required by the flood management report described in
Section 9141.
(7) Any other information determined by the department to be
relevant.
(c) A county, with assistance from the department, shall annually
provide to the department, by electronic means, lists of names and
addresses of property owners in a levee flood protection zone located
in that county.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the department
may enter into contracts with private companies to provide the
notices required by this section.
9122. The board shall determine the areas benefited by facilities
of the State Plan of Flood Control based on information developed by
the department.
Article 3. Levee Flood Protection Zone Maps
9130. (a) The department shall prepare, update, and maintain maps
for levee flood protection zones. The maps shall include flood depth
contours determined by the department if that information is
available.
(b) The department shall distribute the levee flood protection
zone maps to appropriate governmental agencies, as determined by the
department.
(c) The department shall make the maps readily available to the
public. The department may charge a fee for the cost of reproducing
the maps.
Article 4. Local Reports
9140. (a) On or before September 30 of each year, a local agency
responsible for the operation and maintenance of a project levee
shall prepare and submit to the department, in a format specified by
the department, a report of information for inclusion in periodic
flood management reports prepared by the department relating to the
project levee. The information submitted to the department shall
include all of the following:
(1) Information known to the local agency that is relevant to the
condition or performance of the project levee.
(2) Information identifying known conditions that might impair or
compromise the level of flood protection provided by the project
levee.
(3) A summary of the maintenance performed by the local agency
during the previous fiscal year.
(4) A statement of work and estimated cost for operation and
maintenance of the project levee for the current fiscal year, as
approved by the local agency.
(5) Any other readily available information contained in the
records of the local agency relevant to the condition or performance
of the project levee, as determined by the board or the department.
(b) A local agency described in subdivision (a) that operates and
maintains a nonproject levee that also benefits land within the
boundaries of the area benefited by the project levee shall include
information pursuant to subdivision (a) with regard to the nonproject
levee.
(c) A local agency that incurs costs for the maintenance or
improvement of a project or nonproject levee under the delta levee
maintenance subventions program established pursuant to Part 9
(commencing with Section 12980) of Division 6 may submit information
submitted to satisfy the requirements of that program to meet the
requirements of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), but may do so only
for that reach of the levee included in that program.
(d) (1) A local agency responsible for the operation and
maintenance of a levee not otherwise subject to this section may
voluntarily prepare and submit to the department or the board a flood
management report for posting on the Internet Web site of the
department or the board.
(2) A flood management report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1)
shall be made available on the Internet Web site of the board if the
local agency is partially or wholly within the geographical
boundaries of the board's jurisdiction. Otherwise, the report shall
be made available on the Internet Web site of the department.
9141. (a) The department shall prepare and transmit to the board
a report on the project levees operated and maintained by each local
agency, using information provided by the local agency pursuant to
Section 9140 and information from relevant portions of any of the
following documents, as determined by the department:
(1) Annual inspection reports on local agency maintenance prepared
by the department or the board.
(2) The State Plan of Flood Control.
(3) The flood control system status report described in Section
9120.
(4) The schedule for mapping described in Section 8612.
(5) Any correspondence, document, or information deemed relevant
by the department.
(b) The department shall make the flood management report for each
local agency available on the Internet Web site of the board and
shall provide the report to all of the following entities:
(1) The local agency.
(2) Any city or county within the local agency's jurisdiction.
(3) Any public library located within the local agency's
jurisdiction.
(c) The report shall be completed on or before December 31, 2008,
and shall be updated annually.
9142. A local agency responsible for the operation and
maintenance of a project levee may propose to the board an upgrade of
the project levee if the local agency determines that the upgrade is
appropriate. The local agency may implement that upgrade if approved
by the board.
SEC. 6. Part 8 (commencing with Section 9650) is added to Division
5 of the Water Code, to read:
PART 8. PROJECT LEVEE UPGRADES
9650. (a) (1) Commencing July 1, 2008, the allocation or
expenditure of funds by the state for the upgrade of a project levee,
if that upgrade is authorized by a statute that becomes operative on
or after July 1, 2008, that protects an area in which more than
1,000 people reside shall be subject to a requirement that the local
agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of the project
levee and any city or county protected by the project levee,
including a charter city or charter county, enter into an agreement
to adopt a safety plan within two years. If a city or county is
responsible for the operation and maintenance of the project levee,
the governing body shall approve a resolution committing to the
preparation of a safety plan within two years.
(2) The local entity responsible for the operation and maintenance
of the project levee shall submit a copy of the safety plan to the
department and the Reclamation Board.
(b) The safety plan, at a minimum, shall include all of the
following elements:
(1) A flood preparedness plan that includes storage of materials
that can be used to reinforce or protect a levee when a risk of
failure exists.
(2) A levee patrol plan for high water situations.
(3) A flood-fight plan for the period before state or federal
agencies assume control over the flood-fight.
(4) An evacuation plan that includes a system for adequately
warning the general public in the event of a levee failure, and a
plan for the evacuation of every affected school, residential care
facility for the elderly, and long-term health care facility.
(5) A floodwater removal plan.
(6) A requirement, to the extent reasonable, that either of the
following applies to a new building in which the inhabitants are
expected to be essential service providers:
(A) The building is located outside an area that may be flooded.
(B) The building is designed to be operable shortly after the
floodwater is removed.
(c) The safety plan shall be integrated into any other local
agency emergency plan and shall be coordinated with the state
emergency plan.
(d) This section does not require the adoption of an element of
the safety plan that was adopted previously and remains in effect.
9651. Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions set
forth in this section govern the construction of this part.
(a) "Emergency plan" and "state emergency plan" have the meanings
set forth in subdivisions (a) and (b), respectively, of Section 8560
of the Government Code.
(b) "Essential service providers" includes, but is not limited to,
hospitals, fire stations, police stations, and jails.
(c) "Long-term health care facility" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 1418 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) "Project levee" means any levee that is part of the facilities
of the State Plan of Flood Control.
(e) "Residential care facility for the elderly" has the same
meaning as defined in Section 1569.2 of the Health and Safety Code.
(f) "School" means a public or private preschool, elementary
school, or secondary school or institution.
(g) "State Plan of Flood Control" means the state and federal
flood control works, lands, programs, plans, policies, conditions,
and mode of maintenance and operations of the Sacramento River Flood
Control Project described in Section 8350, and of flood control
projects in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds
authorized pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 12648) of
Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 6 for which the board or the
department has provided the assurances of nonfederal cooperation to
the United States, and those facilities identified in Section 8361.
(h) (1) "Upgrade of a project levee" means installing a levee
underseepage control system, increasing the height or bulk of a
levee, installing a slurry wall or sheet pile into the levee,
rebuilding a levee because of internal geotechnical flaws, or adding
a stability berm.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an upgrade of a project levee
does not include any action undertaken on an emergency basis.
SEC. 7. Section 12585.12 is added to the Water Code, to read:
12585.12. The department and the board may participate with the
federal government or local agencies in the design of environmental
enhancements associated with a federal flood control project, and may
participate in the construction of environmental enhancements
associated with a federal flood control project for which the state
has authorized state participation.
SEC. 8. Section 12878.1 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12878.1. (a) Whenever If the
board or the department finds that a unit of a project ,
or any portion of a unit of a project, is not being operated or
maintained in accordance with the standards established by federal
regulations or whenever the governing body of a local agency
obligated to operate and maintain that unit by resolution duly
adopted and filed with the department declares that it no longer
desires to operate and maintain the unit, the department shall
prepare a statement to that effect specifying in detail the
particular items of work necessary to be done in order to comply with
the standards of the federal government together with an estimate of
the cost thereof for the current fiscal year and for the ensuing
fiscal year.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), but notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the board or the department is not required to
proceed in accordance with subdivision (a) or with the formation of a
maintenance area under this chapter if neither the board nor the
department has given the nonfederal assurances to the United States
required for the project. If neither the board nor the department has
given the nonfederal assurances to the United States required for
the project, the board or department may elect to proceed with the
formation if it determines that the formation of a maintenance area
is in the best interest of the state.
(c) (1) Subdivision (b) does not apply to any project for which an
application for the formation of a maintenance area under this
chapter has been submitted to the department by a local agency on or
before July 1, 2003.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the department or the board shall
proceed in accordance with subdivision (a) and with the formation of
a maintenance area in accordance with this chapter for any project
described in paragraph (1).
(3) Before the department or the board forms a maintenance area
pursuant to this subdivision, the local agency shall enter into an
agreement with the department pursuant to which the local agency
agrees to indemnify and hold and save harmless the state, its
officers, agents, and employees for any and all liability for damages
that may arise out of the planning, design, construction, operation,
maintenance, repair, or rehabilitation of the project, or the
dissolution or modification of the maintenance area formed pursuant
to this subdivision.
(c) If a local agency requests the department to form a
maintenance area by resolution duly adopted and filed with the
department, the department shall estimate the cost of preparing the
statement of necessary work and the cost thereof, and all other
applicable costs incurred by the department before the formation of
the maintenance area. The department shall submit that estimate to
the local agency. The department is not required to perform any
additional work to form that maintenance area until the local agency
pays the department the amount estimated pursuant to this
subdivision.
SEC. 9. Section 12878.21 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12878.21. Upon the formation of a maintenance area, the
department shall thereafter operate and maintain the unit until such
time as the maintenance area may be dissolved pursuant to
the provisions of this chapter. If the board or the
department forms a maintenance area f or a portion of a
unit of a project, any remaining portion of the unit of a project not
included in the maintenance area shall remain the responsibility of
the local agency obligated to operate and maintain that unit.
SEC. 10. Section 12878.23 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12878.23. (a) The board or the
department may modify the boundaries of any established
maintenance area or zones therein within the
maintenance area , the description of works to be maintained
therein within the maintenance area ,
and the determination of relative benefits within any zone
may be modified by the board or department ,
upon its own initiative or upon petition by the governing body of the
local agency formerly responsible for the operation and maintenance
of the unit or by the board of supervisors of the county in which all
or a portion of the unit is located.
(b) The board or the department may consolidate maintenance areas
that share a common boundary.
SEC. 11. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.