BILL NUMBER: SB 187	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  374
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 19, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 13, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 8, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 10, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 29, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 20, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Ducheny
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Garcia)

                        FEBRUARY 6, 2007

   An act to add Section 2932.3 to the Fish and Game Code, relating
to the Salton Sea.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 187, Ducheny. Salton Sea Restoration Fund: restoration project.

   The Salton Sea Restoration Act establishes the Salton Sea
Restoration Fund administered by the Director of Fish and Game for
purposes related to restoring the Salton Sea. The Safe Drinking
Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal
Protection Bond Act of 2006 provides $928,000,000 for the protection
and restoration of rivers, lakes, and streams, their watersheds and
associated land, water, and other natural resources, including
$47,000,000 for deposit into the fund.
   This bill would require that, upon appropriation by the
Legislature in the annual Budget Act, those bond funds deposited in
that fund be expended for a Salton Sea restoration project that is
consistent with a preferred alternative that provides the maximum
feasible attainment of specified environmental objectives. This bill
would limit the activities and expenditures authorized by the bill to
funding those activities identified in a specific preferred
alternative report and funding plan for completion in the first 5
years of implementation. The bill would require the Resources Agency
to act as the lead agency and work cooperatively with designated
staff from the Department of Water Resources, the State Air Resources
Board, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department
of Fish and Game. The bill would require the agency to remain the
lead agency for implementation, in partnership with one or more of
its departments, unless and until legislation is enacted on or after
January 1, 2009, establishing a new governance structure for
restoration.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The Salton Sea is an internationally significant resource and
its restoration is essential to wildlife, the protection of public
health and the quality of life in the surrounding communities.
   (b) The Salton Sea is considered a globally important bird area
because of its astounding diversity of bird species, with more than
400 species, the second highest count in the nation, and the very
large populations of some species that rely on it for habitat.
   (c) The restoration of the Salton Sea is essential to protect
public health and agriculture from dangerous levels of dust pollution
that would otherwise result from exposed seabed.
    (d) The Salton Sea also offers important opportunities for
recreation, hunting, fishing, and economic development.
   (e) Pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 2081.7 and Section 2931
of the Fish and Game Code, the Secretary of the Resources Agency has
undertaken a programmatic planning process to identify a preferred
alternative for the restoration of the Salton Sea, the final
recommendations from which are contained in the secretary's May 2007
report submitted to the Legislature.
  SEC. 2.  Section 2932.3 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:
   2932.3.  Any moneys made available by paragraph (3) of subdivision
(b) of Section 75050 of the Public Resources Code and deposited in
the Salton Sea Restoration Fund shall be expended, upon appropriation
by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for a restoration
project at the Salton Sea that is consistent with subdivision (c) of
Section 2931. The activities and expenditures authorized by this
section shall be limited to funding those activities identified in
the Resources Agency report entitled "Salton Sea Ecosystem
Restoration Program Preferred Alternative Report and Funding Plan,"
and dated May 2007, for completion in the first five years of
implementation identified in the report as "Period I." The activities
specified for completion in Period I include, but are not limited
to, a demonstration project, early start habitat, and additional
biological, inflow, sediment quality, water quality, and air quality
investigations. For purposes of carrying out these activities and
expending the funds made available, the Resources Agency shall act as
the lead agency and work cooperatively with designated staff from
the Department of Water Resources, the State Air Resources Board, the
State Water Resources Control Board, and the department. The
Resources Agency shall remain the lead agency for implementation, in
partnership with one or more of its departments, unless and until
legislation is enacted on or after January 1, 2009, establishing a
new governance structure for restoration of the Salton Sea. This
section is not legislative approval or denial of the preferred
alternative identified in the Secretary of the Resources Agency's
recommendations contained in the "Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration
Program Preferred Alternative Report and Funding Plan," dated May
2007 and submitted to the Legislature.