BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 1165 HEARING DATE: June 23, 2009
AUTHOR: Yamada URGENCY: No
VERSION: May 14, 2009 CONSULTANT: Dennis O'Connor
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Flood protection.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Last session, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed a
package of bills that reformed flood management in California.
These bills included:
SB 5 (Machado) - a comprehensive flood bill, addressed the
development of a Central Valley Flood Plan and land use.
SB 17 (Florez) - renamed and substantively changed the
composition and management of the Reclamation Board.
AB 156 (Laird) - made a number of changes to DWR's and the
Reclamation Board's authorities over flood management.
AB 5 (Wolk) - made both substantive and technical changes to
provisions of SB 5, SB 17, and AB 156.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would make a number of technical and clarifying
amendments to various provisions of those bills.
This bill would also clarify that the state does not have
responsibility or liability for the operation and maintenance of
central valley flood control facilities authorized for flood
subvention funding in the Sacramento - San Joaquin watersheds
unless one or more of the following applies:
DWR identifies the facility as part of the State Plan of Flood
Control.
The state has expressly accepted the transfer of liability for
the facility from the federal government.
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The Central Valley Flood Protection Board incorporates the
facility into the State Plan of Flood Control.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the Association of California Water Agencies
(ACWA), "AB 1165 is a necessary clean-up measure for the
comprehensive 2007 flood legislation. The amendments clarify
that nothing in the bill expands the liability of the State with
regard to Central Valley flood control facilities unless DWR has
identified the facility as part of the State Plan for Flood
Control, the state has accepted transfer of liability from the
federal government, or if the facility has been incorporated
into the state Plan by the Board."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None
COMMENTS
Previous Bills: Last session a similar bill, SB 1360 (Machado)
was passed by the Legislature and was vetoed by the Governor.
This bill does not include the two provisions that prompted the
Governor's veto - relating to conflict of interest requirements
and the terms of the current Flood Protection Board members.
Technical Amendment: This amendment corrects a drafting error
that inadvertently sets the voting requirement as "a majority of
those member present and voting" instead of "a majority of the
voting members."
SUGGESTED AMENDMENT: On page 7, beginning on line 23, strike
"those members present and voting." and insert "all the voting
members of the board."
SUPPORT
California Central Valley Flood Control Association (Sponsor)
Association of California Water Agencies
OPPOSITION
None Received
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