BILL NUMBER: AB 1536 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Blakeslee
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add and repeal Sections 6245 and 6246 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to public resources, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1536, as amended, Blakeslee. Oil and gas leases.
(1) Existing law authorizes the State Lands Commission to enter
into a lease for the extraction of oil or gas from state-owned tide
and submerged lands in the California Coastal Sanctuary if the
commission determines that those oil and gas deposits are being
drained by means of producing wells upon adjacent federal lands and
if the lease is in the best interests of the state.
This bill would create the Interim Resources Management Board,
consisting of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the
Secretary for Environmental Protection, and the Controller. The bill
would authorize the board to consider a lease, lease application, or
revised lease application filed with the State Lands Commission
pursuant to that provision and subsequently rejected by the
commission. The bill would authorize the board to approve that lease
if specified terms and conditions are met.
The bill would provide for the repeal of these provisions on
January 1, 2011. The bill would set forth related declarations and
findings.
(2) The bill would annually appropriate, commencing with the
2010-11 fiscal year, up to $50,000,000 from the
any amounts received annually by the state from
the royalty payments made pursuant
according to a lease entered into under
or leases executed pursuant to the bill, as scheduled. The
bill would provide that $34,000,000 would be allocated to the
Department of Conservation for purposes of making subvention payments
under the Open Space Subvention Act of 1971 to eligible counties
participating in the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, and
that $16,000,000 would be allocated to the Department of Parks and
Recreation for the acquisition and operation of state parks along the
coast.
(3) The bill would appropriate, for the 2009-10 fiscal year, up to
$50,000,000 from the any amounts
received during that fiscal year by the state from the
prepaid royalty payments made pursuant
to a lease entered into under required to be made
according to a lease executed pursuant to the bill to the State
Department of Public Health, as scheduled.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Since 1994, the State Lands Commission has been prohibited by
the California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 (Chapter 3.4 (commencing
with Section 6240) of Part 1 of Division 6 of the Public Resources
Code) from granting any new oil or gas leases on state-owned tide and
submerged lands, unless the state's oil or gas resources are being
drained from producing wells on adjacent federal lands and the
commission determines that a lease is in the best interests of the
state.
(b) Since 1994, no application for a lease has been granted under
this exception by the State Lands Commission.
(c) In the current fiscal emergency, it is in the public interest
to consider an application considered and rejected by the commission
prior to the effective date of this act, pursuant to Section 6244 of
the Public Resources Code, from an operator with existing offshore
drilling platforms on federal lands and with existing and operating
infrastructure that seeks to access state offshore oil or gas
reserves for a limited period.
(d) The provisions of this act are necessary for the promotion of
the public interest and are of statewide concern.
SEC. 2. Section 6245 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
6245. (a) The Interim Resources Management Board is hereby
created for the limited purpose of considering an oil or gas lease
application meeting the criteria set forth in Section 6246.
(b) The members of the board shall be the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and
the Controller. The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall
be the chairperson of the board.
(c) The board shall hold at least one public hearing when
considering an oil or gas lease application.
(d) If a majority of the members of the board determine pursuant
to Section 6246 that an oil or gas lease be entered into, the
chairperson of the board shall execute pursuant to Section 6246 the
lease on behalf of the state. Thereafter, the terms and conditions of
the lease shall be administered by the commission.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Section 6246 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
6246. (a) Notwithstanding Section 6244, within 30 days after the
effective date of this section, the Interim Resources Management
Board shall meet in accordance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act
for the purpose of considering a lease, lease application, or
revised lease application, including the terms and conditions, filed
with the commission pursuant to Section 6244 and
that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The lease, lease application, or revised lease application was
considered and rejected by the commission prior to the effective
date of this section, pursuant to Section 6244.
(2) The record before the commission demonstrates that state oil
or gas deposits are being drained by means of producing wells upon
adjacent federal lands.
(3) The lessee has an existing offshore platform on adjacent
federal lands from which the state oil or gas reserves will be
accessed.
(4) The lessee has existing and operating pipelines and other
infrastructure to transport and process the oil or gas.
(5) The board determines that the lease is in the best interest of
the state.
(b) The chairperson of the Interim Resources Management Board may
enter into a lease or leases on behalf of the State of California if
the lease or leases contain the following conditions that are
enforceable by the Attorney General:
(1) The lease has a fixed termination date that is 14 years from
the effective date of the lease.
(2) The lease requires the lessee to make a single prepaid royalty
payment to the State Treasury in the total amount of one hundred
million dollars ($100,000,000) for the lease or leases considered and
rejected by the commission prior to the effective date of this
section, pursuant to Section 6244.
(3) The lease shall provide, at a minimum, the rental fee and
royalty payments as specified in the lease considered and rejected by
the commission prior to the effective date of this section, pursuant
to Section 6244.
(4) The lessee is required to avoid, reduce, or offset all direct
greenhouse gas emissions from project operations under the lease.
(5) Upon expiration of the lease, the lessee shall terminate all
oil and gas production operations offshore California, if any, and
remove all related onshore processing facilities, if any, that are
owned, controlled, or operated by the lessee at the time the lessee
accepted the lease, and shall clean up, restore, and donate not less
than 3,900 acres of land for public use and conservation, including
land on which the onshore processing facilities were located.
(6) The lessee shall use all feasible efforts to decommission or
remove four outer continental shelf federal platforms and provide
funds, in an amount and manner to be determined by the Interim
Resources Management Board, in an escrow account, letter of credit,
or equivalent instrument, to be used to address any adverse
environmental effects of offshore oil drilling from the four
platforms, or for decommissioning or removal of the platforms, if the
platforms are not decommissioned or removed due to circumstances
beyond the control of the lessee.
(7) The terms and conditions of any agreement related to the
lease, lease application, or revised lease application identified in
subdivision (a) between the lessee and a nongovernmental third party
shall collectively constitute a condition of any lease. The lessee
shall provide a copy of any agreement to the Interim Resources
Management Board as soon as feasible, and the agreement shall be made
public in a conspicuous location on the Natural Resources Agency's
Internet Web site at least 30 days prior to the reconsideration of
any lease pursuant to subdivision (a).
(8) The lease shall provide, without limitation, that the Attorney
General shall enforce the terms of the lease.
(c) The lease shall contain all other terms agreed to by the
lessee in a lease or lease application considered and rejected by the
commission prior to the effective date of this section, pursuant to
Section 6244, that are not in conflict with this section. Nothing in
this section precludes the board from requiring lease terms that are
more protective of the environment or will produce greater revenue to
the state and that are not in conflict with this act.
(d) Any action to challenge Section 6245 or this section may only
be filed and served within 60 days of the effective date of those
sections.
(e) Except as provided in paragraph (8) of subdivision (b), any
challenge by a person to a lease executed pursuant to this section
may only be filed and served within 60 days following execution of
the lease and notification of its execution. The complaint or
petition shall also be served within the 60-day period on the lessee
as a real party in interest. Notification of the execution of the
lease shall be posted on the Natural Resources Agency's Internet Web
site and through a press release issued by the Natural Resources
Agency.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 4. (a) Of the Commencing with the
2010-11 fiscal year, of any amounts received by the state
annually from the royalty payments made
pursuant according to a lease made
or leases executed pursuant to Sections 6245 and
6246 of the Public Resources Code, up to fifty million dollars
($50,000,000) is hereby appropriated , commencing with the
2010-11 fiscal year, in accordance with the following
schedule:
(1) Up to thirty-four million dollars ($34,000,000) to the
Department of Conservation for purposes of making subvention payments
in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 16140) of Part
1 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code to eligible
counties participating in the California Land Conservation Act of
1965 (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 51200) of Part 1 of Division
1 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(2) Up to sixteen million dollars ($16,000,000) to the Department
of Parks and Recreation for the acquisition and operation of state
parks along the coast.
(b) The one hundred million dollars For
any lease or leases executed pursuant to Sections 6245 and 6246 of
the Public Resources Code, the one-hundred-million-dollar
($100,000,000) prepaid royalty payment received by
required to be paid to the state pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 6246 of the Public Resources Code
is not subject to the appropriation pursuant to
made in subdivision (a) of this section.
SEC. 5. (a) Of the
Of any amounts received by the state during the
2009-10 fiscal year from the prepaid
royalty payments made pursuant to a lease made
required to be made according to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 6246 of the Public Resources Code for a
lease executed pursuant to Sections 6245 and 6246 of the Public
Resources Code, up to fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) is hereby
appropriated for the 2009-10 fiscal year , in
accordance with the following schedule:
(1)
(a) Up to twenty-one million six hundred sixty thousand
dollars ($21,660,000) to the State Department of Public Health for
various programs administered by the Office of AIDS.
(2)
(b) Up to sixteen million three hundred thirty-seven
thousand dollars ($16,337,000) to the State Department of Public
Health for the Domestic Violence Program.
(3)
(c) Up to nine million dollars ($9,000,000) to the
State Department of Public Health for the Adolescent Family Life
Program.
(4)
(d) Up to three million three thousand dollars
($3,003,000) to the State Department of Public Health for the Black
Infant Health Program.
(b) The one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) prepaid royalty
payment received by the state pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 6246 of the Public Resources Code is not
subject to appropriation pursuant to this section.