BILL NUMBER: AB 2554 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 2 and 16 of the Los Angeles County Flood
Control Act (Chapter 755 of the Statutes of 1915), relating to the
Los Angeles County Flood Control District.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2554, as introduced, Brownley. Los Angeles County Flood Control
District.
Existing law, the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act,
establishes the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and
authorizes the district to control and conserve the flood, storm, and
other wastewater of the district. The act declares the district to
be a body corporate and politic, and to have various powers,
including the power to cause taxes to be levied and collected for the
purpose of paying any obligation of the district.
This bill would make various technical, nonsubstantive changes to
these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2 of the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act
(Chapter 755 of the Statutes of 1915), as amended by Section 33 of
Chapter 1276 of the Statutes of 1975, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. The objects and purposes of this act are to provide for
the control and conservation of the flood, storm and other waste
waters of said district, and to conserve such
these waters for beneficial and useful purposes by spreading,
storing, retaining or causing to percolate into the soil within
said the district, or to save or
conserve in any manner, all or any of such
these waters, and to protect from damage from such
flood or storm waters, the harbors, waterways, public
highways and property in said the
district.
Said
The Los Angeles County Flood Control District is hereby
declared to be a body corporate and politic, and as such
shall have power has all the following powers :
1. To have perpetual succession.
2. To sue and be sued in the name of said
the district in all actions and proceedings in all courts and
tribunals of competent jurisdiction.
3. To adopt a seal and alter it at pleasure.
4. To take by grant, purchase, gift, devise or lease, hold, use,
enjoy, and to lease or dispose of real or personal property of every
kind within or without the district necessary to the full exercise of
its power.
5. To acquire or contract to acquire lands, rights-of-way,
easements, privileges and property of every kind, and construct,
maintain and operate any and all works or improvements within or
without the district necessary or proper to carry out any of the
objects or purposes of this act, and to complete, extend, add to,
repair or otherwise improve any works or improvements acquired by it
as herein authorized. Construction or improvement of existing
facilities may involve landscaping and other aesthetic treatment in
order that the facility will be compatible with existing or planned
development in the area of improvement.
6. To exercise the right of eminent domain, either within or
without the district, to take any property necessary to carry out any
of the objects or purposes of this act.
7. To incur indebtedness, and to issue bonds in the manner herein
provided.
7a. In addition to the powers given in the next preceding
subsection, to To borrow money from the United
States of America, any agency or department thereof, or from any
nonprofit corporation, organized under the laws of this state, to
which the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a corporation organized
and existing under and by virtue of an act of Congress, entitled
"Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act," or other agency, or
department, of the United States government, has authorized, or shall
hereafter authorize, a loan to enable such
nonprofit corporation to lend money to said
the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, for any flood
control work authorized under this act, and to repay the same, in
annual installments, over a period of not to exceed twenty (20)
years, with interest at a rate of not to exceed four and one-fourth
per centum (41/4%) per annum, payable semiannually, and, without the
necessity of an election when authorized by resolution of the board
of supervisors, as evidences of such that
indebtedness, said the district
is hereby authorized to execute and deliver a note, or a series of
notes, or bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, signed by the
chairman chairperson of the board of
supervisors of said the district, which
notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, shall be
negotiable instruments if so declared in said
the resolution of the board of supervisors providing for their
issuance, and said notes, bonds, or other
evidences of indebtedness, may have interest coupons attached to
evidence interest payments, signed by the facsimile signature of
said chairman the chairperson of
said ' the board. All applications for
such these loans shall specify the
particular flood control work or projects for which the funds will be
expended, and when received, the money shall be deposited in a
special fund, and shall be expended for those purposes only which are
described and referred to in the applications. If a surplus remains
after the completion of said the work,
such the surplus shall be applied to
; the payment of the note, notes, bonds, or other
evidences of indebtedness, executed as aforesaid, for the loan
including interest coupons. The board of supervisors shall annually
, levy a tax upon the taxable real property of
said the district, clearly sufficient
to pay the interest and installments of principal, as the same shall
become due and payable, under any loan made pursuant to the authority
of this section, and to create and maintain a reserve fund to assure
the prompt payment thereof, as may be provided by said
resolution of the board of supervisors ; provided,
however, that . However, the amount of taxes
levied in any year, pursuant to the provisions of
this subsection, shall, pro tanto, reduce the authority of the board
of supervisors, during any such year, to levy
taxes under Section 14 of this act, but this proviso shall not be a
limitation upon the power and duty to levy and collect taxes under
this subsection. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law,
interest earned on funds representing the proceeds of bonds of the
district shall be deposited and retained in the reserve fund of the
district to meet the principal and interest falling due on
such these bonds.
Notwithstanding anything in this subsection 7a
to the contrary, the total amount which said
the district may borrow under the authority of any or all of
the provisions of this subsection is limited to and shall not exceed
in the aggregate the sum of four million five hundred thousand
dollars ($4,500,000).
7b. The power granted in the next preceding subsection is hereby
extended to authorize the issuance and sale of bonds or other
evidences of indebtedness of said the
district to the County of Los Angeles and the purchase thereof by
said the county in accordance with "An
act authorizing the investment and reinvestment and disposition of
any surplus moneys in the treasury of any county, city and county,
incorporated city or town or municipal utility district or flood
control district," approved April 23, 1913, as amended; all subject
to the provisions and limitations of the next preceding subsection
relative to the disposition and use of funds, interest rate, period
of repayment, tax rate and mode of issuance. The total amount of
bonds or other evidence of indebtedness, in the aggregate, which the
district may issue and sell under the authority of subsection 7a and
of this subsection is limited to and shall not exceed four million
five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000).
8. To cause taxes to be levied and collected for the purpose of
paying any obligation of the district in the manner
hereinafter provided in this section .
9. To make contracts, and to employ for temporary services only,
expert appraisers, consultants and technical advisers, and to do all
acts necessary for the full exercise of all powers vested in
said the district, or any of the officers
thereof, by this act.
10. To grant or otherwise convey to counties, cities and counties,
cities or towns easements for street and highway purposes, over,
along, upon, in, through, across or under any real property owned by
said the Los Angeles County Flood
Control District.
11. To remove, carry away and dispose of any rubbish, trash,
debris or other inconvenient matter that may be dislodged,
transported, conveyed or carried by means of, through, in, or along
the works and structures operated or maintained hereunder and
deposited upon the property of said the
district or elsewhere.
12. To pay premiums on bonds of contractors required under any
contract wherein if the amount payable
to the contractor exceeds five million dollars ($5,000,000);
provided, that the specifications in such
these cases shall specifically so provide and state that the
bidder shall not include in his or her bids the cost of
furnishing the required bonds.
13. To lease, sell or dispose of any property (or any interest
therein) whenever in the judgment of said the
board of supervisors said of
the property, or any interest therein or part thereof, is
no longer required for the purposes of said
the district, or may be leased for any purpose without
interfering with the use of the same for the purposes of
said the district, and to pay any compensation
received therefor into the general fund of said
the district and use the same for the purposes of this act
; provided, however, that . However,
nothing herein shall authorize the board of supervisors or other
governing body of the district or any officer thereof to sell, lease
or otherwise dispose of any water, water right, reservoir space or
storage capacity or any interest or space therein except to public
agencies for recreational purposes when such
the use is not inconsistent with the use thereof by the
district for flood control and water conservation purposes; or except
as hereinafter provided by Section 17 of this act
; provided, however, that said
However, the district may grant and convey to
the United States of America, or to any federal agency authorized to
accept and pay for such the land or
interests in land, all lands and interests in land, now owned or
hereafter acquired, lying within any channel, dam or reservoir site,
improved or constructed, in whole or in part, with federal funds,
upon payment to the district of sums equivalent to actual
expenditures made by it in acquiring the lands and interests in land
so conveyed and deemed reasonable by the Secretary of War and the
Chief of Engineers.
14. To provide, by agreement with other public agencies or private
persons or entities or otherwise, for the recreational use of the
lands, facilities, and works of such the
district which shall not interfere, or be inconsistent, with
the primary use and purpose of such the
lands, facilities, and works by such the
district.
15. In addition to its other powers, the district shall have the
power to preserve, enhance, and add recreational features to its
properties and upon a finding by the board of supervisors that the
acquisition is necessary for such those
purposes, to acquire, preserve, enhance, and add recreational
features to lands or interests in lands contiguous to its properties,
for the protection, preservation, and use of the scenic beauty and
natural environment for such the
properties or such the lands and to
collect admission or use fees for such the
recreational features where deemed appropriate.
The said district by or through its board of
supervisors, or other board or officers at any time succeeding to the
duties or functions of its board of supervisors, is hereby
authorized and empowered to warrant and defend the title to all land
and interests therein so conveyed to the United States of America or
to any such agency and their
its respective assigns; to covenant and agree to indemnify
and keep indemnified and to hold and save harmless and exonerated
the United States of America or any such agency,
to which such lands or any interest therein are so
conveyed by said the district, from
and against all demands, claims, liabilities, liens, actions, suits,
charges, costs, loss, damages, expenses and attorneys' fees of
whatsoever kind or nature, resulting from, arising out of or
occasioned by any defect or defects whatsoever in the title to any
such land or interest in land so conveyed by
said the district; to reimburse and
save harmless and exonerated the United States of America or any
such agency for any and all amounts, paid, and
expenses incurred, in the compromise or settlement of any demands,
claims, liabilities, liens, actions, suits, charges, costs, loss,
damages, expenses and attorneys' fees of whatsoever kind or nature,
resulting from, arising out of or occasioned by any claim to or
defect or defects whatsoever in the title to any such
land or interests in land so conveyed by said
the district; to pay all just compensation,
costs and expenses, which may be incurred in any condemnation
proceeding deemed necessary by the United States of America or
such that agency, in order to perfect
title to any such land or interests in land,
including without limitation all attorneys' fees, court costs and
fees, costs of abstracts and other evidences of title, and all other
costs, expenses or damages incurred or suffered by the United States
of America or such that agency; and
consent is hereby given to the bringing of suit or other legal
proceedings against said the district
by the United States of America or such that
agency, as the case may be, in the proper district court of the
United States, upon any cause of action arising out of any
conveyance, contract or covenant made or entered into by
said the district pursuant to the authority
granted in this act, or to enforce any claims, damages, loss or
expenses arising out of or resulting from any defect whatsoever in
the title to such the land or any
interest therein or any claims of others in or to such
the land or interest therein.
SEC. 2. Section 16 of the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act
(Chapter 755 of the Statutes of 1915), as amended by Section 6 of
Chapter 1276 of the Statutes of 1975, is amended to read:
Sec. 16. (a) The said
board of supervisors of said the
district shall have power to make and enforce all needful rules and
regulations for the administration and government of said
the district, and to perform all other acts
necessary or proper to accomplish the purposes of this act.
Said
(b) The board of supervisors
shall have power to do all work and to construct and acquire all
improvements necessary or useful for carrying out any of the purposes
of this act; and said the board of
supervisors shall have power to acquire either within or without the
boundaries of said the district, by
purchase, donation or by other lawful means in the name of
said the district, from private persons,
corporations, reclamation districts, swampland districts, levee
districts, protection districts, drainage districts, irrigation
districts, or other public corporations or agencies or districts, all
lands, rights-of-way, easements, property or materials necessary or
useful for carrying out any of the purposes of this act; to make
contracts to indemnify or compensate any owner of land or other
property for any injury or damage necessarily caused by the exercise
of the powers conferred by this act, or arising out of the use,
taking or damage of any property, rights-of-way or easements, for any
of such these purposes; to compensate
any reclamation district, protection district, drainage district,
irrigation district or other district, public corporation or agency
or district, for any right-of-way, easement or property taken over or
acquired by said the Los Angeles County
Flood Control District as a part of its work of flood control or
conservation or protection provided for in this act, and any
such reclamation district, protection district, drainage
district, irrigation district or other district or public corporation
or agency is hereby given power and authority to distribute
such compensation in any manner that may be now or
hereafter allowed by law; to maintain actions to restrain the doing
of any act or thing that may be injurious to carrying out any of the
purposes of this act by said the
district, or that may interfere with the successful execution of
said that work, or for damages for
injury thereto; to do any and all things necessary or incident to the
powers hereby granted, or to carry out any of the objects and
purposes of this act; to require, by appropriate legal proceedings,
the owner or owners of any bridge, trestle, wire line, viaduct,
embankment or other structure which shall be intersected, traversed
or crossed by any channel, ditch, bed of any stream, waterway,
conduit or canal, so to construct or alter the same as to offer a
minimum of obstruction to the free flow of water through or along any
such channel, ditch, bed of any stream, waterway,
conduit or canal, and whenever necessary in the case of existing
works or structures, to require the removal or alteration thereof for
such that purpose
; provided, however, that . However, nothing in
this act contained shall be deemed to authorize said
the district in exercising any of its powers to
take, damage or destroy any property or to require the removal,
relocation, alteration or destruction of any bridge, railroad, wire
line, pipeline, facility or other structure unless just compensation
therefor be first made, in the manner and to the extent required by
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
California.
The board of supervisors of said the
district is hereby vested with full power to do all other acts or
things necessary or useful for the promotion of the work of the
control of the flood floodwater and
storm waters stormwater of
said the district, and to conserve such
those waters for beneficial and useful
purposes, and to protect from damage from such storm or
flood waters floodwater and stormwater ,
the harbors, waterways, public highways , and
property in said the district
; provided, however, that nothing in this .
However, this act contained shall be deemed to
does not authorize said
the district, or any person or persons, to divert the waters of
any river, creek, stream, irrigation system, canal or ditch, from
its channel, to the detriment of any person or persons having any
interest in such river, creek, stream, irrigation system, canal or
ditch, or the waters thereof or therein, unless previous compensation
be first ascertained and paid therefor, under the laws of this state
authorizing the taking of private property for public uses
; and provided further, that nothing in this . This
act contained shall be construed as in any way
affecting does not affect the plenary power of
any incorporated city, city and county, or town, or municipal or
county water district, to provide for a water supply of such
that public corporation, or as affecting the
absolute control of any properties of such
that public corporations necessary for such
the water supply, and nothing herein contained
shall be construed as vesting this act does not vest
any power of control over such the
properties in said the Los
Angeles County Flood Control District, or in any officer thereof, or
in any person referred to in this act ; and provided
further, that nothing in this . This act
contained shall be deemed to does not
authorize said the board of supervisors
to raise money for said the district
by any method or system other than that by the issuing of bonds, or
the levying of a tax upon the assessed value of all the real
property in said district, in the manner in this act
provided, except from the sale and lease of its property as
herein provided in this act .