BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2761|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2761
Author: Assembly Natural Resources Committee
Amended: 6/3/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/9/10
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Padilla,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hollingsworth, Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/13/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Natural resources
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill (1) clarifies that the State Geologist
may enter into grant or cooperative agreements and
contracts with governmental, including school districts,
and non-governmental entities to provide technical,
analytic and research services related to geologic hazards
directly impacting those entities, (2) repeals the
provision requiring the Attorney General to act as the
legal advisor and provide legal services to the Division of
Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources; and (3) updates the
Urban Forestry Act by modifying the definition of "urban
forestry" to include non-tree vegetation, and by
CONTINUED
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facilitating equipment loans to aid local or regional urban
forestry projects including green waste utilization.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
1. Creates the State Mining and Geology Board (Board) and
authorizes the Board to nominate, and the Director of
the Department to appoint a State Geologist, who is
required to advise the Director regarding technical,
scientific, and engineering issues, including the
scientific quality of the division's products and
activities.
2. Creates the California Geological Survey (CGS) as the
primary state agency responsible for geologic hazard
review and investigation, including investigation of
seismological, geological, and strong motion aspects of
earthquakes and other geologic hazards.
3. Requires the Attorney General (AG) to be the legal
advisor for the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources (DOGGR) in the Department and to perform
necessary legal services.
This bill:
1. Clarifies that the State Geologist may enter into grant
or cooperative agreements and contracts with
governmental - including school districts - and
non-governmental entities to provide technical, analytic
and research services related to geologic hazards
directly impacting those entities.
2. Repeals the provision requiring the AG to act as the
legal advisor and provide legal services to the DOGGR.
3. Updates the Urban Forestry Act by modifying the
definition of "urban forestry" to include non-tree
vegetation, and by facilitating equipment loans to aid
local or regional urban forestry projects including
green waste utilization.
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Comments
This is the Assembly Natural Resources Committee bill.
Background
The CGS is the primary state agency responsible for
geologic hazard review and investigation including the
study and assessment of seismic hazards and earthquakes.
The state geologist is appointed by the director of the
Department of Conservation and must meet certain
professional requirements. The State Geologist is required
to provide advice to the director regarding technical,
scientific and engineering issues, including the scientific
quality of the CGS products and activities. Existing law
authorizes the state geologist to enter into contracts and
agreements with certain entities to provide funding for
services provided by the CGS pursuant to its mission, and
the CGS routinely contracts with state and federal
governmental entities for a variety of geological services.
Due to a recent technical drafting error (c. 254, Statutes
of 2007 altering section 2205, Public Resources Code), the
types of entities that CGS may contract with have become
ambiguous. Of particular concern is CGS's ability to
contract directly with school districts to review
geological hazard assessments and proposed mitigation for
school construction projects. Historically, the Department
of State Architects (DSA) has secured CGS' assistance for
these reviews via interagency agreements, and has provided
direct reimbursement to CGS from funds paid directly to DSA
by the school districts. A recent policy change by the DSA
now necessitates the execution of individual contracts
between CGS and each school district for these reviews.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Department of
Conservation, "ensuring that CGS can provide review and
consultation regarding geological hazards at proposed
school sites will ensure the safety of California's
schoolchildren." This bill "will provide the flexibility
needed to ensure that CGS technical expertise is available
to other types of government entities in evaluating and
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assessing geologic and seismic hazards."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Norby, Skinner, Vacancy
CTW:do 6/28/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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