BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 51|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 51
Author: Ducheny (D), et al
Amended: 6/2/09
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 10-0, 3/24/09
AYES: Pavley, Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe, Leno,
Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cogdill
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/27/09
AYES: Simitian, Runner, Ashburn, Corbett, Hancock,
Lowenthal, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-2, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno,
Oropeza, Runner, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SUBJECT : Salton Sea Restoration Council
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill creates the Salton Sea Restoration
Council as a separate agency within the Resources Agency
and charges the council with the responsibility to evaluate
restoration alternatives. The council will have an
executive committee with designated memberships, and a
local government forum and stakeholder forum.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS :
Under the Salton Sea Restoration Act, existing law:
1. Establishes the Salton Sea Restoration Fund to be
expended for certain purposes upon appropriation by the
Legislature (e.g., environmental and engineering
studies; implementation of conservation measures;
administrative, technical, and public outreach).
2. Requires funding from certain sources for acquisition,
grants, or other activities that directly restore the
Salton Sea and its transboundary watersheds.
3. Prohibits monies deposited in the Fund from being
expended for mitigation, except for mitigation
undertaken by the state.
4. Authorizes the Department of Water Resources to contract
with water suppliers to purchase and sell water to
achieve the goals of the Act, under certain conditions.
This bill enacts requirements for a Salton Sea Restoration
Council that:
1. Creates the Council within the Natural Resources Agency
to carry out certain purposes (to evaluate restoration
alternatives) in collaboration with local governments
and interested parties.
2. Specifies composition of the council (e.g., groups
representing certain interests, 17-member executive
committee) and sets requirements for those groups and
the executive committee. The 17 voting members of the
executive committee shall consist of all of the
following:
A. The Director of Finance.
B. The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
C. The Treasurer.
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D. The Director of Fish and Game
E. The Director of Water Resources.
F. The Director of Parks and Recreation.
G. The Chairperson of the State Water Resources
Control Board.
H. The Chairperson of the State Air Resources Board.
I. One public member appointed by the Governor, who
is not an elected official and who represents a
statewide public health organization.
J. One public member appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly, who is not an elected official and who
represents a statewide hunting or fishing
organization.
K. One public member appointed by the Senate Rules
Committee, who is not an elected official and who
represents a statewide environmental organization.
L. One member from, and selected by, the Imperial
County Board of Supervisors, if that board agrees to
do so.
M. One member from, and selected by, the riverside
County Board of Supervisors, if that board agrees to
do so.
N. One member from, and selected by, the Board of
Directors of the Coachella Valley Water District, if
that board agrees to do so.
O. One member from, and selected by, the Board of
Directors of the Imperial Irrigation District, if
that board agrees to do so.
P. One member selected by the Tribal Council of
Torres Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians, if
that council agrees to do so.
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Q. One member selected by the Tribal Council of the
Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, if that council
agrees to do so.
3. Requires the executive committee to serve as a governing
body. The executive committee must make decisions by a
majority of the total number of voting members, and the
voting members must annually elect officers.
4. Authorizes only funds deposited in the Salton Sea
Restoration Fund or nonstate funds to be expended to
carry out this bill's requirements.
5. Requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency
to select an executive director that must be exempt from
civil service and serve at the pleasure of the executive
committee.
6. Requires DWR to provide staff, currently dedicated to
Salton Sea activities or other staff provided by
legislative action, which the council requires to carry
out certain functions (e.g., arranging meetings and
agendas, communication and public outreach).
7. Provides that the council's jurisdiction is limited to
the Salton Sea watershed within the state and does not
grant the council authority of a city, county, or tribal
government to regulate land use; any authority to
regulate activities on land, unless the regulation is
carried out pursuant to an agreement with an owner of an
interest in land; authority over water rights held by
others; and any air quality regulatory authority.
8. Provides that the council is not granted authority over
certain matters (e.g., land use, air quality, water
rights). The bill clarifies that the council does not
have other regulatory authority, that this bill does not
interfere with an existing agency's authority, and that
this bill is not a limitation on mitigation requirements
or compliance with other provisions of law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Fund
Council staff costs $325 $650
$650General /
Bonds *
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/2/09)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Audubon California
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
Defenders of Wildlife
Imperial County
Imperial Irrigation District
Indio Chamber of Commerce
Pacific Institute
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/2/09)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"In 2003 the implementing legislation for the
Quantification Settlement Agreement called on the state to
develop a Salton Sea restoration plan. The legislation
required the Secretary of Resources, through an intense
public process, to prepare a restoration plan by the end of
2006. The Resources Agency presented the Preferred
Restoration Plan and Funding Report to the Legislature in
May 2007. This bill develops the governance structure
which would oversee project implementation and restoration
of the Salton Sea."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
opposed to this bill because it would "be premature to
begin implementation of the Preferred Alternative until a
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long-term funding plan to pay for future Salton Sea
restoration efforts has been developed."
CTW:do 6/3/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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