BILL ANALYSIS SB 1070 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 30, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT Cameron Smyth, Chair SB 1070 (Cogdill) - As Amended: April 20, 2010 SENATE VOTE : 31-0 SUBJECT : Land use: Tulare Lake basin. SUMMARY : Defines, for the purposes of Planning and Zoning Laws, the "Tulare Lake basin" as the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region as defined in the California Water Plan Update 2009, prepared by the Department of Water Resources (DWR). EXISTING LAW : 1)Defines the following under the Planning and Zoning Laws: a) "Central Valley Flood Protection Plan" as defined in the Water Code; b) "Flood hazard zone" means an area subject to flooding that is delineated as either a special hazard area or an area of moderate hazard on an official flood insurance rate map issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The identification of flood hazard zones does not imply that areas outside the flood hazard zones, or uses permitted within flood hazard zones, will be free from flooding or flood damage; c) "Project levee" means any levee that is part of the facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control; and, d) "Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley" means any lands in the bed or along or near the banks of the Sacramento River or San Joaquin River, or any of their tributaries or connected therewith, or upon any land adjacent thereto, or within any of the overflow basins thereof, or upon any land susceptible to overflow therefrom. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley does not include lands lying within the Tulare Lake basin, including the Kings River. SB 1070 Page 2 2)Requires DWR and the Reclamation Board to prepare and adopt a Sacramento-San Joaquin River Flood Management System Plan, and requires local agencies to address certain flood management issues consistent with such plan. FISCAL EFFECT : None COMMENTS : 1)In 2007 the Legislature approved SB 5 (Machado), Chapter 364, Statues of 2007, which mandated the preparation and adoption of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP) by 2012. SB 5 also required the establishment of certain flood protection requirements for specific local land-use decisions and established the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (Board) as the agency tasked with overseeing the implementation of the plan. To ensure that areas that are not threatened by flooding were not burdened with unnecessary regulations, SB 5 exempted areas "lying within the Tulare Lake basin, including the Kings River". However, despite this explicit exemption, DWR, upon their implementation of SB 5, referred to a federal map of the area which excludes the City of Fresno from the Tulare Lake Basin. As a result Fresno was determined to be subject to the flood control mandates of the Board. According to the author, after working with officials from the City of Fresno, DWR ultimately agreed that the intent of the legislative language was to exempt the entire Tulare Lake Basin, including the City of Fresno from the mandates of the CVFPP and the mandates of the Board. Although all parties agree that the City of Fresno should be exempt from the requirements of SB 5, the differing definitions of Tulare Lake Basin could lead to confusion. Therefore, the City of Fresno has requested legislation that would clarify that the DWR map, which defines the Tulare Lake Basin Hydrologic Region, should be used for the purpose of implementing CVFPP. 2)Support Arguments : This measure will provide clarity regarding the boundaries of the Tulare Lake Basin, as it SB 1070 Page 3 applies to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan. Opposition Arguments : None at this time. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support City of Fresno [SPONSOR] Association of CA Water Agencies Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District Kings River Water Association Kings River Conservation District Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958