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
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          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
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            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