BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1350
                                                                  Page  1


          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 1350 (Kehoe)
          As Amended  April 19, 2010
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :28-5  
           
           NATURAL RESOURCES   7-0         APPROPRIATIONS      14-2        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Chesbro, Gilmore,         |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway,          |
          |     |Brownley,                 |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |De Leon, Hill, Huffman,   |     |Charles Calderon, Coto,   |
          |     |Logue                     |     |Davis,                    |
          |     |                          |     |De Leon, Gatto, Hall,     |
          |     |                          |     |Norby, Skinner, Solorio,  |
          |     |                          |     |Torlakson, Torrico        |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |Nays:|Miller, Nielsen           |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY :  Exempts the State Lands Commission (SLC) from  
          reporting information regarding public trust lands to the  
          Department of General Services (DGS) and requires the SLC to  
          provide certain information regarding non-public trust lands and  
          school trust lands to DGS.  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Exempts SLC from reporting information regarding public trust  
            lands to DGS.

          2)Requires SLC to report annually to DGS beginning July 1, 2011,  
            information regarding non-public trust lands to reflect any  
            changes to that inventory occurring by December 31 of the  
            previous year including:

             a)   Property features including:

               i)     The location and size;

               ii)The method of acquisition and purchase price;

               iii)The current use and projected future uses; and,









                                                                  SB 1350
                                                                  Page  2


               iv)A description of existing major structures.

             b)   Property not previously reported; and,

             c)   The location and size of school lands.

          3 Makes findings and declarations regarding the duties of public  
            grant trustees who manage trust lands for California.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes SLC's absolute power and authority over public  
            trust, or sovereign, lands that are granted to the state by  
            the United States (U.S.) including tidelands, submerged lands,  
            and navigable waterways within its borders which generally may  
            not be declared as surplus.

          2)Establishes SLC's authority over school lands granted to the  
            state by the U.S. whose purpose is to provide financial  
            support for public education and may not be declared as  
            surplus.

          3)Establishes that SLC, among other state agencies, is required  
            to provide a central inventory of information regarding all of  
            the state's real property holdings to DGS, including use,  
            projected future use, date of acquisition, purchase price, and  
            structural composition.  This inventory may include  
            identification of real property that may be considered  
            surplus.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, this bill has  
          negligible state costs. 

           COMMENTS  :  The state maintains authority as trustee over two  
          kinds of public lands that have been granted to it by the U.S.:   
          public trust lands and school lands.  Public trust lands include  
          tidelands, submerged lands, and navigable waterways.  The SLC is  
          the trustee of public trust lands in CA and maintains absolute  
          authority over them.  The SLC may grant management powers to  
          local authorities in some cases, but the state remains as the  
          definitive authority over the lands.  Public trust lands may not  
          be declared as surplus.  









                                                                  SB 1350
                                                                 Page  3


          In 1853, three years after California became the 31st state, the  
          federal government granted the state approximately 5.5 million  
          acres of "school lands" for the financial support of the state's  
          public school system.  Most of these lands were sold, leaving  
          approximately 470,000 acres in state ownership plus an  
          additional 790,000 acres where the state retains mineral mining  
          interests.  In 1984, the School Land Bank Act (SLBA) declared  
          California as the trustee of the remaining 470,000 acres, most  
          of which are in isolated desert locations that are difficult to  
          develop and survey, and in some cases are hazardous.  For  
          example, according to the SLC, some of these remaining school  
          lands were used by the military in World War II and may now be  
          contaminated with unexploded ordnance including bombs, artillery  
          shells, and other ammunition.  Other school lands may include  
          abandoned mines, hazardous materials, and in general lack  
          utilities, ground water infrastructure, and roads.  In January  
          2008, SLC reported that cleanup of the collective school lands  
          would cost the state anywhere between $6 million to $5 billion,  
          depending on the amount of cleanup required.  The Public  
          Resources Code requires that any revenue generated by land  
          transactions, including exchanges, sales, and acquisitions, be  
          deposited in the School Land Bank Fund which benefits the State  
          Teachers' Retirement Fund.  According to SLC, the SLBA does not  
          allow school lands to be declared as surplus.  

          AB 22 X4 (Evans), Chapter 20, Statutes of 2009-10 Fourth  
          Extraordinary Session, required that certain state agencies  
          conduct and report detailed information annually to DGS about  
          the state's real property in addition to inventory information  
          that the SLC already maintains.  This additional information  
          includes the current use and projected future uses of the  
          property in order to identify potential surplus property that  
          could be sold.  Prior to AB 22 X4, DGS maintained a general  
          inventory of the state's real property for this purpose.  AB 22  
          X4 excluded the Legislature, the University of California, and  
          the Department of Transportation from the reporting requirement.  
           This bill would additionally exclude the SLC from reporting  
          information regarding public trust lands to DGS, as well as  
          limit the information SLC is required to provide to DGS for non  
          public trust lands.  According to SLC, the agency already  
          reports certain information to DGS for non public trust lands  
          including location, date of acquisition, a description of the  
          structures, and the location of school lands.  Therefore this  
          bill would codify certain tasks already performed by SLC without  








                                                                  SB 1350
                                                                  Page  4


          costing the state additional money.  
           
           The San Diego Unified Port District Act (Act), created the Port  
          of San Diego (Port):  a non-governmental organization  
          established by the state Legislature in order to "manage San  
          Diego Harbor, and administer the public lands along San Diego  
          Bay."  In 2008, local initiative Proposition B was introduced to  
          amend the Port of San Diego's Master Plan to permit development  
          of the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal among other developments.   
          Proposition B did not pass, however it was suggested that the  
          proposed constitutional amendment may have been inconsistent  
          with the oversight authority of the SLC in its role of absolute  
          authority over public trust lands.  In its support letter, the  
          SLC states that "SB 1350 would (also) make findings and  
          declarations regarding the duties of public grant trustees who  
          manage trust lands for the benefit of the people of California.   
          These findings and declarations reflect rules of law articulated  
          by the courts but not yet by the California Public Resources  
          Code."  

          In 2009, SB 139 (Kehoe) amended the Act to provide that the  
          Port's master plan not be subject to municipal, county, or  
          district initiatives or referendums but shall be subject to the  
          California Coastal Act of 1976.  The California Coastal Act of  
          1976 requires any person, or local agency, wishing to perform  
          any development in the coastal zone to first obtain a coastal  
          development permit from the California Coastal Commission.  SB  
          139 was pulled prior to being heard in the Local Government  
          committee at the author's request.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :  Jessica Westbrook / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092 


                                                                FN: 0005109