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
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|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 |
| | | | |
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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,
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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.
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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
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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