BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 384 (Chesbro)
Hearing Date: 06/27/2011 Amended: 04/05/2011
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: NR&W 9-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 384 authorizes a three-way land exchange
between the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the City of Fort Bragg or
the County of Mendocino, for the purpose of developing a new
solid waste transfer station.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
State agency Unknown costs, likely in the
hundredsVarious
administrative costs of thousands, fully reimbursed
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STAFF COMMENTS:
The City of Fort Bragg and the County of Mendocino currently
operate a solid waste transfer station at the site of a closed
landfill south of Fort Bragg. The current site of the transfer
station poses logistical problems for the city and the county.
AB 384 authorizes the Department of General Services to
facilitate a three-way land swap to address the situation. Under
the bill, the city or county would be authorized to acquire 17
acres of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest from the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for the development
of a new transfer station. In turn, the Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection would acquire 12.6 acres of the Russian
Gulch State Park from the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(This parcel is isolated from the rest of the park, but has good
potential for timber harvesting.) Finally, the Department of
Parks and Recreation would be granted a covenant restricting the
use of 60 acres of city and county property adjacent to Russian
Gulch State Park that is currently used as a transfer station
AB 384 (Chesbro)
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and was formerly used as a landfill site. In addition, the
Department of Parks and Recreation would be granted an option to
buy 35 acres of the property (which was not part of the
landfill) for $1.
The bill requires the local governments to reimburse state
agencies for all of their administrative costs associated with
the land transfers. In addition, the bill requires the local
governments to compensate the state if the appraised value of
the land acquired by the local governments is more than the
value of the property acquired by the Department of Parks and
Recreation.
Because the local governments are required to reimburse state
agencies for any administrative costs or net loss in land value,
the bill does not impose any net costs on state agencies.
Staff recommends that the bill be amended to require the
Department of General Services to require the local governments
to indemnify the state from any liability due to potential
contamination of the property to be acquired by the Department
of Parks and Recreation. In addition, because the local
governments have ongoing responsibilities for the closed
landfill site, staff recommends the bill be amended to allow for
local government access to the property that may be transferred
to the state, to perform monitoring activities.