BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 418
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:  March 21, 2011

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
                 AB 418 (Ammiano) - As Introduced:  February 14, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :  Tidelands and submerged lands:  City and County of San 
          Francisco:  Pier 70

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the State Lands Commission to approve and 
          effectuate a land exchange involving public trust lands within 
          the Pier 70 area in San Francisco for the purpose of 
          facilitating the Port of San Francisco's redevelopment plans. 

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Protects, pursuant to the common law doctrine of the public 
            trust (Public Trust Doctrine), the public's right to use 
            California's waterways for commerce, navigation, fishing, 
            boating, natural habitat protection, and other water oriented 
            activities.  The Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled 
            and unfilled tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes, 
            streams, and other navigable waterways (public trust lands) 
            are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the 
            people of California.  

          2)Establishes that the State Lands Commission (SLC) is the 
            steward and manager of the state's public trust lands.  SLC 
            has direct administrative control over the state's public 
            trust lands and oversight authority over public trust lands 
            granted by the Legislature to local public agencies (granted 
            lands).

          3)Allows SLC to lease trust lands, enter into boundary line 
            agreements, and in limited circumstances exchange public trust 
            lands for non-trust lands.

          4)Grants in trust to the Port of San Francisco (Port), pursuant 
            to the Burton Act (Chapter 1333 of the Statutes of 1968), 
            administrative control over the public trust lands in the 
            harbor of San Francisco for purposes of commerce, navigation, 
            and fisheries and subject to other terms and conditions 
            specified in the act.

           THIS BILL:








                                                                 AB 418
                                                                  Page 2

           
          1)Authorizes SLC to approve and effectuate a land exchange 
            involving public trust lands within the Pier 70 area in San 
            Francisco provided in part that:

             a)   The public trust lands exchanged out of the trust (1) 
               have been filled, reclaimed, and are cut off from access to 
               waters of the San Francisco Bay, (2) are relatively useless 
               for public trust purposes, and (3) constitute a relatively 
               small portion of the granted lands within the city.

             b)   The lands to be received into the trust have a monetary 
               value equal to or greater than the monetary value of lands 
               to be exchanged out of the trust.

             c)   The exchange will not substantially interfere with trust 
               uses and purposes, and the lands impressed with the trust 
               will provide significant benefit to the trust.

             d)   The applicable state agencies have approved a risk 
               management plan or remedial action plan sufficient to 
               protect human health and the environment from hazardous 
               substances in the Pier 70 area, the Port is in compliance 
               with the approved plan, and the Port has provided adequate 
               financial assurances to ensure continuing compliance with 
               the plan.

             e)   The Port and San Francisco board of supervisors have 
               approved the exchang.

             f)   The exchange furthers the purpose of the public trust 
               and is in the best interest of the statewide public.

          2)Requires SLC to grant the lands received into the trust as a 
            result of the exchange to the Port.  These granted lands are 
            to be managed by the Port pursuant to the Public Trust 
            Doctrine and the Burton Act.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :

           1)Pier 70.   Pier 70 is a Port site that is approximately 67 
            acres located in San Francisco's Central Waterfront, sitting 
            at the foot of Potrero Hill and generally located between 








                                                                  AB 418
                                                                  Page 3

            Mariposa and 22nd Street, east of Illinois Street.  It is home 
            to a handful of the oldest and most photogenic buildings in 
            San Francisco and receives a tremendous amount of sunshine 
            compared to other parts of the city.  This site has been 
            identified as a future National Historic District due to its 
            over 150 years of continuous operations in ship building and 
            repair, the role it has played in the industrialization of the 
            western United States, the war efforts, and architectural and 
            engineering feats.  Despite its desirable climate and 
            historical features, Pier 70 is in need of major 
            rehabilitation as a result of dilapidated and unsafe 
            structures as well as contamination that occurred during its 
            long history of industrial use.

            In 2007, the Port commenced a public process to develop a 
            master plan for Pier 70.  In November 2008, the San Francisco 
            voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition D, which creates a 
            variety of financing mechanisms to help fund the Port's 
            renovation and redevelopment of Pier 70.   In April 2010, 
            following an extensive public planning process, the Port 
            published its Pier 70 master plan.  

            The Port's vision for Pier 70, as articulated in the master 
            plan, is to "create a vibrant and authentic historic district 
            that re-establishes the historic activity level, activates new 
            waterfront open spaces, creates a center for innovative 
            industries, and integrates ongoing ship repair operations."  
            The master plan specifically calls for maintaining 
            approximately 17 acres of the site for ship repair with the 
            goal of preserving the long-term viability of the ship repair 
            industry.  The remaining 50 acres will consist of 700,000 
            square feet of new uses within historic buildings; 11 acres of 
            open space along the shoreline and up to 9 additional acres of 
            open space integrated within the development; 3 million square 
            feet of compatible infill development; and infrastructure 
            construction and environmental remediation.  The master plan's 
            conceptual development program estimates that development will 
            generate 6,000 to 8,000 new jobs and become a major economic 
            stimulus to San Francisco's local economy.

            At the end of the 2010 legislative session, AB 1199 (Ammiano) 
            was passed, which will allow an infrastructure financing 
            district (IFD) for Pier 70 to capture 90 percent of the growth 
            in property taxes from Port revitalization efforts in the Pier 
            70 area. AB 1199 will also require the Port to spend at least 








                                                                  AB 418
                                                                  Page 4

            20 percent of total Pier 70 IFD revenues on waterfront parks 
            and public access to San Francisco Bay, environmental 
            remediation of the contaminated shoreline, and removal of bay 
            fill.

           2)Public Trust Lands.   In 1968, the Legislature enacted the 
            Burton Act, which granted the Port administrative control over 
            the public trust lands in the harbor of San Francisco.  The 
            Port holds these lands in trust for the benefit of the people 
            of California for public trust purposes.  SLC has oversight 
            authority over the Port's public trust land to ensure 
            compliance with the Burton Act and the Public Trust Doctrine. 

            Pier 70 is generally made up of public trust lands.  As part 
            of its Pier 70 master plan, the Port would like to develop 
            non-trust uses in areas that it believes are least suitable 
            for public trust uses.  The contemplated non-trust development 
            includes cultural, institutional, office, biotech, other 
            commercial, and perhaps a limited amount of residential uses.  
            To legally develop these non-trust uses, the trust must be 
            lifted from various parcels.

            SLC has authority under Section 6307 of the Public Resources 
            Code to enter into an exchange of filled or reclaimed public 
            trust lands for other lands if SLC finds, among other things, 
            that the lands to be acquired in the exchange will provide a 
            significant benefit to the public trust; the lands given in 
            exchange are filled or reclaimed and have been cut off from 
            water access; and the exchange is for purposes such as  
            enhancing waterfront and nearshore development or 
            redevelopment for public trust purposes.

            The exchange that is proposed in this bill could be 
            accomplished by SLC exercising its existing authority under 
            Section 6307 of the Public Resources Code.  However, approving 
            an exchange through legislation has several advantages.  
            First, the public process associated with the legislation 
            brings additional transparency and public participation to the 
            exchange.  Second, the Legislature can provide SLC detailed 
            exchange guidelines that are tailored to the specific areas 
            involved.  Lastly, the Legislature can authorize SLC to convey 
            the newly acquired trust lands to the local trustee-without 
            this legislation, SLC would have to lease the land to the 
            local trustee until future granting legislation is passed.









                                                                  AB 418
                                                                  Page 5

           3)Previous Grant Legislation.   The Legislature recently approved 
            two public trust land exchange bills involving San Francisco 
            and redevelopment projects.  SB 792 (Leno), which passed in 
            2010, authorized SLC to approve and effectuate a land exchange 
            involving public trust lands located at Candlestick Point and 
            the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.  SB 815 (Migden), 
            which passed in 2007, authorized SLC to approve and effectuate 
            a land exchange at Treasure Island.
           












































                                                                 AB 418
                                                                  Page 6

          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          City and County of San Francisco
          Port of San Francisco

           Opposition 
           
          None on file

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916) 
          319-2092