BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 418
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 418 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 14, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:8-0
Local Government 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the State Lands Commission to approve a
land exchange for public trust lands within the Pier 70 area of
San Francisco if certain conditions are met, including that the
lands exchanged out of the trust are no longer suitable as
public trust lands, the land placed into the trust has a
monetary value at least as great as the lands exchanged out of
the trust, and the exchange is approved by the San Francisco
Port Commission and the Board of Supervisors.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Exchange of state assets-public trust lands potentially worth
millions of dollars but dedicated to use consistent with the
public trust-for other lands placed into the public trust and
worth at least as much as the monetary value of the land
exchanged out of the trust.
2)Potential sales and income tax revenue, possibly in the
millions of dollars, to the extent this bill, and the project
it facilitates, results in greater economic activity in
California than would otherwise occur
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends the exchange authorized by
this bill is needed to realize plans to extensively redevelop
the Pier 70 area according to a master plan and voter intent.
AB 418
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1)Background .
a) Public Trust Lands. Tide and submerged lands and the
beds of lakes, streams, and other navigable waterways are
held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people of
California and are to be used to promote the public's
interest in water or water-dependent activities such as
commerce, navigation, fisheries, environmental preservation
and recreation. The State Lands Commission is the steward
and manager of the state's public trust lands. Actions of
the SLC are subject to the California Environmental Quality
Act.
Existing law allows the SLC to lease trust lands, enter
into boundary agreements, and exchange public trust lands
for non-trust lands and lift the trust from public trust
lands. The SLC must be provided equal value in any such
exchange. The Legislature retains the authority to modify
uses permitted on public trust lands.
SLC has the authority under existing law to approve the
exchange of lands proposed by this bill.
b) Pier 70. Pier 70 is a port site of approximately 67
acres located in San Francisco's Central Waterfront, much
of it public trust land. The site has been identified as a
future National Historic District because of 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. Pier 70, however, is in need of major
rehabilitation.
In 2007, the port commenced a public process to develop a
master plan for Pier 70. In November 2008, the San
Francisco voters 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 a public planning process, the port published its
Pier 70 master plan.
2)Related Legislation.
a) AB 792 (Leno, Chapter 203, Statutes of 2009) authorized
a transfer of public trust lands in the Candlestick Point
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and Hunters Point areas of San Francisco and a
reconfiguration of the Candlestick State Recreation Area
(SRA) to the overall benefit of the SRA, all to facilitate
productive reuse of lands in these areas of the city. The
bill passed the Assembly 69-1 and the Senate 38-1.
b) AB 1199 (Ammiano, Chapter 664, Statutes of 2010) allows
an infrastructure financing district (IFD) for Pier 70 to
capture 90% of the growth in property taxes from
revitalization efforts in the Pier 70 area. AB 1199 also
requires the Port to spend at least 20 % 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. The bill
passed the Assembly 70-2 and the Senate 30-0.
c) AB 1176 (Ammiano, 2009) was identical to AB 1199 of
2010. In vetoing AB 1176, the governor issued a message
that did not include specific criticisms of the bill.
However, some careful readers believe the veto message
clearly, if cryptically, spelled out the governor's
feelings toward the bill and its author at the same time.
3)Support. This bill is supported by the City and County of San
Francisco and the Port of San Francisco.
4)There is no registered opposition to the bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081