BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1656 Page 1 Date of Hearing: March 26, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Wesley Chesbro, Chair AB 1656 (Fong) - As Introduced: February 13, 2012 SUBJECT : San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority SUMMARY : Expands the jurisdiction of the East Bay representative on the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (Authority); expands project eligibility to include the San Francisco Bay Area (Bay Area); extends the sunset date for the Authority from 2029 to 2036. EXISTING LAW : 1)Defines "San Francisco Bay" as "all areas that are subject to tidal action from the south end of the bay to the Golden Gate (Point Bonita-Point Lobos) and to the Sacramento River line (a line between Stake Point and Simmons Point, extended northeasterly to the mouth of Marshall Cut), including all sloughs, and specifically, the marshlands lying between mean high tide and five feet above mean sea level; tidelands (land lying below mean low tide)." 2)Defines "San Francisco Bay Area" as "the area within the State Coastal Conservancy's San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program," as specified, and "includes the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma." 3)Establishes the Authority to raise and allocate resources for the restoration, enhancement, protection, and enjoyment of wetlands and wildlife habitats in the San Francisco Bay and along its shoreline; specifies that its jurisdiction extends throughout the Bay Area. 4)Establishes a governing board for the Authority composed of seven members, to be appointed by the Association of Bay Area Governments: a) One member, who serves as chair, must be a resident of the Bay Area with expertise in the implementation of the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program; AB 1656 Page 2 b) One member who is an elected official of a bayside city or county in the North Bay, as defined; c) One member who is an elected official of a bayside city or county in the East Bay, as defined; d) One member who is an elected official of a bayside city or county in the South Bay, as defined; e) One member who is an elected official of a bayside city or county in the West Bay, as defined; f) Two members who are elected officials of a bayside city or county or regional park district, regional open-space district, or regional park and open-space district, as specified. 5)Authorizes the Authority to raise funding through a broad array of measures, including levying a special tax, benefit assessment, or property-related fee; pursuing grant funding; issuing revenue bonds; and incurring bond indebtedness. Specifies that the principal and interest of any bond indebtedness be repaid before January 1, 2029. 6)Specifies that an eligible project shall do at least one of the following: a) Restore, protect, or enhance tidal wetlands, managed ponds, or natural habitats on the San Francisco Bay shoreline; b) Build or enhance shoreline levees or other flood management features that are part of a project to restore, enhance, or protect the lands in (a); c) Provide or improve public access or recreational amenities that are part of a project to restore, enhance, or protect the lands in (a); 7)Requires regular auditing of the Authority's accounts and records. Requires the board to provide annual financial reports. 8)Sunsets the Authority on January 1, 2029. AB 1656 Page 3 THIS BILL : 1)Expands the jurisdiction of the board member from the East Bay to include all of Contra Costa County (currently limited to the area west of the City of Pittsburg). 2)Expands project eligibility to include projects within all of the Bay Area, rather than only the San Francisco Bay shoreline, as defined. 3)Extends the sunset for the Authority to January 1, 2036. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : The San Francisco Bay is the second largest in the nation and perhaps the most biologically significant estuary on the Pacific Coast. Approximately 500 species of fish and wildlife call it home, 128 of them threatened or endangered like the California clapper rail and salt marsh harvest mouse. The Bay has also suffered what is likely the most extensive degradation of any estuary in the U.S. Many years of filling, pollution, and alien species invasions have taken a great toll on the ecosystem. Today, only 20 percent of the Bay's original tidal marshes and wetlands remain. Despite these losses, however--or perhaps because of them--the Bay is now a major center for a vibrant habitat restoration movement. The Authority was established by Chapter 690, Statutes of 2008, AB 2954 (Lieber) to restore shoreline wetland habitat around the San Francisco Bay. In 2007, Save the Bay released a report proposing a broad framework to achieve a goal of 100,000 cumulative acres of wetlands in the Bay. The report estimated costs of about $1.43 billion over 50 years to restore, monitor, and maintain approximately 36,000 acres of wetlands that have already been acquired, not including the costs of acquiring and restoring an additional 22,912 acres. AB 2954 implemented this recommendation. Previously, the Legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program in 1997 within the State Coastal Conservancy. Since then, it has helped develop and fund over 425 restoration and other projects, urban and rural, large and small, in Bay and Delta waters, in streams and on land. The Program has lead or facilitated the restoration planning for four of the largest restoration projects in the Bay totaling AB 1656 Page 4 over 26,000 acres and at a cost of over $1.2 billion. According to the sponsor, current statute specifies that the Authority's jurisdiction includes the entire San Francisco Bay Area, including Contra Costa County. However, the East Bay seat on the governing board excludes the eastern portion of the county. This bill expands the jurisdiction of the East Bay board member to include all of Contra Costa County. This bill also expands the eastern boundary for eligible projects to include all of the Bay-related shoreline in Solano and Contra Costa counties. The author states that important Bay restoration opportunities have been identified on the eastern Solano and Contra Costa county shorelines. The committee may wish to amend a related provision for consistency, to read: 66704.5 (a) The authority may raise funds and award grants to public and private entities, including, but not limited to, owners or operators ofSan Francisco Bayshoreline parcels in the San Francisco Bay Area , for eligible projects in the counties within the authority's jurisdiction. Additionally, this bill extends the sunset date for the Authority from 2029 to 2036. The sponsor indicates that revenue for restoration project is not expected prior to 2015, and possibly as late as 2017, depending on when a ballot measure passes. Funding from a ballot measure would continue to come in for 10 years. The committee may wish to consider if extending the sunset is premature, as the current sunset is 17 years in the future and it is impossible to predict when, or if, a ballot measure will provide funding. This bill is dual referred and will be heard in the Local Government Committee should it pass out of Natural Resources. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (sponsor) Save Mount Diablo Save the Bay Opposition AB 1656 Page 5 None on file Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092