BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1656
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          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;









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             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
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           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 








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          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 of  San Francisco Bay  shoreline 
               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 








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          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :  Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 
          319-2092