BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1656
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 1656 (Fong) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
SUBJECT : San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority.
SUMMARY : Extends the sunset date for the San Francisco Bay
Restoration Authority (Authority) from 2029 to 2036 and makes
several other changes to the Authority's enabling act.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Extends the sunset date for the Authority from January 1, 2029
until January 1, 2036, unless a later enacted statute deletes
or extends that date.
2)Expands the jurisdiction of the Authority's East Bay Board
member to include all of Contra Costa County.
3)Expands the eastern boundary for eligible projects to include
all of the Bay-related shoreline in the Counties of Solano and
Contra Costa.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Authority as a regional entity to generate and
allocate resources for the protection and enhancement of tidal
wetlands and other wildlife habitat in and surrounding the San
Francisco Bay.
2)Establishes the Authority's jurisdiction which extends
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
3)Prohibits the jurisdiction of the Authority from being subject
to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization
Act of 2000.
4)Declares the Authority's purpose 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.
5)Specifies the composition of the Authority's governing board,
which is comprised of seven voting members, as follows:
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a) A resident of the San Francisco Bay Area with expertise
in the implementation of the San Francisco Bay Area
Conservancy Program, as chair;
b) An elected official of a bayside city or county in the
North Bay (Counties of Marin, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma);
c) An elected official of a bayside city or county in the
East Bay (consists of the portion
of Contra Costa County that is west of the City of Pittsburg
and the portion of Alameda County that is north of the
southern boundary of the City of Hayward);
d) An elected official of a bayside city or county in the
South Bay (consists of Santa Clara County, the portion of
Alameda County that is south of the southern boundary of
the City of Hayward, and the portion of San Mateo County
that is south of the northern boundary of Redwood City;
e) An elected official of a bayside city or county in the
West Bay (consists of the City and County of San Francisco
and the portion of San Mateo County that is north of the
northern boundary of Redwood City); and,
f) Two member who are elected officials of one or more of
the following:
i) A bayside city or county; and,
ii) A regional park district, regional open-space
district, or regional park and open-space district as
specified that owns or operates one or more San Francisco
Bay shoreline parcels.
6)Provides that the Association of Bay Area Governments appoints
the Authority's board members.
7)Subjects the members of the Authority's board to the Political
Reform Act of 1974.
8)Provides that board members must exercise his or her
independent judgment on behalf of the interests of the
residents, the property owners, and the public as a whole.
9)Gives the Authority the power to levy a benefit assessment,
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special tax, or property-related fee consistent with the
Constitution, and specifies that an assessment, special tax or
property-related fee cannot be levied beyond December 31,
2028.
10)Gives the Authority the power to levy a benefit assessment
pursuant to any of the following:
a) The Improvement Act of 1911;
b) The Improvement Bond Act of 1915;
c) The Municipal Improvement Act of 1913;
d) The Landscaping and Lighting Assessment Act of 1972;
and,
e) Any other statutory authorization.
11)Allows the Authority to apply for and receive grants from
federal and state agencies, and solicit and accept gifts,
fees, grants and allocations from public and private entities.
12)Allows the Authority to issue revenue bonds, incur bond
indebtedness as specified, receive and manage a dedicated
revenue source, deposit or invest moneys, sue and be sued,
engage legal counsel and other professional services, enter
into and perform all necessary contracts, enter into joint
powers agreements, hire staff, and use interim or temporary
staff, as specified.
13)Prohibits the Authority from acquiring or owning real
property.
14)Provides that records prepared, owned, used, or retained by
the Authority are public records for purposes of the
California Public Records Act.
15)Subjects meetings of the Authority to provisions of the Ralph
M. Brown Act.
16)Allows the Authority to raise funds and award grants to
public and private entities, including, but not limited to,
owners or operators of San Francisco Bay shoreline parcels,
for eligible projects in the counties within the Authority's
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jurisdiction, and requires an eligible project to 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 tidal wetlands, managed ponds, or
natural habitats identified in a) above; or,
c) Provide or improve public access or recreational
amenities that are part of a project to restore, enhance,
or protect tidal wetlands, managed ponds, or natural
habitats identified in a) above.
17)Authorizes grants to be used to support all phases of
planning, construction, monitoring, operation, and maintenance
for specified projects.
18)Requires annual financial reports that are available to the
public, and requires the board to provide for regular audits,
as specified.
19)Sunsets the Authority on January 1, 2029.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS :
1)The Authority was established by AB 2954 (Lieber), Chapter
690, Statutes of 2008, in order 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 of
wetlands that have already been acquired, not including the
costs of acquiring and restoring an additional 22,912 acres.
The result was the creation of the Authority, which was
implemented by AB 2954.
2)The Legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy
Program (Program) in 1997 within the State Coastal
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Conservancy, and since that time, 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 over 26,000 acres, at a cost of over $1.2
billion.
3)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 of 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.
Additionally, the bill 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.
Lastly, the bill extends the sunset date for the life of the
Authority from January 1, 2029, until January 1, 2036. The
sponsor notes that revenue for the restoration project is not
expected prior to the 2015 year, and possibly as late as 2017,
dependent upon when a ballot measure is passed. Funding from
the ballot measure is anticipated for a 10-year period.
Existing law allows the Authority to levy an assessment,
special tax, or property-related fee consistent with
provisions contained in the California Constitution, but
grants this power only until December 31, 2029. Also,
provisions in the Authority's enabling act specify that the
principal and interest of any bond indebtedness must be paid
and discharged prior to January 1, 2029.
The Committee may wish to ask the author and sponsor to
discuss how the Authority plans to wind down its operations,
and discuss whether the expansion of the sunset is premature
seeing that the Authority was only created several years ago.
4)Support arguments : This bill contains several technical fixes
so that the Authority may efficiently continue its charge to
restore, enhance and protect the wetlands and wildlife habitat
in the San Francisco Bay and along its shoreline.
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Opposition arguments : The Legislature may want to let more
time pass before a sunset extension is granted, in order to
ensure that the work of the Authority is progressing in the
appropriate ways .
5)This bill was heard by the Natural Resources Committee on
March 26, 2012, where it passed with a 6-3 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support Opposition
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority ÝSPONSOR]None on file
Save Mount Diablo
Save the Bay
Trust for Public Land
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958