BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1656 HEARING: 6/20/12
AUTHOR: Fong FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/13/12 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Weinberger
SAN FRANCISCO BAY RESTORATION AUTHORITY
Extends, from January 1, 2029 to January 1, 2036, the
sunset date for the statutes governing the San Francisco
Bay Restoration Authority.
Background
State law creates the San Francisco Bay Restoration
Authority (SFBRA) as a regional entity with jurisdiction
extending throughout the San Francisco Bay Area (AB 2954,
Lieber, 2008). The Authority's purpose is 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.
SFBRA officials want to amend the statutes that govern the
Authority to:
Extend the Authority's sunset date,
Change the boundary of the area represented by the
Authority's East Bay board member, and
Include all of the Bay-related shoreline of Solano
and Contra Costa Counties, with specified exceptions,
within the Authority's boundaries.
Proposed Law
Current law provides that the San Francisco Bay Restoration
Authority Act is automatically repealed on January 1, 2029.
Assembly Bill 1656 extends, to January 1, 2036, the date
on which the statutes governing the San Francisco Bay
Restoration Authority are automatically repealed.
Current law requires one member of SFBRA's governing board
to be an elected official of a bayside city or county in
the East Bay, which statute defines as "the portion of
Contra Costa County that is west of the City of Pittsburg
AB 1656 -- 6/13/12 -- Page 2
and the portion of Alameda County that is north of the
southern boundary of the City of Hayward." Assembly Bill
1656 expands the area from which the East Bay
representative on the Authority's board can be selected to
include all of Contra Costa County, except for the Delta
Primary Zone.
Current law allows the SFBRA to raise funds and award
grants to owners or operators of San Francisco Bay
shoreline parcels for eligible projects, which can include
restoring, protecting, or enhancing tidal wetlands, managed
ponds, or natural habitats on the San Francisco Bay
shoreline. Assembly Bill 1656 expands the territory in
which SFBRA can fund eligible projects to any shoreline in
the San Francisco Bay Area, excluding the Delta Primary
Zone.
Assembly Bill 1656 cross-references an existing statute
that defines the Delta Primary Zone as the delta land and
water area of primary state concern and statewide
significance situated within the boundaries of the delta,
as described in state law, but that is not within either
the urban limit line or sphere of influence line of any
local government's general plan or existing studies, as of
January 1, 1992. The precise boundary lines of the primary
zone includes the land and water areas as shown on the map
titled "Delta Protection Zones" on file with the State
Lands Commission. Where the boundary between the primary
zone and secondary zone is a river, stream, channel, or
waterway, the boundary line is the middle of that river,
stream, channel, or waterway.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . AB 1656 makes some minor changes
to the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Act, to
allow SFBRA to better accomplish its mission of restoring,
protecting, and enhancing tidal wetlands and shoreline
habitat. The current boundaries of the area represented by
an "East Bay" member on SFBRA's board don't include
AB 1656 -- 6/13/12 -- Page 3
northeastern Contra Costa shoreline communities, like
Antioch and Oakley. The Act also limits SFBRA's authority
to the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, excluding delta
shoreline areas in both Contra Costa and Solano counties.
SB 1656 fixes those boundary issues and gives the Authority
an additional seven years to operate.
2. What's the rush ? Having been in existence for less
than four years, the SFBRA already wants legislators to
extend the date, more than 16 years from now, when the
Authority's enabling statute is due to expire. SFBRA
officials want the extension to ensure that the agency will
remain in place long enough to administer revenues from a
regional ballot measure that they plan to submit to voters
a few years from now. Without specific information about
when SFBRA will propose a ballot measure to voters and how
long it plans to receive revenues under that measure, it
may be premature for the Legislature to grant SFBRA a
seven-year extension of its statutory sunset date. The
Committee may wish to consider amending AB 1656 to remove
the sunset date extension.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Natural Resources Committee: 6-3
Assembly Local Government Committee: 9-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee:12-5
Assembly Floor: 51-25
Support and Opposition (6/14/12)
Support : San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority;
Association of Bay Area Governments; San Francisco Estuary
Partnership; Save the Bay; Save Mount Diablo; Trust for
Public Land.
Opposition : Unknown.