BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2082|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2082
Author: Atkins (D), et al.
Amended: 6/21/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMM. : 6-1, 7/3/12
AYES: Pavley, Evans, Kehoe, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Fuller
NO VOTE RECORDED: La Malfa, Cannella
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-26, 5/17/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public lands: violations
SOURCE : State Lands Commission
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the State Lands Commission
(SLC) to impose civil penalties on a person who places an
unauthorized structure on state-owned land under the
jurisdiction of the SLC.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. The SLC may remove or cause to be removed any manmade
structures or obstructions from ungranted lands under
its jurisdiction if the commission determines that such
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removal is appropriate and the Attorney General advises
that there is no legal recourse to compel other
responsible parties to effect such removal.
2. Any instrumentality, district, agency, or political
subdivision of the state occupying or using lands owned
by the state and under the jurisdiction of the SLC needs
to apply with the SLC for a permit to occupy the land.
The application shall include:
A. A description of the state lands involved,
giving sufficient details or a survey tied to a
record survey or monument in order to locate it
accurately.
B. The public use to be made of the land.
C. Completed environmental documents prepared
pursuant to the SLC's rules and regulations.
3. Any person who trespasses upon any lands owned or
controlled by the state and under the jurisdiction of
the SLC, including, but not limited to, tidelands,
submerged lands, the beds of navigable rivers, streams,
lakes, bays, estuaries, inlets, or straits, or any
school lands, lieu lands, or swamp and overflowed lands,
without lawful authority, is liable to the state for the
amount of damages which may be assessed therefor, in any
civil action, in any court having jurisdiction.
This bill:
1. Prohibits a person from constructing, placing,
maintaining, owning, using, or possessing a structure or
facility on land that is under the SLC's jurisdiction
and is owned by the state without first obtaining all
necessary easements, leases, or permits from the SLC.
This provision exempts specified equipment from
telephone corporations.
2. Authorizes the SLC to impose a penalty of not more than
$1000 per day or an amount that is no more than 60
percent higher than the full fair market rental for each
month that a violation occurs.
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3. Requires the SLC to consider the following factors when
imposing a penalty:
A. The physical extent of the violation on
state-owned land under the SLC's jurisdiction.
B. The degree of culpability of the violator.
C. The degree of cooperation of the violator and
whether the structure is susceptible to removal or
the violation is susceptible to resolution.
D. Prior history of violations on state-owned lands
under the SLC's jurisdiction.
E. The extent to which the violation causes
environmental harm or impairs public access to
state-owned lands under the SLC's jurisdiction.
4. Authorizes the SLC to require a violator to remove the
structure from state-owned lands at the person's own
expense. If the violator refuses, or if the violator
cannot be located, the SLC may remove the structure at
its own expense from state-owned lands. Authorizes the
SLC to pursue whatever legal remedies are available to
recover removal costs from the violator.
5. Requires the Attorney General to be awarded attorney's
fees and costs for prevailing in a civil action
necessary to enforce an order of the SLC pursuant to
this act.
6. Requires the SLC to provide a written notice to the
violator for a hearing before the SLC at a properly
noticed public meeting. The notice will be sent not
less than 30 days before the date set for the hearing.
A member of the SLC will serve as a presiding officer at
the hearing and conduct the hearing in accordance with
the Administrative Procedures Act.
7. Authorizes an amnesty period from penalties if a person
either remedies the violation by July 1, 2013, or
submits a notice to the SLC that the structure or
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facility is potentially in violation of these provisions
and remedies the violation within six months of the
notice.
8. Authorizes that electrical and gas corporations will not
be subject to a penalty if they can demonstrate they
have not received notice that they do not have existing
land rights for the structure on state-owned land under
the SLC's jurisdiction and the corporations remedy the
violation within six months from the date the violation
is reported or the mistake is discovered.
Background
State Lands Commission . The SLC has jurisdiction and
management control over sovereign lands of the state that
were received from the United States in 1850. Sovereign
lands include the beds of California's navigable rivers,
lakes and streams, as well as the state's tide and
submerged lands along the coastline and offshore islands
from the mean high tide line to three nautical miles
offshore. Sovereign lands are subject to the public trust
for water related commerce, navigation, fisheries,
recreation, open space and other recognized public trust
uses. The SLC maintains a multiple use management policy
to assure the greatest possible public benefit is derived
from these lands.
Some of the land under the SLC's jurisdiction has been
granted to local or specific governmental entities for
management purposes. These granted lands are monitored by
the SLC to ensure uses are consistent with the public
trust. Other land under the jurisdiction of the SLC is
ungranted. The SLC may lease some of its ungranted lands
for agricultural, commercial, industrial, right-of-way, and
recreational purposes, as well as for revenue-generating
purposes (oil, gas, mineral, and geothermal energy
extraction).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/7/12)
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State Lands Commission (source)
Sierra Club
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill intends to provide an alternative to the costly
and time-consuming legal process currently required to
address illegal structures or facilities on lands under the
Commission's jurisdiction and to deter trespassers. This
bill is also intends to put the Commission on par with the
administrative enforcement tools available to other states
and entities, such as Texas, Washington, Oregon, and New
York, the California Coastal Commission, and the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-26, 5/17/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis,
Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell,
Monning, Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao,
Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Fletcher, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Perea, Skinner, Yamada
CTW:d 8/7/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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