BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2011-2012 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 2169 HEARING DATE: June 12, 2012
AUTHOR: Chesbro URGENCY: No
VERSION: As introduced CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Property Acquisition Law: Sate Public Works Board.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1. The Property Acquisition Law requires that all land and other
real property that is acquired by or for any state agency shall
be acquired by the State Public Works Board (PWB). This law does
not apply to the Department of Transportation, the Department of
Water Resources, the State Reclamation Board, the Department of
Fish and Game, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), the Public
Employees' Retirement System, the State Teachers' Retirement
System, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and
certain property acquired by the State Lands Commission and the
State Coastal Conservancy.
2. The Forest Legacy Program within the Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection (CDF) was established in 2000 in SB 1832
(Chesbro) Chapter 790, Statutes of 2000. This voluntary program
allows the acquisition of conservation easements from willing
landowners who want to conserve, or prevent development on,
private forest lands. Landowners who wish to participate may
sell or transfer particular rights, such as the right to develop
the property or to allow public access, while retaining
ownership of the property and the right to use it in any way
consistent with the terms of the easement. The agency or
organization holding the easement is responsible for managing
the rights it acquires and for monitoring compliance by the
landowner. Forest management activities, including timber
harvesting, hunting, fishing and hiking are encouraged provided
they are consistent with the program's purpose. The Forest
Legacy Fund was created in the same legislation.
The priorities of the Forest Legacy Program include the
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following:
a) Encouraging the long-term conservation of productive forest
lands by providing an incentive to owners of private forest
lands to prevent future conversions of forest land and forest
resources.
b) Protection of wildlife habitat, rare plants, and
biodiversity.
c) Maintenance of habitat connectivity and related values needed
to ensure the viability of wildlife populations across
landscapes and regions.
d) Protection of riparian habitats, oak woodlands, ecological
old growth forests, and other key forest types and seral stages
that are poorly represented across landscapes and regions, and
that play a key role in supporting biodiversity.
e) Protection of water quality, fisheries, and water supplies.
f) Maintenance and restoration of natural ecosystem functions.
g) Encouraging improvements to enhance long-term sustainable
forest uses while providing forest areas with increased
protection against other land uses that conflict with forest
uses.
3. The Forest Legacy Program authorizes CDF to acquire
conservation easements by entering into a contract with the WCB
to administer the purchase of conservation easements for the
purposes set forth above. As stated earlier, the WCB is exempt
from the Public Works Board process. The state program may also
include those activities eligible for funding under the federal
Forest Legacy Program, and the state program is coordinated with
the federal program to the maximum amount possible. One
distinction between the two programs is that the federal program
requires the state fire agency to hold the conservation
easements.
4. The Fish and Game Code also requires the appraisals of
property acquired by the WCB to be approved by the Department of
General Services.
PROPOSED LAW
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This bill would add another exemption to the Property
Acquisition Law for the conservation easements of the Forest
Legacy Program.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, the Forest Legacy Program authorizes
the Wildlife Conservation Board to approve the acquisition of
conservation easements on behalf of CDF. Up until 2011, these
transactions were executed without requiring the Public Works
Board's review. However, last year, a question arose as to
whether the Property Acquisition Law should apply to the Forest
Legacy Program when CDF-not WCB--was designated to hold the
conservation easement. CDF was the designated agency because
some federal funds were involved and the federal forest legacy
program requires the state fire agency to hold the easement.
The PWB would have reviewed the acquisition even after the WCB's
review and approval. This duplicative process was not the intent
of the Forest Legacy Program, according to the author. The costs
of the conservation easement increased by $18,000 because of the
separate and duplicative involvement of the PWB according to the
author.
This bill will exempt any land acquisition made pursuant to the
FLP from the Property Acquisition Law. This will bring the FLP
in line with the original intent of the enabling statute and
avoid unnecessary costs and time delays, as viewed by the
author.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
SUPPORT
None Received
OPPOSITION
None Received
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