BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 551 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 551 (DeSaulnier) As Amended September 2, 2011 2/3 vote SENATE VOTE :39-0 NATURAL RESOURCES 6-1 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 7-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Chesbro, Brownley, |Ayes:|Smyth, Alejo, Bradford, | | |Dickinson, Hill, Monning, | |Campos, Gordon, Hueso, | | |Skinner | |Norby | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Halderman | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | | | |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | | | |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | | | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | | | |Solorio, Wagner | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Repeals the 2006 public trust grant made to the City of Pittsburg (City) and makes a new grant that includes the lands from the 2006 grant as well as lands annexed to the City in 2009. Specifically, this bill: 1)Repeals the 2006 grant made by AB 2324 (Canciamilla), Chapter 275, Statutes of 2006, and makes a new grant to the City that includes the lands from the 2006 grant as well as lands annexed to the City on December 31, 2009. This new grant is substantially similar to the AB 2324 grant except that it: a) Requires the City to submit a trust lands use plan by January 1, 2017. SB 551 Page 2 b) Authorizes the City to lease trust lands for limited periods not to exceed 49 years. c) Requires the City to report to State Lands Commission (SLC) every five years, beginning in 2022, regarding the utilization of trust lands for the five preceding years; and, d) Requires that at the end of every fiscal year beginning on June 30, 2012, the City is to transmit 20% of all gross revenue generated from the trust lands to the SLC. Of this amount, 80% will be deposited in the General Fund and the remaining 20% will be deposited in the Land Bank Fund. EXISTING LAW : 1) Protects, pursuant to the common law Public Trust Doctrine, the public's right to use California's waterways for commerce, navigation, fishing, boating, natural habitat protection, and other water oriented activities. The Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled and unfilled tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes, streams, and other navigable waterways (i.e., public trust lands) are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people of California. 2)Establishes that SLC is the steward and manager of the state's public trust lands. 3)Grants, in trust, state public trust lands to over 80 local public agencies (also known as local trustees or grantees) to be managed for the benefit of all the people of the state and pursuant to the Public Trust Doctrine and terms of the applicable granting statutes. SLC has oversight authority over these granted public trust lands to ensure that they are managed pursuant to the Public Trust Doctrine and relevant granting statutes. 4) Grants, pursuant to Chapter 214, Statutes of 1937; Chapter 1835, Statutes of 1961; and Chapter 1828, Statutes of 1963, portions of state tide and submerged lands to the City for public trust purposes. 5) AB 2324 (Canciamilla), Chapter 275, Statutes of 2006: SB 551 Page 3 a) Repealed existing legislative grants to the City and enacted a new grant, subject to specified conditions and public trust restrictions; b) Defines "trust lands" to mean all tidelands and submerged lands, whether filled or unfilled, situated within the boundaries of the City as such boundaries exist on January 1, 2007; c) Requires the City, on or before July 1, 2008, to submit to SLC for approval a plan of intended development, preservation, or other use of the trust lands, including the projected statewide financial, environmental, or other benefits of the proposed uses of the trust lands, the method of financing the plan, and a timetable for implementation; d) Authorizes the City to lease the trust lands for periods not exceeding 66 years, for purposes consistent with the public trust and the development plan; the City may collect and retain rents and other trust revenues from those leases, but can only use them for trust consistent purposes; e) Directs the revenue generated from four specific parcels to the General Fund rather than the City; and, f) Sets forth oversight, accounting, enforcement, and revenue sharing provisions required of the City and administered by SLC. 6) Establishes the Land Bank Fund for which SLC is the trustee. The Land Bank Fund may receive funds for mitigation or from title settlements. Additionally, the Land Bank Fund can receive revenues from any party for the purpose of providing management and improvement of real property held by SLC for the public trust. SB 551 Page 4 FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)Annual revenue reduction of approximately $330,000 for forgone rents on the trust lands granted to the City. (Land Bank Fund.) 2)Potential revenues of an unknown amount, but likely greater than the amount of lost annual revenue, resulting from development by the City of the granted trust lands. (General Fund and Land Bank Fund.) COMMENTS : For over 100 years, the Legislature has granted public trust lands to local public agencies so they can be managed locally for the benefit of the people of California. SLC retains oversight authority to ensure that the lands are managed pursuant to the Public Trust Doctrine and the relevant granting statutes. A granting statute generally explains what lands have been granted and how the land is to be managed by the grantee. Without a public trust grant, the SLC has direct authority to lease or otherwise manage public trust lands within the jurisdiction of a local public agency. The City pursued AB 2324 (Canciamilla) in 2006 in response to its desire to control its entire shoreline for the purposes of waterfront economic development. In 2009, approximately 1,467 acres and 17 parcels of public trust lands were annexed to the City. Since these lands were annexed after AB 2324, they were not part of the grant. This bill will grant administrative control over these annexed lands to the City so they can be incorporated into the City's shoreline redevelopment plans. Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0002657