BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1278
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:   June 26, 2012

                   ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
                                Jared Huffman, Chair
                     SB 1278 (Wolk) - As Amended:  June 12, 2012

           SENATE VOTE  :   38-0  ASSEMBLY LOCAL GOVERNMENT  :   9-0

           SUBJECT  :   Flood protection:  Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley

           SUMMARY  :   Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to 
          issue flood maps and for local governments to update their 
          general plans and determine whether areas have met urban levels 
          of flood protection before they can be developed.

          Specifically,  this bill  :   Requires DWR to:

          1)Requires DWR to issue maps indicating the areas protected by 
            the State Plan of Flood Control by July 2, 2013 and specifies 
            that within 24 months of this deadline (i.e. July 2, 2015) 
            local governments will need to update their general plans to 
            reflect the Flood Plan.

          2)Offer financial assistance, to the extent funds are available, 
            to assist local governments in updating their general plans to 
            reflect the soon to be released Central Valley Flood 
            Protection Plan (Flood Plan); and,

          3)Extends existing deadlines for the general plan updates.

          4)Defines an "undefined risk area" as an urban or urbanizing 
            area within a moderate flood hazard zone, as delineated by 
            Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps, which has not 
            been determined to have an urban level of flood protection.

          5)Requires a local government to determine, based on substantial 
            evidence, that property in an undetermined risk area has met 
            the urban level of flood protection before it may be 
            developed.

           EXISTING LAW:
           
          1)Requires each city and county within the Sacramento-San 
            Joaquin Valley to amend its general plan, as specified, within 
            24 months of the adoption of the Flood Plan by the Central 








                                                                  SB 1278
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            Valley Flood Protection Board.  Existing law requires the 
            Central Valley Flood Protection Board, the DWR, and local 
            flood agencies to collaborate with cities or counties by 
            providing the cities and counties with information and other 
            technical assistance to assist with complying with these 
            requirements.

          2)Prohibits a city or county within the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
            Valley from entering into a development agreement for property 
            that is located in a flood hazard zone unless the city or 
            county makes specified findings, including, among others, that 
            certain conditions have been imposed by the city or county 
            that adequate flood protection is or will be provided.

          3)Requires the DWR to develop preliminary maps for the 100- and 
            200-year flood plains protected by project levees, as 
            specified, and to provide the preliminary maps to cities and 
            counties within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley.

          4)Specifies that DWR shall provide financial assistance for the 
            purpose of mapping flood protection of nonproject levees, not 
            all flood-related general plan update costs.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee staff analysis:

           1) Minor and absorbable costs from Prop 84 or Prop 1E bonds 
             (General Fund) in 2012-13 for the development of maps 
             indicating areas protected by the State Plan of Flood 
             Control; and,

           2) Unknown cost pressures likely in the millions of dollars, 
             beginning in 2013-14 through 2015-16, for financial 
             assistance to cities and counties to update their General 
             Plans pursuant to the Flood Plan.


           COMMENTS  :   

          In 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a six-bill flood package 
          with the general purposes of identifying the areas of the state 
          with the greatest flood risk and to reduce those risks.  Among 
          the package was SB 5 (Machado) Chapter 364, Statutes of 2007 
          that requires the Central Valley Flood Protection Board to adopt 
          the Flood Plan, an integrated flood management plan for the 








                                                                  SB 1278
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          Sacramento-San Joaquin River Flood Management System, by July 1, 
          2012.  Within 24 months of the adoption of the Flood Plan (i.e. 
          no later than July 1, 2014), cities and counties are required to 
          amend their general plans to incorporate data and analysis from 
          the Flood Plan. And within 12 months of amending its general 
          plan (i.e. no later than July 1, 2015), a city or county must 
          also update their zoning ordinances to be consistent with the 
          revised general plan.  Once the general plan and zoning 
          ordinances have been updated, the local government is prohibited 
          from allowing development on property within a flood hazard zone 
          unless the city or county makes certain determinations.

          The State Plan of Flood Control is a document of existing state 
          and federal flood control works, protection systems, lands, 
          programs, plans, conditions, modes of operations, and 
          maintenance of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project, 
          Sacramento River, and the San Joaquin River watersheds.

          According to the author, "Cities and counties within the Central 
          Valley currently do not have access to reliable information on 
          flood risks to their communities.  SB 1278 helps ensure that 
          these communities are able to work with the state to develop the 
          flood risk information necessary to make informed and 
          responsible land use decisions."

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :
           
          Support  
          City of Sacramento  County of Sacramento

           Opposition  
          None on file.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916) 
          319-2096