BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1278 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 1278 (Wolk) - As Amended: June 12, 2012 Policy Committee: Local GovernmentVote:9-0 Water, Parks and Wildlife 12-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to issue flood maps to be used by 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: 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)Offers 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). 3)Extends existing deadlines for the general plan updates. 4)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. FISCAL EFFECT 1) Costs in the millions of dollars to the Department of Water Resources to develop the detailed maps required in this bill (GF, special fund, bond funds). SB 1278 Page 2 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 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . 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. The author argues SB 1278 will help ensure these communities are able to work with the state to develop the flood risk information necessary to make informed and responsible land use decisions. 2)Support . The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) writes that this bill provides cities and counties within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley with the necessary tools so that they may effectively implement the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, and will allow for a more comprehensive execution of the plan. 3)Concerns . In their joint support if amended letter, the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC), League of California Cities (League) and the California Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) note that significant implementation challenges for cities and counties within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley have been identified since the enactment of SB 5. They are concerned that the law could apply to development other than new construction and the requirements for 200-year protection would discourage, if not prohibit, infill development. 4)Background . 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 San Joaquin River watersheds. SB 5 (Machado), Chapter 364, Statutes of 2007, required DWR and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board to prepare and adopt a Central Valley Flood Protection Plan by 2012, and SB 1278 Page 3 established certain flood protection requirements for certain local land-use decisions consistent with the Central Valley Protection Plan. In June, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board adopted the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, an integrated flood management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Flood Management System Under SB 5, each city and county within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley is required to amend its general plan within two years of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board's adopting the Flood Plan. A city or county within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley must amend its zoning ordinance to make it consistent with its general plan within 36 months of the Board's adopting the Flood Plan. Once a city or county completes the update to its general plan and amendment to the zoning ordinance, it is prohibited from entering into a development agreement for property located within a flood hazard zone, unless a city or county makes specific findings. Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081