BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1278
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1278 (Wolk)
As Amended August 20, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :38-0
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 9-0 WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 12-0
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|Ayes:|Smyth, Gordon, Williams, |Ayes:|Huffman, Halderman, Bill |
| |Bradford, Beall, Davis, | |Berryhill, Blumenfield, |
| |Hueso, Knight, Norby | |Campos, Fong, Beth |
| | | |Gaines, Gatto, Roger |
| | | |Hernández, Hueso, Jones, |
| | | |Yamada |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, | | |
| |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, | | |
| |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | |
| |Solorio, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Revises flood hazard planning and development
requirements for those cities and counties located in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "undetermined risk area" to mean "an urban or
urbanizing area within a moderate flood hazard zone, as
delineated on an official flood insurance rate map issued by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has not
been determined to have an urban level of protection."
2)Includes within the definition of "urban level of flood
protection" the "level of protection that is necessary to
withstand flooding from a leveed riverine system," as
specified, and states that "urban level of flood protection"
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shall not mean "shallow flooding of flooding from local
drainage that meets the criteria of the national Federal
Emergency Management Agency standard of flood protection."
3)Defines "National Federal Emergency Management Agency standard
of flood protection" to mean "the level of flood protection
that is necessary to withstand flooding that has a 1-in-100
chance of occurring in any given year using criteria
development by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for
application in the National Flood Insurance Program."
4)Revises the existing requirement for each city and county
within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley to amend its general
plan by requiring each city and county within the Sacramento-
San Joaquin Valley, within 24 months of July 2, 2013, to amend
its general plan to additionally contain both of the
following:
a) Revises the requirement to include the data and analysis
contained in the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan,
including, but not limited to, the locations of the
facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control and the
locations of the real property protected by those
facilities, pursuant to existing law; and,
b) Adds in a new requirement to include the locations of
flood hazard zones, including, but not limited to,
locations mapped by the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map or
the Flood Hazard Boundary Map, locations that participate
in the National Flood Insurance Program, locations of
undetermined risk areas, and locations mapped by a local
flood agency or flood district.
1)States that an undetermined risk area shall be presumed to be
at risk during flooding that has a 1-in-200 chance of
occurring in any given year unless deemed otherwise by the
State Plan of Flood Control, an official National Flood
Insurance Program rate map issued by FEMA, or a finding made
by a city or county based on a determination of substantial
evidence by a local flood agency.
2)Clarifies that the bill's provisions shall not be construed to
limit or remove any liability of a city or county prior to the
amendment of the general plan or the zoning ordinance except
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as provided.
3)Revises the due date for each city and county within the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley to amend its zoning ordinance so
that it is consistent with the amended general plan, to occur
not more than 12 months after the amendment of its general
plan.
4)Adds a new exception to the existing prohibition that a
legislative body of a city or county within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley cannot enter into a development agreement for
property that is located within a flood hazard zone, unless
the city or county finds, based on substantial evidence in the
record, that the property in an undetermined risk area has met
the urban level of flood protection based on substantial
evidence in the record.
5)Requires, on or before July 2, 2013, and for the purpose of
providing information to cities and counties necessary for
their determinations relating to level of flood protection,
the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to release floodplain
maps that identify at a minimum the facilities of the State
Plan of Flood Control and the available data as to the water
surface elevation of flooding in urban areas in the event of
the failure of the facilities of the State Plan of Flood
Control during flooding that has a 1-in-200 chance of
occurring in any given year.
6)Requires, concurrent with the release of these maps and for
the purposes of assisting local agencies in determining their
level of flood protection, DWR to make available levee
reliability data for the facilities of the State Plan of Flood
Control identified in the maps.
7)States that DWR's issuance of floodplain maps shall not be
subject to any of the following, including the review and
approval of the Office of Administrative Law, the California
Environmental Quality Act, or the California Endangered
Species Act, as specified.
8)States that the state, or any state agency, shall not be
liable for any claim based upon the exercise or performance of
a discretionary or ministerial function or duty on the part of
a state agency or a state employee or officer in carrying out
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the provisions of the bill.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each city and county within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley to amend its general plan, within 24 months of
the adoption of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan by
the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, as specified, to
include the following:
a) The data and analysis contained in the Central Valley
Flood Protection Plan, including, but not limited to, the
locations of the facilities of the State Plan of Flood
Control, the locations of other flood management
facilities, the locations of the real property protected by
those facilities, and the locations of flood hazard zones;
b) Goals, policies, and objectives, based on the data and
analysis, for the protection of lives and property that
will reduce the risk of flood damage; and,
c) Feasible implementation measures designed to carry out
the goals, policies and objectives.
2)Requires each city and county, both general law and charter,
within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley comply with
requirements contained in the Government Code related to
general plans.
3)Requires each city and county within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley to amend its zoning ordinance to be consistent
with the amended general plan, within 36 months of the
adoption of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan by the
Central Valley Flood Protection Board, as specified.
4)Prohibits, after the general plan and zoning ordinances are
amended, the legislative body of a city or county within the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley from entering into a development
agreement for property that is located within a flood hazard
zone unless the city or county finds, based on substantial
evidence in the record, one of the following:
a) The facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control or
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other flood management facilities protect the property to
the urban level of flood protection in urban and urbanizing
areas of the national FEMA standard of flood protection in
nonurbanized areas;
b) The city or county has imposed conditions on the
development agreement that will protect the property to the
urban level of flood protection in urban and urbanizing
areas of the national FEMA standard of flood protection in
nonurbanized areas; or,
c) The local flood management agency has made adequate
progress on the construction of a flood protection system
that will result in flood protection equal to or greater
than the urban level of flood protection in urban or
urbanizing areas or the national FEMA standard of flood
protection in nonurbanized areas for property located
within a flood hazard zone, intended to be protected by the
system, as specified.
5)Requires DWR, by July 1, 2008, to develop preliminary maps for
the 100- and 200-year flood plains protected by project
levees, as specified.
6)Requires DWR, by July 1, 2008, to give notice to cities in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley outside areas protected by
project levees regarding maps and other information as to
flood risks available from FEMA or another federal, state, or
local agency.
7)Requires DWR, on or before December 31, 2010, to prepare a
status report on the progress and development of the Central
Valley Flood Protection Plan, as specified.
8)Requires DWR to prepare, and the board shall adopt, a plan
identified as the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan in
accordance with this part.
9)Requires DWR, no later than January 1, 2012, to prepare the
Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill contains the following costs:
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1)Minor and absorbable costs to the Department of Water
Resources to develop the detailed maps required in this bill
(General Fund (GF), special fund, bond funds).
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 : 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. By July 1, 2012, the Central Valley Flood
Protection Board must adopt the Central Valley Flood Protection
Plan, an integrated flood management plan for the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Flood Management System.
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 established
certain flood protection requirements for certain local land-use
decisions consistent with the Central Valley Protection Plan.
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.
This bill revises flood hazard planning and development
requirements for those cities and counties located in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley. The bill requires each city and
county to amend its general plan, within 24 months of July 2,
2013, with additional information about the locations of flood
hazard zones, locations of undetermined risk areas, as the bill
defines, and other locations, as specified. This bill also
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requires each city and county to amend zoning ordinances to be
consistent with the amended general plan, no more than 12 months
from the amendment of the general plan. Additionally, the bill
adds a new exception to the existing prohibition that a
legislative body of a city or county within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley cannot enter into a development agreement for
property that is located within a flood hazard zone, unless the
city or county finds, based on substantial evidence in the
record, that the property in an undetermined risk area has met
the urban level of flood protection based on substantial
evidence in the record provided by the developer.
This bill is author-sponsored. 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?.this bill will help 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."
Amendments adopted in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
reduce the scope and detail of the required mapping, thereby
reducing costs.
Support arguments: 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.
Opposition arguments: Concerns have been raised that
significant implementation challenges for cities and counties
within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley have been identified
since the enactment of SB 5. Opponents 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
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