BILL ANALYSIS �
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 716 HEARING DATE: June 25, 2013
AUTHOR: Quirk-Silva URGENCY: No
VERSION: June 18, 2013 CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Infrastructure plan: state planning and funding.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1. The Governor is required to submit a proposed five-year
infrastructure plan to the Legislature on an annual basis in
conjunction with the Governor's Budget. The last such report on
the Department of Finance website is for 2008. In general, the
plan is supposed to identify the infrastructure needs identified
by state agencies with particular attention paid to
transportation, K-12 public schools, and higher education. The
plan is supposed to provide an estimated cost of the identified
infrastructure needs and a proposal for funding and prioritizing
those needs.
"Infrastructure" is defined as real property including land and
improvements to land, structures, and equipment integral to the
operation of structures, easements, rights-of-way, and other
forms of interest in property, roadways, and water conveyances.
Any capital outlay or local assistance appropriations that are
intended to fund infrastructure projects are supposed to be
included in the infrastructure plan.
State agencies that request new, rehabilitated, modernized,
improved, or renovated infrastructure are required to specify
how that infrastructure is consistent with the state planning
priorities.
2. The Strategic Growth Council consists of the director of the
Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the
secretaries of the Resources Agency, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Health and Human Services Agency, and the
Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, and one member of
the public to be appointed by the Governor. The council is
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directed to identify and review activities and funding programs
of member state agencies.
One directive to the council is to review and comment on the
five-year infrastructure plan and the State Environmental Goals
and Policies Report (EGPR) that OPR is required to prepare
every four years (Public Resources Code Section 75125). OPR is
said to be working on a new EGPR but the four-year cycle has
never been met. The first EGPR was released by Governor Jerry
Brown during his first term and a second draft EGPR was done
under Governor Gray Davis but it was never certified.
3. The EGPR was intended to provide a 20-30 year overview of
state growth and development. Concurrent with establishing the
EGPR and its required contents, the Legislature also established
the state planning priorities, which are intended to promote
equity, strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and
promote public health and safety in the state, in the following
ways:
a) To promote infill development and equity by
rehabilitating, maintaining, and improving existing
infrastructure that supports infill development and appropriate
reuse and redevelopment of previously developed, underutilized
land that is presently served by transit, streets, water, sewer,
and other essential services, particularly in underserved areas,
and to preserve cultural and historic resources;
b) To protect environmental and agricultural resources by
protecting, preserving, and enhancing the state's most valuable
natural resources, including working landscapes such as farm,
range, and forest lands, natural lands such as wetlands,
watersheds, wildlife habitats, and other wild `lands, recreation
lands such as parks, trails, greenbelts, and other open space,
and landscapes with locally unique features and areas identified
by the state as deserving special protection; and
c) To encourage efficient development patterns by ensuring
that any infrastructure associated with development, other than
infill development, supports new development that does all of
the following: uses land efficiently, is built adjacent to
existing developed areas to the extent consistent with the need
to protect environmental and agricultural resources, is located
in an area appropriately planned for growth, is served by
adequate transportation and other essential utilities and
services, and minimizes ongoing costs to taxpayers.
PROPOSED LAW
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AB 716 would make the following changes:
1. It would add a language to the infrastructure report that the
plan shall also provide for the "coordination of investment."
2. It would add housing to the definition of infrastructure.
3. It would provide that the infrastructure which is funded
shall "demonstrate consistency" with the state planning
priorities, rather than "be consistent" with those priorities.
4. It would direct the Strategic Growth Council to hold a public
hearing on the infrastructure plan before it is released by the
governor. The council would be directed to submit its comments
on the plan to the Legislature and in particular to identify how
the plan would improve air and water quality, improve natural
resource protection, increase the availability of affordable
housing, improve transportation, meet the goals of AB 32,
encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban
and community centers in a sustainable manner.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
Housing California notes that the state's housing stock shares a
number of characteristics with transit, schools, and other
traditional infrastructure included in the plan. The location of
housing can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can
"democratize" infrastructure investments by making sure all
segments of the state have greater access to these public
investments.
The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
appreciates the recognition in the bill of the connection
between housing and other vital components of infrastructure.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
The Department of Finance opposes the public hearing provision
in the 4/2/13 version of the bill.
COMMENTS
The amendments in the current version of the bill were developed
in coordination with the author. The first amendment would
include the Strategic Growth Council in the development of the
infrastructure reports. It avoids the timing issues that caused
concerns with the Department of Finance. The most recent
amendments delete the provision that caused those concerns.
Another recent amendment adds a new provision to the
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infrastructure reports that requires an analysis of investment
coordination opportunities for capital outlay projects. This is
important in its own right and seems overdue. It is intended to
complement the purpose and work of the Strategic Growth Council
which recommends strategies and investments that involve
multiple agencies with multiple subjects within their respective
jurisdictions. Another amendment restores existing law on the
point that the infrastructure priorities used to select projects
shall "be consistent" with state planning priorities.
SUPPORT
American Planning Association
Housing California
American Planning Association, California Chapter
American society of Civil Engineers - Region 9
OPPOSITION
Department of Finance
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