California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2764

Introduced by Committee on Natural Resources (Chesbro (Chair), Grove (Vice Chair), Garcia, Muratsuchi, Skinner, Stone, and Williams)

March 27, 2014

An act to amend Sections 6306 and 8750 of the Public Resources Code, relating to state lands.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2764, as introduced, Committee on Natural Resources. State Lands Commission.

(1) Existing law requires that every local trustee of granted public trust lands, as defined and except as provided, file with the State Lands Commission, on or before October 1 of each year, a detailed statement of all revenues and expenditures relating to its trust lands and trust assets, as prescribed, including obligations incurred, but not yet paid, covering the fiscal year preceding the submission of the statement.

This bill instead would require the statement to be filed with the commission on or before December 31 of each year.

(2) The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act generally requires the administrator for oil spill response, acting at the direction of the Governor, to implement activities relating to oil spill response, including emergency drills and preparedness, and oil spill containment and cleanup, and to represent the state in any coordinated response efforts with the federal government. Existing law imposes various administrative civil and criminal penalties on a person that violates specified provisions of the act. The act, for purposes of specified provisions primarily under the jurisdiction of the State Lands Commission, defines marine waters to exclude waters in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers and Delta, as specified.

This bill would no longer exclude from the definition of marine waters for this purpose the waters in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers and Delta and would further revise the definition of marine waters to include waterways used for waterborne commercial vessel traffic to the Port of Sacramento and the Port of Stockton. By expanding the scope of crimes within the act, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 6306 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

6306.  

(a) For purposes of this division, “local trustee of granted
public trust lands” means a county, city, or district, including a
water, sanitary, regional park, port, or harbor district, or any other
local, political, or corporate subdivision that has been granted,
conveyed, or transferred by statute, public trust lands, including
tidelands, submerged lands, or the beds of navigable waters,
through a legislative grant. A local trustee of granted public trust
lands is a trustee of state lands.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, every local trustee of granted
public trust lands shall establish and maintain accounting
procedures, in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles, providing accurate records of all revenues received
from the trust lands and trust assets and of all expenditures of those
revenues. If a trust grantee has several trust grants of adjacent lands
and operates the granted lands as a single integrated entity,
separation of accounting records for each trust grant is not required.

(c) All revenues received from trust lands and trust assets
administered or collected by a local trustee of granted public trust
lands shall be expended only for those uses and purposes consistent
with the public trust for commerce, navigation, and fisheries, and
the applicable statutory grant.

(d) All funds received or generated from trust lands or trust
assets shall be segregated in separate accounts from nontrust
received or generated funds.

(e) (1) Unless otherwise prescribed by an applicable statutory
grant, on or before begin delete October 1 end delete begin insert December 31 end insert of each year, each local
trustee of granted public trust lands shall file with the commission
a detailed statement of all revenues and expenditures relating to
its trust lands and trust assets, including obligations incurred but
not yet paid, covering the fiscal year preceding submission of the
statement.

(2) The statement shall be prepared in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles and may take the form of an annual
audit prepared by or for the local trustee of granted public trust
lands.

(3) (A) The detailed statement shall be submitted along with a
standardized reporting form developed by the commission.

(B) The commission shall use an existing reporting form
previously developed for purposes of this paragraph, if a finding
is made by the commission that it is generally responsive to the
needs of the commission as prescribed in this section. Alternatively,
the commission may develop a reporting form that requires a local
trustee of granted public lands to report on all of the following:

(i) A summary of all funds received or generated from trust
lands or trust assets.

(ii) A summary of all spending of funds received or generated
from trust lands or trust assets.

(iii) Any other disposition of funds received or generated from
trust lands or trust assets or of the trust lands or trust assets
themselves.

(iv) A description of the manner in which the statement required
by this subdivision and accompanying the reporting form is
organized.

(v) Any other information that the commission deems to be
included in an accounting of granted public trust lands.

(C) The adoption of the form by the commission pursuant to
this subdivision is the prescription of a form for purposes of
subdivision (c) of Section 11340.9 of the Government Code.

(4) All forms and supporting statements submitted pursuant to
this section shall be public records and be made available on the
commission’s Internet Web site.

(f) (1) The costs that may be incurred by a local trustee of
granted public trust lands that result from any new duties imposed
upon that trustee begin delete by the act amending this section in the 2011-12
Regular Session of the Legislature, end delete begin insert pursuant to Chapter 206 of
the Statutes of 2012, end insert including the requirement to submit a
standardized reporting form required by paragraph (3) of
subdivision (e), shall be paid from the revenues derived from its
granted public trust lands and assets specified in subdivision (b).

(2) If the revenues derived from the granted public trust lands
and assets specified in subdivision (b) are not sufficient to pay the
costs for the duties specified in paragraph (1), the commission
shall exempt the local trustee of granted public trust lands from
performing those duties for which the revenues are not sufficient,
or grant a deadline extension from the performance of those duties
until sufficient funds are available.

SEC. 2.  

Section 8750 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:

8750.  

Unless the context requires otherwise, the following
definitions govern the construction of this division:

(a) “Administrator” means the administrator for oil spill response
appointed by the Governor pursuant to Section 8670.4 of the
Government Code.

(b) “Barges” means any vessel that carries oil in commercial
quantities as cargo but is not equipped with a means of
self-propulsion.

(c) (1) “Best achievable protection” means the highest level of
protection begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert can be achieved through both the use of the
best achievable technology and those manpower levels, training
procedures, and operational methods begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert provide the
greatest degree of protection achievable. The administrator’s
determination of best achievable protection shall be guided by the
critical need to protect valuable coastal resources and marine
waters, while also considering (A) the protection provided by the
measures, (B) the technological achievability of the measures, and
(C) the cost of the measures.

(2) It is not the intent of the Legislature that the administrator
use a cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analysis or any particular
method of analysis in determining which measures to require.
Instead, it is the intent of the Legislature that the administrator
give reasonable consideration to the protection provided by the
measures, the technological achievability of the measures, and the
cost of the measures when establishing the requirements to provide
the best achievable protection for coastal and marine resources.

(d) “Best achievable technology” means that technology begin delete which end delete
begin insert that end insert provides the greatest degree of protection taking into
consideration (1) processes begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert are being developed, or
could feasibly be developed anywhere in the world, given overall
reasonable expenditures on research and development, and (2)
processes begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert are currently in use anywhere in the world.
In determining what is best achievable technology, the
administrator shall consider the effectiveness and engineering
feasibility of the technology.

(e) “Commission” means the State Lands Commission.

(f) “Local government” means any chartered or general law
city, chartered or general law county begin insert , end insert or any city and county.

(g) “Marine facility” means any facility of any kind, other than
a vessel, begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert is or was used for the purposes of exploring
for, drilling for, producing, storing, handling, transferring,
processing, refining, or transporting oil and is located in marine
waters, or is located where a discharge could impact marine waters
unless the facility (1) is subject to Chapter 6.67 (commencing with
Section 25270) or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section
25299.10) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code or (2) is
placed on a farm, nursery, logging site, or construction site and
does not exceed 20,000 gallons in a single storage tank. For begin delete the end delete
purposes of this division, a drill ship, semisubmersible drilling
platform, jack-up type drilling rig, or any other floating or
temporary drilling platform is a “marine facility.” For begin delete the end delete purposes
of this division, a small craft refueling dock is not a “marine
facility.”

(h) “Marine terminal” means any marine facility used for
transferring oil to or from tankers or barges. For begin delete the end delete purposes of
this section, a marine terminal includes all piping not integrally
connected to a tank facility as defined in subdivision begin delete (k) end delete begin insert (n) end insert of
Section 25270.2 of the Health and Safety Code.

(i) “Marine waters” means those waters subject to tidal
influence begin delete , except for waters in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers
and Delta upstream from a line running north and south through
the point where Contra Costa, Sacramento, and Solano Counties
meet end delete begin insert and includes waterways used for waterborne commercial
vessel traffic to the Port of Sacramento and the Port of Stockton end insert .

(j) “Nonpersistent oil” means a petroleum-based oil, such as
gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel, begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert evaporates relatively
quickly. Specifically, it is an oil with hydrocarbon fractions, at
least 50 percent of which, by volume, distills at a temperature of
645 degrees Fahrenheit, and at least 95 percent of which, by
volume, distills at a temperature of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.

(k) “Oil” means any kind of petroleum, liquid hydrocarbons,
or petroleum products or any fraction or residues therefrom,
including, but not limited to, crude oil, bunker fuel, gasoline, diesel
fuel, aviation fuel, oil sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with waste, and
liquid distillates from unprocessed natural gas.

(l) “Onshore facility” means any facility of any kind begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert
is located entirely on lands not covered by marine waters.

(m) “Operator” when used in connection with vessels, marine
terminals, pipelines, or facilities, means any person or entity begin delete which end delete
begin insert that end insert owns, has an ownership interest in, charters, leases, rents,
operates, participates in the operation of or uses that vessel,
terminal, pipeline, or facility. “Operator” does not include any
entity begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert owns the land underlying the facility or the
facility itself, where the entity is not involved in the operations of
the facility.

(n) “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
company, or corporation, including, but not limited to, a
government corporation, partnership, limited liability company,
and association. “Person” also includes any city, county, city and
county, district, and the state or any department or agency thereof,
and the federal government, or any department or agency thereof,
to the extent permitted by law.

(o) “Pipeline” means any pipeline used at any time to transport
oil.

(p) “Responsible party” or “party responsible” means either of
the following:

(1) The owner or transporter of oil or a person or entity accepting
responsibility for the oil.

(2) The owner, operator, or lessee of, or person who charters
by demise, any vessel or marine facility or a person or entity
accepting responsibility for the vessel or marine facility.

(q) “Small craft refueling dock” means a fixed facility having
tank storage capacity not exceeding 20,000 gallons in any single
storage tank and that dispenses nonpersistent oil to small craft.

(r) “Spill” or “discharge” means any release of at least one barrel
(42 gallons) of oil not authorized by any federal, state, or local
government entity.

(s) “State oil spill contingency plan” means the California oil
spill contingency plan prepared pursuant to Article 3.5
(commencing with Section 8574.1) of Chapter 7 of Division 1 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.

(t) “Tanker” means any self-propelled, waterborne vessel,
constructed or adapted for the carriage of oil in bulk or in
commercial quantities as cargo.

(u) “Vessel” means a tanker or barge as defined in this section.

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.