BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 436
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 436 (Jackson)
As Amended September 11, 2013
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
NATURAL RESOURCES 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Grove, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Garcia, Muratsuchi, | |Bocanegra, Ian Calderon, |
| |Patterson, Skinner, | |Campos, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Stone, Williams | |Hall, Holden, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Appropriates $1 million from the Safe Neighborhood
Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Fund
(Prop 12) for emergency measures permitted by the California
Coastal Commission (Commission) to prevent severe infrastructure
damage to streets and property located along the Hueneme Beach
caused by beach erosion and flooding. Requires that should the
Commission require work at Hueneme Beach that is not eligible
for Prop 12 funding, the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund
(HWRF) provide funding. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes the following findings and declarations:
a) Funds are needed immediately for the City of Port
Hueneme to implement emergency measures to prevent
significant damage caused by severe erosion at Hueneme
Beach to public infrastructure, public roads that include a
route identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
as feeding into a tsunami evacuation route, and community
areas.
b) These funds are also needed to prevent down coast
negative impacts to the Ormond Beach Wetlands, a sensitive
and ecologically important public resource, to ensure that
the environmental quality of this unique estuary is
protected.
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c) Given the sizeable waste that remains at the Halaco
Superfund Site, these funds are also critically needed to
prevent downshore erosion.
2)Appropriates $1 million from Prop 12 to the State Coastal
Conservancy for a grant to the City of Port Hueneme. Requires
the funding to be allocated for emergency measures to prevent
severe infrastructure damage to streets and property located
along the Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and flooding.
Requires this appropriation to only be used for erosion
control projects for which a permit has been approved by the
Commission.
3)Requires, if the Commission requires a project that is not
eligible for funding under Prop 12, $1million to be allocated
by either loan or grant from the HWRF for a grant or loan to
the City of Port Hueneme. Requires the funding to be
available for emergency measures to prevent severe
infrastructure damage to streets and property located along
Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and flooding. Requires
this appropriation to only be used for erosion control
projects for which a permit has been approved by the
Commission.
4)Contains an urgency clause and explains that it is necessary
for this measure to take effect immediately to provide the
necessary funding as soon as possible to implement emergency
measures designed to prevent severe infrastructure damage to
public infrastructure, public roads, and community areas
threatened by flooding as a result of severe erosion along
Hueneme Beach in the City of Port Hueneme.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, pursuant to Prop 12 (passed in 2000) $2.1 billion to
protect land around lakes, rivers, and streams and the coast
to improve water quality and ensure clean drinking water; to
protect forests and plant trees to improve air quality; to
preserve open space and farmland threatened by unplanned
development; to protect wildlife habitats; and to repair and
improve the safety of state and neighborhood parks.
2)Establishes the HWR Fund to finance the activities of the
Division of Boating and Waterways in administering the
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programs specified in the Harbors and Navigation Code; the
Department of Parks and Recreation for operation and
maintenance of units of the state park system that have
boating-related activities; the State Water Resources Control
Board for boating-related water quality regulatory activities;
the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Food
and Agriculture for activities addressing the boating-related
spread of invasive species. Funds the HWR through annual
appropriations from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account from taxes
imposed on distribution of fuel to propel vessels; a portion
of vessel registration fees; fees received from the licensing
of yacht and ship brokers and salesmen; and interest and
repayment of loans by local governments.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Potential increased expenditures of $1 million from
Proposition 12.
2)Potential increased expenditures of $1 million or more from
the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund by increasing
funding eligibility.
3)Minor administrative costs to the Coastal Conservancy, the
Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Coastal
Commission.
COMMENTS :
Background . The City of Port Hueneme (pronounced "Wy-nee'mee")
is located in Ventura County. The port, Port Hueneme, is the
only deep-water harbor between Los Angeles and the San Francisco
Bay Area and is the U.S. Port of Entry for the state's central
coast region. The U.S. Navy and the Oxnard Harbor District
share the port.
Construction of the port in 1939-40 significantly impeded the
down-coast movement of sand, causing erosion to down-coast
beaches including Hueneme Beach. The federal River and Harbor
Act of 1954 authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)
to construct the Channel Islands Harbor with a sand trap. Since
then, the Corps has undertaken biennial dredging of
approximately one million cubic yards of material from the trap
and placed it along the down-coast shoreline to restore and
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maintain it.
In the 2012 cycle, due to federal budget cuts, the Corps moved
only 400,000 cubic yards from the Channel Islands Harbor trap to
Hueneme Beach. According to the city, high winds and storms
following the Corps' December 2012-January 2013 deposit of sand
at Hueneme Beach resulted in the near total loss of all the
newly placed sand within the first few months of the year. In
addition, shoreline erosion reached Surfside Drive, a road
paralleling Hueneme Beach. The next scheduled Corps dredging
cycle is not until November 2014.
On April 24, 2013, the city declared a local state of emergency
and sought assistance at the local, state, and federal levels.
Representative Julia Brownley (D-Oak Park) is working with
multiple federal agencies, the White House, and Congress to
secure funds and authorization for an interim dredge cycle to
restore the sand deficit along Hueneme Beach. In the meantime,
the city obtained emergency permits from the Commission and the
Corps to place rock below the eroded section of Surfside Drive
as a temporary stopgap. The city placed the first section of
boulders in July and plans to extend it further down the beach;
however, additional funding (approximately $2 million) is
needed.
Similar Legislation . AB 141 (Gorell) of the current legislative
session would have appropriated $2 million from the General Fund
to the City of Port Hueneme for the emergency erosion control
measures. This bill was held in the Senate Appropriations
Committee this year, presumably because the source of revenue
would have been the General Fund.
Assemblymember Williams is proposing amendments to AB 606 of the
current legislative session that would appropriate $1 million
from Prop 12 to the City of Port Hueneme for the emergency
measures. AB 606 is intended to provide the first round of
funding for the emergency erosion control measures.
This bill, SB 436, would provide the second round of funding
needed for the emergency erosion control measures.
SB 436 and AB 606 (as proposed to be amended) are double
jointed.
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Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0002838