BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BILL NO: SB 461 HEARING DATE: April 23, 2013
AUTHOR: Leno URGENCY: No
VERSION: April 16, 2013 CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: State tide and submerged lands: mineral extraction
leases: revenues.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
In 1997, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed SB 271
(Thompson) that established the principle that lease revenues
received by the State Lands Commission from oil extraction
activities on state tidelands should be dedicated, in large
part, to coastal and natural resource protections that benefit
the entire state.
Until it was repealed during the early stages of the recent
recession, the tidelands oil revenues provided funding for the
Housing Trust Fund, the Resources Trust Fund for Salmon and
Steelhead Trout Restoration, marine life and marine reserve
management, state parks deferred maintenance, and with the
balance to the Natural Resource Infrastructure Fund (NRIF) which
was allocated to other programs.
NRIF programs included funds to the Department of Fish and
Wildlife for environmental review and monitoring, land
acquisitions in Orange County and San Diego for natural
community conservation plans, nonpoint source pollution programs
at the California State Water Resources Control Board and the
California Coastal Commission and any unencumbered funds were
transferred to the state general fund.
There were some budget years when the tidelands oil revenues
were swept by the Legislature and not allocated for some or all
of these statutory purposes. The program was ended in a budget
trailer bill that became effective on July 1, 2006.
1
Tidelands oil revenues in California have been in the hundreds
of millions of dollars in recent years due to the increased
price of oil. In 2011-12, the last year for which a total amount
is available, the total from tidelands oil revenues was $531
million.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would restore the principle that tidelands oil
revenues should be allocated in a way that recognizes the nexus
between those revenues that strengthen the state's role in
addressing sea level rise and coastal climate change. The bill
would create the Coastal Adaptation Fund and authorize up to $15
million per year to be divided among the Ocean Protection
Council, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California
Coastal Commission, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The bill
is a work in progress in that the specific amounts to each of
these agencies has not yet been identified.
The bill contains numerous findings and declarations about the
importance of the coast to the state's recreational and tourism
economy and the needs of coastal management agencies to meet
their statutory and constitutional duties to protect coastal
resources.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
A large coalition of coastal conservation and environmental
groups are in support of this bill. The coalition (its members
are identified below) considers sea level rise and the related
impacts of sea level rise to be unavoidable and very costly to
California. It points out that the California coastal economy is
valued at $50 billion annually and that steps must be taken to
protect coastal adaptation strategies that will preserve this
influx of dollars into the California economy.
Sea level rise, according to the coalition, is anticipated to be
between 31 and 69 inches by the end of this century. Whatever
the precise number, the coalition argues that sea level rise, in
conjunction with an expected increase in extreme weather events
and flood surges, will endanger critical infrastructure,
including roads, hospitals, airports, wastewater treatment
plants, and power plants. In addition, wetlands and other
natural ecosystems may be at risk from inundation and public
beaches may be lost.
The coalition, citing a report prepared for the California
Energy Commission, estimates that a sea level rise of 55 inches
2
will place at least 480,000 Californians at risk and nearly $100
billion in property at risk.
A number of state agencies have separate but related
jurisdiction over coastal and ocean programs and the coalition
suggests that these agencies need to be adequately funded to
work with local governments and local communities to develop and
implement sustainable coastal adaptation strategies. No current
dedicated funding source is in place, although the Ocean
Protection Council has approved a $2.5 million competitive grant
program for vulnerability assessments, data collection, and
updates to local coastal programs to help local governments plan
for adaptation to sea level rise and associated climate change
impacts along the open coast of California.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
1. The Committee has requested, and the author has agreed, to
inform the staff of further developments on this bill. The
Committee reserves the right to re-hear this bill at an
appropriate time.
2. Many state coastal programs, local governments, and
businesses (such as ports, shellfish aquaculture) are
increasingly focused on adaptation strategies to sea level rise.
The Obama administration's ocean policy announcement on April
16, 2013, is also focused on adaptation to sea level rise.
Although it is perhaps implied in the current text, as the bill
moves forward, the author should include adaptation to sea level
rise as an eligible use of the coastal adaptation fund.
3. Although the bill proposes to amend the former tidelands oil
statute, a technical question is whether that alone is
sufficient to identify that account as the source for the funds
that would be spent through the Coastal Adaptation Fund.
4. Assuming the author is amenable, the State Lands Commission
should be added as eligible entity for receipt of funds for the
purpose identified in the Sec. 6217.9 (a) of the bill.
SUPPORT
California Coastal Protection Network
California Coastkeeper Alliance
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Committee for Green Foothills
3
Crystal Cove Alliance
Desal Response Group
Endangered Habitats League
Environmental Defense Center
Environmental Water Caucus
Heal The Bay
Humboldt Baykeeper
Inland Empire Waterkeeper
League for Coastal Protection
Natural Resources Defense Counsel
Northcoast Environmental Center
Ocean Conservancy
Orange County Coastkeeper
Planning and Conservation League
Residents for Responsible Desalination
Sierra Club California
Southern California Watershed Alliance
Surfrider Foundation
The Wildlands Conservancy
West Marin Environmental Action Committee
OPPOSITION
None Received
4