BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 470
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Date of Hearing: August 30, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 470 (Wright) - As Amended: August 21, 2013
Policy Committee: Housing and
Community Development Vote: 5-2
Local Government 7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
As proposed to be amended, this bill reestablishes the powers
and protections of the Polanco Act for cities and counties to
clean up and use contaminated land, and grants flexibility for
cities and counties to sell, at fair reuse value, lands formally
within the jurisdiction of a redevelopment agency.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible fiscal impact.
The State Departments of Toxic Substances Control and regional
water quality control boards review plans under the Polanco Act
and are reimbursed for their efforts.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author contends SB 470 gives cities and counties
economic opportunity powers not currently available:
a) Allowing local governments to sell the property at fair
reuse value.
b) Allowing local agencies to use the Polanco Act.
The author states the Health and Safety Code previously
authorized local governments to sell land at fair reuse value,
rather than at fair market value and the Polanco Act provided
incentives for brownfield site abatement. Though useful to
local governments in pursuit of developing economic
opportunity, and despite the fact there is no monetary impact
to the state, these provisions were removed as part of
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sweeping changes to state redevelopment law in 2011.
2)Support . According to the sponsor, the City of Long Beach,
this bill provides local governments with a transparent
process to engage in facilitating economic opportunity at no
cost to the state. Supporters, including many local
governments, argue that a fair reuse value evaluation, rather
than a purely financial fair market value evaluation, enables
local governments to determine the land use plan that best
fits the community after engaging in a process to identify the
most appropriate community need.
3)Opposition. The Department of Finance opposes extending the
Polanco Act to former redevelopment agencies, contending it is
inappropriate and unnecessary since the agencies no longer
exist.
4)Background . Redevelopment agencies and community development
agencies were officially dissolved in February 2012 with
successor agencies designated to resolve final matters and to
dispose of assets and properties. The Polanco Redevelopment
Act provided RDAs with the ability to address brownfield
properties by prescribing processes for remediating hazardous
substance release and providing specified immunity from
liability for site cleanup.
5)Proposed author's amendments . The amendments proposed by the
author eliminate the bill's proposed changes to the Polanco
Act and instead authorize local governments to use the
Polanco Act with the following:
Government Code Section 52205. A city, county, or city and
county has the same authority as granted to redevelopment
agencies to use the "Polanco Redevelopment Act" as defined in
Article 12.5 (commencing with Section 33459) of Part 1 of
Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code only with regard to
property that is within its jurisdiction that previously was
within the jurisdiction of a redevelopment agency.
Section 1 which contains findings and declaration and the
authorization for local governments to sell land at fair reuse
value is maintained in the bill.
6)Relevant legislation . AB 440 (Gatto) authorizes local
government agencies to remedy or remove a release of hazardous
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substances within the boundaries of a local agency. This bill
is on the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan and Kevin Liao / APPR. /
(916) 319-2081