BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BILL NO: SB 1345 HEARING DATE: April 22, 2014
AUTHOR: Senate Natural Resources and WaterURGENCY: No
VERSION: February 21, 2014 CONSULTANT: Toni Lee
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Committee on Natural Resources and Water: Natural
Resources
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Periodically, state entities within the jurisdiction of the
Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water identify
noncontroversial technical and clarifying changes necessary to
correct and refine existing law. This omnibus committee bill
contains three sections to amend the Public Resources (PRC) and
Water Codes (WAT).
Section 1
In 2013, AB 904 (Chesbro, Ch. 648, Stats. 2013) amended
provisions of the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (PRC §4511
et seq.) and added PRC §4597.22, which exempts the Southern
Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District from having to file a
working forest harvest notice, as specified, before harvesting
timber. PRC §4597.22 requires a technical non-substantive change
to correct a referential error to the section of the California
Code of Regulations defining the "Southern Subdistrict of the
Coast Forest District."
Section 2
In 2013, SB 753 (Steinberg, Ch. 639, Stats. 2013) added §8704.2
to the Water Code, which grants the Central Valley Flood
Protection Board (CVFPB) the authority to record a lien (a legal
claim on collateral to ensure the fulfillment of an obligation)
if a person or public agency fails to correct a violation for
which CVFPB has issued a cease and desist order. SB 753
contained an error that granted CVFPB the authority to record
the lien with the County Clerk. According to the California
State Association of Counties, however, recording liens is a
1
duty performed by the County Recorder.
Section 3
The Wholesale Regional Water System Security and Reliability Act
(Act) (WAT §73500 et seq., AB 1823, Papan, Ch. 841, Stats.
2002), requires the City and County of San Francisco to adopt
capital improvement projects to ensure the reliability and
quality of the Bay area regional water system in the face of
age-related or seismic stress. In order to facilitate state
oversight of the projects, the City and County must submit a
report on or before September 1 of each year to the Joint
Legislative Audit Committee, the Seismic Safety Commission, and
the State Department of Public Health detailing the progress
made since the previous fiscal year. In 2008 AB 2437 (Ruskin,
Ch. 99, Stats. 2008), extended, among other provisions, the
Act's original 2010 sunset date to 2015.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) provides
drinking water to approximately 2.6 million customers in the
greater San Francisco Bay area either directly or through
wholesalers. SFPUC's $4.6 billion dollar Water System
Improvement Program (WSIP) to provide a clean and reliable
source of drinking water to its customers is subject to the Act.
WSIP is funded by a bond measure approved by San Francisco votes
in November 2002, which will be paid back by its customers in
San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. WSIP
projects include the construction of seismically-engineered
conduits installed where the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System
crosses three of the nation's most active earthquake faults (the
Calaveras, San Andreas, and Hayward) and the replacement of the
Calaveras Dam. (The SFPUC's water supply is primarily from the
Hetch Hetchy reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite
National Park.)
Projects related to the seismic retrofit of San Francisco's
Regional Water System have fallen behind schedule. These
include the Calaveras Dam Replacement and Alameda Creek
Recapture projects, which will remain uncompleted by mid-2016.
The Calaveras Dam project has faced delays due to adverse
weather conditions, geologic constraints, and construction
material supply shortages. The Alameda Creek Recapture project
delays are associated with an extensive pilot study that must
occur before completing the planning, environmental, and design
phases.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would:
2
Correct the referential error in PRC §4597.22.
Authorize the CVFPB to record a lien with the county
recorder.
Extend the sunset date for the Wholesale Regional Water
System Security and Reliability Act to 2022.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The County Recorders Association of California supports SB 1345
as it clarifies in statute that liens are properly recorded in
the County Recorder office and not that of the County Clerk.
The Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency (BAWSCA)
contends that this bill will preserve statutory state oversight
of the City and County of San Francisco's capital improvement
program to restore and improve the 100-year old San Francisco
Regional Water System. BAWSCA argues that the program supports
the health, safety, and economic wellbeing of 1.7 million
residents, 30,000 businesses, and thousands of community
agencies in the Bay Area dependent on water provided by the
regional system. They also assert that jobs and businesses in
the counties served by the San Francisco Regional Water System
provide a major part of California's economic activity and
income for residents. BAWSCA notes that state oversight provided
by the Act has proven very valuable to BAWSCA's member agencies
and customers. Extension of this oversight would ensure water
users that the San Francisco Regional Water System will be
reliable in the future.
Mayor Edwin M. Lee of the City of San Francisco reports that
WSIP has created more than 10,000 jobs, over 5 million craft
hours, and more than $335 million in wages. He states, "[i]n the
early construction phase of the Calaveras Dam Replacement
Project, one of the major projects within the WSIP, unexpected
geological issues arose. The project is now expected to be
completed by December 2017, two years later than the original
projected completion date."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
1.Projects crucial to the reliability of water supply to the San
Francisco Bay Area have fallen behind due to unanticipated
conditions. This bill provides for continuing oversight and
the necessary flexibility to compensate for these setbacks.
3
According to the SFPUC, 33 of the 47 WSIP projects will be
completed, and the remaining 14 are scheduled to be completed
by 2019, well within the new sunset date.
2.The Calaveras Dam Replacement project carries the greatest
level of risk for future delays. These risks include impacts
associated with high levels of naturally occurring asbestos,
lack of rock for dam construction, the potential need for
over-excavation of landslide remnants below the spillway, and
weather related obstacles. The 2012-13 WSIP report estimates
that the project will reach completion date on November 20th,
2017. Extending the sunset date of the Act to 2022 would
provide five buffer years of state oversight if the project
encounters future delays.
SUPPORT
Alameda County Water District
Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency
California Water Service Company
City of Brisbane
City Council of the City of Burlingame
City of Daly City
City of Foster City
City of Hayward
City of Menlo Park
City of Millbrae
City of Mountain View
City of Palo Alto
City of Redwood City
City of San Bruno City Council
City of Santa Clara
City of Sunnyvale
Coastside County Water District
County Recorders Association of California
Edwin M. Lee, Mayor, City of San Francisco
Estero Municipal Improvement District
International Union of Operating Engineers
Jess E. Benton, Mayor, Town of Hillsborough
Purissima Hills Water District
Ray Mueller, Mayor, City of Menlo Park
Stanford University
Westborough Water District
OPPOSITION
None Received
4
5