BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1345
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          Date of Hearing:  June 16, 2014

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
            SB 1345 (Natural Resources and Water) - As Amended:  June 10,  
                                        2014

           SENATE VOTE  :  36-0
           
          SUBJECT  :  Natural resources

           SUMMARY  :  Establishes a deadline for Department of Fish and  
          Wildlife (DFW) to approve a private conservation and mitigation  
          bank agreement package extends the sunset date of the Wholesale  
          Regional Water System Security and Reliability Act (WRWSSR Act)  
          from 2015 to 2022, and makes technical and clarifying changes to  
          the Public Resources and Water Codes.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Authorizes the DFW to establish private and public  
            conservation and mitigation banks that can provide viable  
            consolidated mitigation for adverse impacts caused by  
            projects. Authorizes a person interested in establishing a  
            bank to submit an optional draft prospectus for review by DFW,  
            as specified.  Once the bank prospectus is approved, allows  
            the applicant to submit a bank agreement package to DFW  
            consistent with the prospectus and include specified  
            information.  Requires that if DFW determines that the bank  
            agreement package is complete, within 90 calendar days of that  
            determination, DFW determine whether it is acceptable and  
            notify the person who submitted the package of the  
            determination.  (There is no deadline for DFW to approve the  
            package once it has determined that it is acceptable.)

          2)Excludes the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District  
            (Southern Subdistrict) from the working forest management plan  
            (WFMP) program (however, there is an incorrect reference to  
            the regulations in the Forest Practice Rules describing the  
            Southern Subdistrict). 

          3)Authorizes the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB)  
            to record a lien with a county in response to an uncorrected  
            violation.









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          4)Requires, pursuant to the WRWSSR Act, the City and County of  
            San Francisco to adopt a program of capital improvement  
            projects to restore and improve the Bay Area regional water  
            system that includes a schedule for completion of the  
            projects.  Sunsets the WRWSSR Act on January 1, 2015.

          5)Requires, pursuant to the WRWSSR Act, the California Seismic  
            Safety Commission (CSSC) and the California Department of  
            Public Health (DPH) to provide comments to the Joint  
            Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) within 90 days of receiving  
            notice of a change or delay in the capital improvement project  
            program, as specified. 

           THIS BILL  :

          1)Establish a 30 day deadline by which DFW must issue written  
            approval of a bank agreement package.

          2)Amends the WFMP by referencing the correct regulation in the  
            Forest Practice Rules that describes the Southern Subdistrict.

          3)Makes technical, non-substantive changes to the statute  
            governing CVFPB liens.

          4)Extends the WRWSSR Act sunset date to January 1, 2022.

          5)Extends the comment period to 120 days for CDDC and DPH to  
            comment to JLAC regarding changes or delays to the capital  
            improvement projects program required pursuant to the WRWSSR  
            Act.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, ongoing costs in the low to mid-tens of thousands of  
          dollars of reimbursed costs to DPH and the CDDC.

           COMMENTS  :

           1)Mitigation Banks  .  Existing law authorizes DFW to establish  
            private conservation and mitigation banks.  Statute does not  
            provide a set deadline for DFW to decide approval of a  
            proposal to establish a bank once the bank agreement package  
            is deemed acceptable.  This bill establishes a 30 day deadline  
            to determine whether a completed bank agreement package should  
            be approved.









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           2)Southern Subdistrict  . In 2013, AB 904 (Chesbro) created the  
            WMFP.  The Southern Subdistrict, which includes the counties  
            of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and  
            Marin, is excluded from the WFMP.  The WFMP statute references  
            the wrong regulation to describe the Southern Subdistrict.   
            This bill fixes this drafting error.

           3)CVFPB Liens  . In 2013, SB 753 (Steinberg) granted the CVFPB  
            authority to record a lien in response to certain violation.  
            The language contained an error by granting CVFPB the  
            authority to record the lien with the county clerk instead of  
            the county recorder.  This bill fixes this drafting error.

           4)The WRWSSR Act's Sunset  . The WRWSSR Act provides that the City  
            and County of San Francisco shall adopt capital improvement  
            projects to restore and improve the Bay Area regional water  
            system.  These projects are executed under the San Francisco  
            Public Utilities Commission's (SFPUC) Water System Improvement  
            Program (WSIP).  Although the WRWSSR Act sunsets in 2015,  
            projects related to the seismic retrofit of San Francisco's  
            Regional Water System have fallen behind schedule as  
            documented in the September 2013 WSIP Annual Report to the  
            state.  Delays have occurred due to unforeseen factors  
            including weather conditions, the discovery of naturally  
            occurring asbestos, and construction material shortages.  The  
            SFPUC estimates that 33 out of 47 projects will conclude at  
            the end of 2014 with all projects reaching completion in 2019.  
             The water transmission system improved under WSIP serves 27  
            retail distribution systems (including San Francisco) that  
            provide water to approximately 2.5 million users and 30,000  
            businesses, including Stanfurd University and Facebook. This  
            bill would extend the sunset date to 2022.  Should this bill  
            not pass, the entire WRWSSR Act will be become ineffective on  
            January 1, 2015.  WSIP projects would lose state oversight and  
            the City and County of San Francisco would no longer be  
            statutorily required to complete crucial projects including  
            the replacement of the Calaveras Dam and construction of  
            seismically-engineered conduits installed where the Hetch  
            Hetchy Regional Water System crosses three of the nation's  
            most active earthquake faults.  This bill addresses this issue  
            by extending the 2015 sunset date to 2022.

           5)The WRWSSR Act Comment Period  .  Under WRWSSR Act, the CSSC and  
            DPH must provide comments on public health and safety to the  
            JLAC within 90 days of receiving notice of a WSIP delay from  








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            SFPUC.  Due to staffing constraints, CSSC has requested an  
            extension of the commenting period to 120 days.  This bill  
            makes this change.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
            Alameda County Water District
          Association of California Water Agencies
          Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency 
          Jess E. Benton, Mayor, Town of Hillsborough
          City of Brisbane 
          City of Burlingame
          California Water Service Company
          Coastside County Water District
          County Recorders Association of California
          City of Daly City
          City of Foster City
          City of Hayward
          International Union of Operating Engineers
          Edwin M. Lee, Mayor, City of San Francisco
          City of Menlo Park
          Mid-Peninsula Water District
          City of Millbrae
          City of Milpitas
          City of Mountain View
          North Coast County Water District
          City of Palo Alto
          Purissima Hills Water District
          City of Redwood City
          City of San Bruno 
          City of Santa Clara
          Stanford University
          City of Sunnyvale
          Westborough Water District
           
          Opposition 
           
          None on file

           
          Analysis Prepared by:   Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092 









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