BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 142| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 142 Author: Bigelow (R), et al. Amended: 9/4/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/14/15 AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Vidak, Wolk SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-3, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Wild and scenic rivers: Mokelumne River SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill requires the secretary of the Natural Resources Agency (secretary) to study and report on the suitability of designating the Mokelumne River, its tributaries, or portions thereof, under the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 add an intent provision, restructure the boundaries of the segment of the river that will be studied as a potential addition to the wild and scenic river system, and state that the bill does not affect the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Mokelumne River Project of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. AB 142 Page 2 ANALYSIS: Existing law, the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Act): 1)Declares that it is the policy of the state that certain rivers that possess extraordinary scenic, recreational, fishery, or wildlife values be preserved in their "free-flowing" state, together with their immediate environments, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the state. 2)Declares that such use of these rivers is the highest and most beneficial use, and is a reasonable and beneficial use of water. 3)Defines "free-flowing" as existing or flowing without artificial impoundment, diversion, or other modification of the river. (The presence of low dams, diversion works, and other minor structures does not automatically bar a river's inclusion within the wild and scenic rivers system (system). 4)Requires that those rivers or segments of rivers included in the system be classified as one of the following: a) Wild rivers, which are those rivers or segments of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted; b) Scenic rivers, which are those rivers or segments of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads; or c) Recreational rivers, which are those rivers or segments of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, may have some development along their shorelines, and may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past. 5)Designates several California rivers and segments thereof as components of the system. 6)Requires the California Natural Rivers Agency (NRA) to be responsible for coordinating the activities of state agencies whose activities affect the rivers in the system with those of other state, local, and federal agencies with jurisdiction over matters that may affect the rivers. AB 142 Page 3 7)Requires the NRA to study and submit to the Governor and Legislature reports on the suitability or nonsuitability for addition to the system when the Legislature designates potential additions to the system. The reports shall include the following: a) Recommendations and proposals with respect to the designation of a river or segment; b) Maps and illustrations to show the area included within the report; c) Characteristics which do or do not make the area a worthy addition to the system; d) Status of land ownership and use; and e) Potential uses which will be enhanced, foreclosed, or curtailed if included in the system. This bill: 1)Requires a study by the NRA that analyzes the suitability or non-suitability of the designation of the Mokelumne River, its tributaries, or portions thereof as additions to the system. The costs of the study will be divided between the state and the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority. The local share may be from appropriated funds or a contribution of services. 2)Requires the study to include: a) A suitability analysis that includes the potential effects on the ability of public agencies and utilities within the watershed to feasible and projected future water requirements through the development of new water supplies from the Mokelumne River; b) Any effects of climate change on river values and water supply; c) Specified feasibility studies of the Mokelumne Watershed Interregional Sustainability Evaluation Final Report. d) Instances in which the secretary of the NRA allowed a water diversion to be constructed on a river segment listed in the system; e) Instances in which the State Water Resources Control Board approved an application to appropriate water from a river segment that is a part of the system and what restrictions, if any, were placed on the appropriation of water as a result of that river segment's inclusion in the AB 142 Page 4 system. f) Maps and illustrations to show the area included within the report; g) Characteristics which do or do not make the area a worthy addition to the system; h) Status of land ownership and use; and i) Potential uses which will be enhanced, foreclosed, or curtailed if included in the system. 3)Requires the NRA's clear recommendation on whether the designated portion of the Mokelumne River or any segment of that portion is suited or not to be added to the system in a report due on or before December 31, 2017. 4)Establishes interim protections for the Mokelumne until December 31, 2021, or until the study is completed (whichever occurs first) and implementation of any recommendation to add segments to the system that prohibit dams, reservoirs, or other water impoundment facilities from construction unless the secretary determines that the facility is needed to supply domestic water to the residents of the county or counties through which the river and segment flows and the secretary also determines that the facility will not adversely affect the freeflowing condition and natural character of the river. This provision exempts the Amador Water Agency's water rights application (5647X03) that is pending before the State Water Resources Control Board and also states that the bill does not affect the Mokelumne River Project operated by PGE. 5)Defines the segments of the Mokelumne that may be added to the system after the study is completed. 6)Extends existing law prohibiting state agencies from cooperating with new dams on rivers in the system to the stretch of the Mokelumne that is subject to the study. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one-time costs of up to $125,000 to the General Fund for the Natural Resources Agency to complete the required study with 50% of the resources for the study coming from the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority. AB 142 Page 5 SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15) Amador City Amador City Amador County Board of Supervisors Amador County Business Council Amador County Republican Central Committee Amador Water Agency American Whitewater Association of California Water Agencies CA Wildlife Foundation CA Oaks Calaveras Amador Mokelumne River Authority Calaveras Community Action Project Calaveras County Board Of Supervisors Calaveras County Republican Party Calaveras County Taxpayers Association Calaveras County Water District Calaveras Public Utility District California League of Conservation Voters California Outdoors California Sportfishing Protection Alliance California Water Impact Network Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation Central Sierra Mining City of Ione City of Jackson City of Plymouth City of Sutter Creek Clean Water Action East Bay Municipal Utility District El Dorado Irrigation District Environmental Water Caucus First Mace Water Association Foothill Conservancy Friends of the River Jackson Valley Irrigation District Mountain Counties Water Resources Association My Valley Springs Natural Heritage Institute North Coast Rivers Alliance AB 142 Page 6 Northern California Council of the International Federation of Fly Fishers O.A.R.S. Companies, Inc. Pine Grove CSD Planning and Conservation League Rabb Park CSD Sierra Business Council South Yuba River Citizens League Terre Rouge & Easton Wines OPPOSITION: (Verified9/4/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The goal of the author and many of the supporters is to ensure that a study is completed before designation of the Mokelumne is considered in legislation. Last year, Senator Hancock carried SB 1199 which would have achieved such a designation without a study. That bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-3, 6/1/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Steinorth, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Grove, Levine, Mark Stone NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gonzalez, Salas Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 9/8/15 17:26:25 AB 142 Page 7 **** END ****