BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 446| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 446 Author: Ridley-Thomas (D) Introduced:9/1/15 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: 7-0, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Baldwin Hills Conservancy SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill extends the sunset date for the Baldwin Hills Conservancy to January 1, 2026. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Establishes the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (conservancy) in the Natural Resources Agency (agency). The conservancy, among other things, may acquire and manage public lands within the Baldwin Hills area and provide recreational, open space, wildlife habitation restoration and protection, and lands for educational uses within the area. AB 446 Page 2 2)Provides that the Baldwin Hills Conservancy Act which established the conservancy will remain in effect until January 1, 2018. This bill extends the sunset date for the conservancy to January 1, 2026. Background The conservancy's territory is located in the heavily urbanized Baldwin Hills area of the Los Angeles Basin. The territory includes parts of the Cities of Los Angeles and Culver City, unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County, the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area and some adjacent lands. Lands under its jurisdiction are approximately two square miles, although the conservancy does not own or control all of these lands. There is considerable on-going oil development and production within the conservancy's territory. The conservancy is the smallest of the state's conservancies and was established in 2000. Comments Conservancies and sunset dates. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy was created with a sunset date that was extended three times prior to its eventual removal. The conservancy was created with an initial sunset date of January 1, 2008, which has already been extended once to its current date. The conservancy is one of two conservancies that have active sunset dates (the other is the San Diego River Conservancy). (AB 392 (Atkins) is currently seeking to remove the sunset date for the San Diego River Conservancy.) Proposition 1 and the conservancy. There are $10 million in Proposition 1 funds, approved by the voters in November 2014, to be spent on "multibenefit water quality, water supply, watershed protection and restoration projects." Related Legislation AB 392 (Atkins, 2015) removes the sunset date for the San Diego River Conservancy. The bill is currently on the Senate Floor. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No AB 446 Page 3 According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill's annual costs are at least $350,000 beginning in 2018 through 2025 from the Environmental License Plate Fund (special) for conservancy's administrative costs. SUPPORT: (Verified8/27/15) Ballona Creek Renaissance Cherrywood/Leimert Block Club City of Beverly Hills City of Culver City City of Santa Monica Community Health Councils, Inc. Council for Watershed Health Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Development Council Ladera Heights Civic Association Los Angeles Audobon Society Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Mujeres de la Tierra Natural Resources Defense Council Sara Amir, Chair, Baldwin Hills Conservancy Board Social Justice Learning Institute The Nature Conservancy OPPOSITION: (Verified8/27/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "without the conservancy, the area will continue to face many of the challenges that led to the conservancy's creation. [?] The communities in and around the Baldwin Hills are quantifiably park poor, with only one acre per thousand residents; the region falls far below the National Recreation and Parks Association standard of six acres per thousand residents." "Neighborhoods populated by minorities and recent immigrants are especially short of park space. [?] Because of the disproportionate burden of chronic disease that affects minority AB 446 Page 4 communities it is essential that urban open space is promoted and protected. [?] With the lack of urban open space and public parks accessible to minority communities, the protection of Baldwin Hills is the centerpiece of a legacy for park equity in urban Los Angeles." Additionally, the author notes that there are dedicated bond funds for the conservancy and the obstacles to pursuing multi-year projects supported by bond funds given the conservancy's current sunset date. The Nature Conservancy "supports AB 446 in light of the biodiversity value of Baldwin Hills and the importance of continued acquisition and restoration efforts by the Baldwin Hills Conservancy." ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 6/1/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Beth Gaines, Gordon Prepared by:Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 9/1/15 21:19:52 **** END **** AB 446 Page 5