BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 446|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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