BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 530 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE Marc Levine, Chair AB 530 (Rendon) - As Introduced February 23, 2015 SUBJECT: Lower Los Angeles River Working Group SUMMARY: Requires the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) to staff, and the Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to appoint, a working group that is tasked with developing a revitalization plan for the lower Los Angeles River (Lower LA River). Specifically, this bill: 1)Makes findings including, but not limited to, the history and importance of the LA River and the need to create a plan for the Lower LA River that updates the LA County 1996 LA River Revitalization Master Plan. 2)Adds a chapter to the RMC Act creating the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group (Working Group) and specifying that the Working Group shall develop a revitalization plan by March 1, 2017 for the Lower LA River. 3)Requires the CNRA Secretary, in coordination with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to appoint members to the Working Group including, but not limited to, representatives AB 530 Page 2 from the RMC, LA County, the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, the LA Gateway Region Integrated Regional Water Management Plan Joint Powers Authority, elected officials from cities that border the Lower LA River, and non-profit organizations serving the LA region. 4)Allows that revitalization plan development and implementation may be funded from any public or private source including the $100 million in funding from the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1 or Prop. 1). EXISTING LAW: 1)Designates the LA River as a as a traditional navigable waterway protected under the federal Clean Water Act. 2)Establishes the RMC in the CNRA, as a state agency with the following purposes: a) To acquire and manage public lands within the Lower LA River and San Gabriel River watersheds, and to provide open-space, low-impact recreational and educational uses, water conservation, watershed improvement, wildlife and habitat restoration and protection, and watershed improvement within the territory. b) To preserve the San Gabriel River and the Lower LA River consistent with existing and adopted river and flood control projects for the protection of life and property. c) To acquire open-space lands within the territory of the AB 530 Page 3 conservancy. d) To provide for the public's enjoyment and enhancement of recreational and educational experiences on public lands in the San Gabriel Watershed and Lower LA River, and the San Gabriel Mountains in a manner consistent with the protection of lands and resources in those watersheds. 3)Provides $30 million dollars in Prop. 1 for the RMC and another $100 million in Prop. 1 for urban rivers and streams including, but not limited to, the LA River and its tributaries as defined in the RMC Act and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) Act, which covers the upper LA River. 4)Creates the LA County Flood Control District (LACFCD) and empowers it to provide for: a) Control and conservation of the flood, storm and other waste waters of the district, to conserve those waters for beneficial and useful purposes; b) Protection of the harbors, waterways, public highways and property in the district from flood water or storm water damage; and, c) Access to navigable waterways under LACFCD's control, including the LA River, where such access is suitable for education and recreational purposes and not inconsistent with flood control and water conservation uses. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown AB 530 Page 4 COMMENTS: This bill would create a planning process for the lower LA River, the 19 miles of river that once it leaves downtown Los Angeles flows through multiple cities until it reaches the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach Harbor. The LA River is 51 miles long. Currently, the upper 32-mile stretch, which reaches from the San Fernando Valley to downtown Los Angeles and lies within the City of Los Angeles, has its own Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan (City Master Plan) released in 2007. The lower LA River does not have such a plan. 1)Author's statement: The author states that there is not a revitalization plan specific to the Lower LA River and, although the 1996 County Master Plan included a few projects for cities along the Lower LA River. The author states that there is now a need for a comprehensive revitalization plan that focuses more attention and resources on the Southeast LA County cities which include Vernon, Commerce, Maywood, Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, South Gate, Lynwood, Compton, Paramount, Carson and Long Beach. 2)Background: In the late 1700s when the Spanish founded the pueblo that became Los Angeles, the LA River supported diverse flora and fauna and much of what is now southern and western Los Angeles was marsh. The Spanish followed the example of the Native Americans and settled near the river to use its flow to supply drinking and irrigation water. As Los Angeles grew and prospered, settlements and farming continued to encroach upon the river's floodplain, while also depending upon it for water. As time progressed, booming development along the river as well as increasing urbanization provided for larger and larger impacts from river flooding. Between 1850 and 1900, there were 11 major flood events along the river. The devastating flooding in 1914 led to the passage of the LAFCD Act the next year (c. 755, Statutes of 1915). More serious flooding in the 1930s forced the LAFCD to ask for AB 530 Page 5 federal help. In 1936, Congress directed the US Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) to "channelize" the river to help control flooding. Channelization by concrete started in 1938 and was completed in 1960. The river is now straighter and deeper in many locations which moves high volumes of flood water rapidly downstream to San Pedro Harbor. The Flood Control District and the Corps share the responsibility for the operation and management of these flood control and water conservation facilities. Today the river begins in Canoga Park at the confluence of Bell Creek and the Arroyo Calabasas. It flows mostly east through the San Fernando Valley, where numerous tributaries join, to Burbank and Griffith Park. The river flows through 13 cities in total and is contained within the County of Los Angeles. It is now almost entirely lined in concrete, although there are 3 "soft-bottomed" sections in the Sepulveda Basin (San Fernando Valley), Griffith Park and in Long Beach. Particularly along the Lower LA River, industrial activity and railyards are immediately adjacent to the river and can effectively isolate it from the surrounding communities. Although planners had envisioned greenbelts interconnecting parklands along the river as early as the 1930s, the more recent interest in the revitalization and promotion of the re-integration of the river and its tributaries into the adjacent neighborhoods began in the mid-to-late 1980s. There was growing recognition that compared to other large American cities Los Angeles has relatively fewer parks, particularly in under-represented communities. In the early 1990s, community activism over turning a railyard adjacent to the river - the Taylor Yards - into open space coincided with the County of Los Angeles beginning a process that - after considerable input from stakeholders and community outreach - resulted in the County's Los Angeles River Master Plan (County Master Plan) in 1996. AB 530 Page 6 The Master Plan described how economic growth could be spurred along the river in the county through zoning changes and the development of open space, recreational, cultural, artistic, educational, and other opportunities. This river revitalization aimed to "achieve a better river environment for future generations in the Los Angeles basin." The Los Angeles City Council established its own ad hoc committee on the river in 2002 and the City's Master Plan was released in 2007. Continuing the long-term goals of the County Master Plan, the City Master Plan also promoted the revitalization of the river as a multi-benefit solution to addressing and enhancing water quality and flood control while enabling safe access to the river and restoring a functional river ecosystem. In 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced that its designation of the LA River as a "traditional navigable waterway," protected under the Clean Water Act, would ensure the vitality of the river. The LA River was also identified in 2010 as a priority by the Obama administration under the America's Great Outdoors initiative and is now one of seven pilot cities for the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. Then, in May 2014, the Army Corps backed the $1 billion alternative in the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Study, a plan to restore an 11-mile stretch of the LA River from Griffith Park to downtown Los Angeles. 3)Prior and related legislation: AB 1251 (Gomez) would enact the Greenway Development and Sustainability Act in order to promote a greenway along the LA River that focuses on public-private partnerships aimed at establishing a continuous pedestrian bikeway along the LA River and its tributaries in order to foster job creation, AB 530 Page 7 economic development, and community revitalization. AB 1471 (Rendon), Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014 placed Proposition 1 on the November 2014 ballot. Prop. 1 was a successful $7.545 billion dollar general obligation bond for water-related projects and programs. Prop. 1 includes, among other provisions, $30 million each for the SMMC and the RMC as well as $100 million for urban creeks and streams. SB 1201 (De León), Chapter 212, Statutes of 2012 provided for public use of the LA River by adding education and recreational purposes to the LA County Flood Control Act where those uses were not inconsistent with flood control and water conservation. 4)Supporting arguments: Supporters state that this bill starts a conversation about how the entire LA River can be managed collaboratively because work on the Lower LA River has lagged behind the upper parts of the river. Supporters state that there is now a need for a comprehensive revitalization plan that focuses more attention and resources on the Southeast Los Angeles County cities. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support City of Bell City of Cudahy City of Lakewood AB 530 Page 8 City of Paramount Council for Watershed Health LA River Revitalization Corporation Public Counsel Urban Semillas Watershed Conservation Authority Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 AB 530 Page 9