BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 530
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
530 (Rendon) - As Introduced February 23, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency
(NRA) to appoint the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group
(Working Group) to develop a revitalization plan (Plan) for the
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lower Los Angeles River by March 1, 2017. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and
Mountains Conservancy (Conservancy) to staff the Working
Group.
2)Requires the NRA Secretary, in coordination with the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to appoint members to the
Working Group including, but not limited to, representatives
from the following:
a) The Conservancy
b) Los Angeles County
c) The Gateway Cities Council of Governments
d) The Los Angeles Gateway Region Integrated Regional Water
Management Joint Powers Authority
e) Elected officials from cities that border the Lower Los
Angeles River
f) Nonprofit organizations serving the Los Angeles region.
1)Authorizes the development and implementation of the Plan to
be funded from any public or private source including the $100
million in funding from the Water Quality, Supply, and
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Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1).
2)Provides entities eligible to implement the Plan and receive
state funding include but are not limited to state agencies,
local agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Potential reimbursable local state mandated costs in the
$250,000 range (GF).
2)Additional costs, in the $50,000 to $100,000 range for the
Conservancy to staff the Working Group and develop the Plan.
3)Minor, absorbable costs for NRA.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, although the 1996 County
Master Plan included a few projects for cities along the Lower
LA River, there is not a specific revitalization plan for this
area. This bill provides a comprehensive plan to focus 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
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Long Beach.
2)Background. The LA River is 51 miles long, contained entirely
within the County of Los Angeles, and passes through 13
cities, including 32 miles that stretch across the City of Los
Angeles. The LA River begins in Canoga Park, at the
confluence of Bell Creek and the Arroyo Calabasas, and then
flows mostly east through the San Fernando Valley where it is
joined by several tributaries. In Burbank, it enters and
begins skirting Griffith Park, bending sharply southward as it
does so. This stretch of the LA River, down to Elysian Park,
is called the Glendale Narrows, and contains one of only three
stretches of the river with an earthen bottom. After leaving
the Glendale Narrows, the river continues southward through
downtown Los Angeles until it eventually reaches Long Beach
Harbor.
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.
In September 2013, the Army Corps, in conjunction with the
City of Los Angeles, announced the availability of a Draft
Integrated Feasibility Report (Draft IFR) for the Los Angeles
River Ecosystem Restoration Study. In May 2014, the Army
Corps backed the $1 billion alternative in the study to
restore an 11-mile stretch of the LA River from Griffith Park
to downtown Los Angeles.
3)Bond Funding. Proposition 1 provides $30 million for the
Conservancy and $100 million for urban rivers and streams
including, but not limited to the LA River and its
tributaries as defined in both the Conservancy Act and the
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Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) Act.
The Governor's proposed 2015-16 budget includes Proposition 1
appropriations of $18 million for the SMMC and $15.3 million
for the Conservancy.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081