BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 530| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 530 Author: Rendon (D), et al. Amended: 8/31/15 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: 79-0, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Lower Los Angeles River Working Group SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill establishes the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group which will be responsible for developing a revitalization plan for the Lower Los Angeles River (Lower River) watershed and the communities through which it passes by March 1, 2017. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1) Designates the Los Angeles River (River) as a traditional navigable waterway protected under the Clean Water Act. 2) Establishes the Los Angeles Flood Control District. The AB 530 Page 2 Flood Control District and the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) share the responsibility for the operation and management of the River's flood control and water conservation facilities. 3) Establishes the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC).The RMC's mission is, among other things, to preserve open space and habitat in order to provide for low-impact recreation and educational uses, wildlife habitat restoration and protection, and watershed improvements within its jurisdiction. The RMC's territory includes the Lower River. 4) Establishes the Water Quality, Supply, and infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1). Proposition 1 includes $60 million for the River split equally between the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the RMC. These funds are for the purpose of multi-benefit water quality, water supply, watershed protection and restoration projects for the watersheds. In addition, River projects are eligible for certain other Proposition 1-funded purposes, such as the $100 million for urban rivers and streams. This bill: 1) Directs the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency (Secretary), in consultation with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, as specified, to appoint a local working group, the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group (working group), to develop a revitalization plan for the Lower River watershed by March 1, 2017. 2) Requires the Secretary to consider requests from local agency representatives to participate in the working group. 3) Specifies which organizations may be represented in the working group including: a) The RMC, b) The County of Los Angeles, 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 riparian to the River, AB 530 Page 3 and f) Non-profit organizations serving the region. 4) Specifies that the working group use watershed-based planning methods to develop the revitalization plan. 5) Specifies that the plan shall include watershed education programs that help Lower River communities recognize the value of the river, as specified, recognize the unique and diverse needs of the these same communities and be consistent with, enhance and may be incorporated into Los Angeles County's Master Plan for the River. 6) Directs the RMC to provide necessary staffing to the working group for plan development. 7) Provides the development and implementation of the plan will be eligible for any public or private source of funding, including, but not limited to, from Proposition 1, and specifies eligible plan implementing entities. 8) Declares the need for this special law. 9) Makes a series of supporting legislative findings. Background The River forms from its headwaters in the western San Fernando Valley and flows easterly across the Valley through Griffith Park where the river turns to the south, and passes through downtown Los Angeles and additional downstream cities en route to its estuary in Long Beach. The River is entirely with the County of Los Angeles (County). The approximately 32 miles of the River upstream of the City of Vernon is considered to be the upper River and is within the bounds of the City of Los Angeles. The approximately 19 miles of the Lower River includes the Cities of Vernon, Commerce, Maywood, Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, South Gate, Lynwood, Compton, Paramount, Carson and Long Beach. The areas surrounding the River are widely considered to have relatively few open space and park areas. Particularly along the Lower River, industrial activity and railyards immediately AB 530 Page 4 adjacent to the River serve to isolate the River from the surrounding communities. In the early 1990s, community activism over turning a railyard adjacent to the River into open space coincided with the County beginning a process that - after considerable input from stakeholders and community outreach - resulted in the County's Los Angeles River Master Plan in 1996. 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. Ultimately over several decades, the River will be returned to a less-polluted, functioning riparian environment in as many reaches as possible, while still controlling flooding and providing recreational opportunities. The City of Los Angeles' Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan was released in 2007. Continuing the long-term goals of the County's Master Plan, the Revitalization 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. The City's Revitalization Master Plan focused on the upper River. Both plans contain a list of River projects to be completed and seek to re-focus the surrounding neighborhoods on the River to help form a sense of identity, improve the quality of life and boost civic pride. Since the Master Plan and Revitalization Master Plan were developed, numerous River restoration efforts including the creation of habitat, pocket parks and bikeways have been undertaken, as well as guidelines established for signage and other features. In recent years, stretches of the River have been opened annually for kayaking and other recreational activities. These activities on the River itself have received considerable media coverage and have been publicly popular. In 2014 the Corps recommended the most extensive restoration alternative provided by its Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Report be undertaken at an estimated cost of $1.08 billion. The area to be restored focuses on the 11 mile soft-bottomed stretch of the River from roughly Griffith Park to downtown called the ARBOR reach. AB 530 Page 5 Comments Working group membership. There is overlap/potential overlap between organizations represented on the working group and on the RMC's board. These include the County of Los Angeles, the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, elected officials from riparian cities, and the non-profit organization. Membership of the working group is not limited and there is evidence of significant community interest in River revitalization efforts (e.g. dozens of non-profit organizations listed as participating in various revitalization planning efforts). Related/Prior Legislation SB 355 (Lara, 2015) revises the board membership of the RMC and is currently in the Senate's Unfinished Business file. AB 1205 (Gomez, 2015) establishes the California River Revitalization and Greenway Development Act which develops a grant program to distribute auction revenues and Proposition 1 moneys, among others, to the benefit of rivers, as specified. The bill was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense file. AB 1251 (Gomez, 2015) establishes the Greenway Development and Sustainment Act which, among other things, provides for greenway easements. The bill is on the Senate Floor. Assembly Member Gomez had two earlier related bills (AB 1922 of 2014 and AB 735 of 2013) that both died. SB 1201 (de León, Chapter 212, Statutes of 2012) provides for public use of the River by adding education and recreational purposes to the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act where those uses are not inconsistent with flood control and water conservation. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: One-time costs estimated between $40,000 and $80,000 to the General Fund or the Environmental License Plate Fund (special) AB 530 Page 6 for the RMC to staff the working group. Cost pressures, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars and possibly over a billion dollars, to the General Fund and various special funds, to implement the plan. SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15) Anahuak Youth Sports Association Arroyo Seco Foundation Audobon California California Association of Local Conservation Corps California League of Conservation Voters California Trout California Watershed Network City of Bell City of Cudahy City of Lakewood City of Maywood City of Paramount Council for Watershed Health East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice Friends of the Los Angeles River From Lot to Spot Gateway Cities Council of Governments Heal the Bay Linda T. Sanchez, Representative, U.S. Congress Los Angeles Community Garden Council Los Angeles Conservation Corps Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation Mujeres de la Tierra Pacoima Beautiful T.R.U.S.T. South LA The Public Counsel The River Project The Trust for Public Land The Watershed Conservation Authority TreePeople AB 530 Page 7 Urban Semillas Water Replenishment District of Southern California OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15) Department of Finance ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "[t]he County of Los Angeles adopted a Master Plan for the entire Los Angeles River in 1996. Since then, the City of Los Angeles has done substantial work on developing a "revitalization plan" for the upper Los Angeles River, within the City's boundaries. After almost two decades, the time has come to update the Master Plan, focusing more attention and resources on the lower Los Angeles River." This bill requires the appointment of "a local working group to develop a "revitalization plan" for the lower Los Angeles River, just as the upper Los Angeles River has its plan. This revitalization plan would be consistent with and designed to enhance the County's Master Plan for the entire river." "AB 530 starts a conversation about how to improve the lower Los Angeles River in concert with the revitalization of the upper Los Angeles River, so that the entire Los Angeles River watershed could be managed collaboratively." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:The Department of Finance "is opposed to this bill because it is unnecessary." The Department notes that the RMC already coordinates with various private organizations and public agencies at all levels of government, and that several planning efforts are already underway. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/3/15 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, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, AB 530 Page 8 Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Thurmond Prepared by:Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 8/30/15 19:48:56 **** END ****