BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
                             Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:            AB 747          Hearing Date:    June 9,  
          2015
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          |Author:    |Eggman                 |           |                 |
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          |Version:   |February 25, 2015    Introduced                      |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |No               |
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          |Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor                                      |
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           Subject:  Planning and land use: Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley.


          BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
          In 2007, the Governor signed a package of five bills designed to  
          increase protection from damaging flood waters.  Included in  
          those bills, were a number of requirements for local governments  
          in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley to improve local land use  
          and other planning decisions by strengthening the link between  
          land use and flood management.

          Included in the package of bills was SB 5 (Machado, Chapter 364,  
          Statutes of 2007) that requires cities and counties to amend  
          their general plans to incorporate data from the Central Valley  
          Flood Protection Board Flood Plan and then to update their  
          zoning ordinances to be consistent with the revised general  
          plan.  Additionally, the law requires that once the general plan  
          and zoning ordinances have been updated, the local government is  
          prohibited, starting in 2016, from allowing development on  
          property within a flood hazard zone unless the property is  
          determined to have 200-year flood protection.

          That law also prohibits a city or county "within the  
          Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley shall not approve a discretionary  
          permit or other discretionary entitlement, or a ministerial  
          permit that would result in the construction of a new residence,  
          for a project that is located within a flood hazard zone unless  
          the city or county finds, based on substantial evidence in the  
          record" that certain criteria are met.







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          PROPOSED LAW
          This bill would limit the prohibition on approving a  
          discretionary permit or other discretionary entitlement to those  
          permits or entitlements that "would result in the construction  
          of a new building or construction that would result in an  
          increase in allowed occupancy for an existing building."

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
          According to the author, "In 2007, the Governor signed a package  
          of five bills intended to increase protection from damaging  
          flood waters.  Included in those bills, were a number of  
          requirements for local governments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin  
          Valley to improve local land use and other planning decisions by  
          strengthening the link between land use and flood management.  

          "Included in the package of bills was SB 5 (Machado), Chapter  
          364, Statutes of 2007, that requires cities and counties to  
          amend their general plans to incorporate data from the Central  
          Valley Flood Protection Board Flood Plan and then to update  
          their zoning ordinances to be consistent with the revised  
          general plan.  Additionally, the law requires that once the  
          general plan and zoning ordinances have been updated, the local  
          government is prohibited, starting in 2016, from allowing  
          development on property within a flood hazard zone unless the  
          property is determined to have 200-year flood protection. The  
          law also captures permits for construction and remodel that does  
          not result in an increase in allowed occupancy, which may  
          include the construction of cell towers, the reconstruction of  
          structurally unsound buildings/rooms, and other permit-required  
          work.  AB 747 revises flood hazard planning and development  
          requirements for communities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin  
          Valley to allow cities and communities within the area to issue  
          permits for construction that does not result in an increase in  
          allowable occupancy.

          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
          
          None received.

          COMMENTS
          
           Resolves A Long-Standing Dispute.   This bill amends a section of  
          the government code that has for years been the subject of  








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          conflicting interpretations.  Some suggested the section as  
          written would prohibit approving any discretionary permit within  
          a flood hazard zone.  This would include things like permits to  
          add a drive-thru at a fast food restaurant or the construction  
          of cell phone towers. In their view, the section as drafted had  
          a typo, a "missing comma".  

          Others contended that there was no missing comma, and the  
          section clearly stated what the author intended.  The amendment  
          to the government code section appears to resolve the different  
          interpretations. 

           Prior Legislation.  
            AB 2108 (Eggman) of 2014 would have made a number of changes  
            to the statutes relating to flood management in the  
            Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, including a somewhat different  
            approach to the issue that this bill is addressing, and  
            included other broader changes.  AB 2108 was never heard by a  
            policy committee in the Senate.  

           AB 125 (Eggman) of 2014 was substantially amended in the  
            Senate on August 22, 2014, to include language that is  
            substantially similar to AB 747.  Amendments to AB 125 on  
            August 30, 2014, added in a new section relating to the  
            Department of Water Resources and the Urban Flood Risk  
            Reduction Program.  That bill passed the Senate, but died on  
            the Assembly Unfinished Business File.

           Double-Referral.  The Rules Committee referred this bill to both  
          the Committee on Natural Resources and Water and to the  
          Committee on Governance and Finance. Therefore, if this bill  
          passes this committee, it will be referred to the Committee on  
          Governance and Finance, which will consider the issues within  
          their jurisdiction

          SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None 
          

          SUPPORT
          City of Stockton (co-sponsor)
          San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors (co-sponsor)
          City of Sacramento

          OPPOSITION








          AB 747 (Eggman)                                         Page 4  
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          None Received

          
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