BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 951 |Hearing |6/17/15 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Author: |Wilk |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |6/10/15 |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Lewis |
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Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District
Requires all regular and special meetings of the Santa Clarita
Valley Sanitation District to be held within the boundaries of
the territory over which the district exercises jurisdiction.
Background and Existing Law
The Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) requires the meetings of
local governments' legislative bodies to be "open and public,"
thereby ensuring people's access to information so that they may
retain control over the public agencies that serve them. In
addition, the Brown Act requires local agencies to hold all
regular and special meetings within the boundaries of the
territory over which they have jurisdiction. An exception under
the Brown Act allows an agency to meet outside of its area of
jurisdiction if the agency's principal office is located outside
of its territory.
The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District (SCVSD) collects
and treats wastewater from Santa Clarita homes and businesses
and discharges the resulting treated water into the Santa Clara
River. SCVSD is one of 24 independent special districts that
make up the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD), a
regional public agency organized under the County Sanitation
District Act. To maximize efficiency and cost effectiveness,
the 24 districts work together under a Joint Administration
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Agreement with one administrative staff headquartered near the
City of Whittier, which is approximately 50 miles away from
Santa Clarita.
After regional water control authorities fined SCVSD $225,000
for chloride levels above the state-mandated minimum in the
agency's treated wastewater, SCVSD prepared a proposed cleanup
strategy for public comment in April of 2013. Among other
things, the cleanup plan involved brine disposal by deep well
injection. The extended 90-day public comment period on SCVSD's
cleanup plan closed in July of 2013, and SCVSD published a
revised plan-including responses to public input and
recommendations-in October of that same year. At a meeting at
LACSD's headquarters near Whittier later that month, SCVSD's
Board of Directors unanimously agreed to certify and approve the
final cleanup plan, including the deep injection well.
The proposed brine disposal element of the project generated
significant pushback from local residents, who expressed
concerns that a deep well injection site could adversely affect
their quality of life, cause earthquakes, and harm the
community's image. Opponents criticized SCVSD for holding its
final meeting on the matter in Whittier, rather than in Santa
Clarita, a decision that critics say discouraged public comment
from the affected residents and ratepayers.
Concerned residents and some local officials believe SCVSD
should be required to make decisions related to pollutant levels
in Santa Clarita, rather than 50 miles away. They want the
Legislature to eliminate the exception to the Brown Act that
allows SCVSD to meet outside of the area over which it has
jurisdiction.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 951 requires the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation
District (SCVSD) to hold all regular and special meetings
related to a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of any pollutant
within the boundaries of the territory over which the agency
exercises jurisdiction.
Specifically, the bill directs that the statute allowing a local
agency's legislative body to meet at the principal office of the
local agency even if the office is located outside of the
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agency's territory does not apply to SCVSD.
AB 951 makes findings and declarations that the bill would
further the purpose of Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution, since it requires SCVSD to meet in Santa Clarita
instead of at the principal office of the district, which is
over fifty miles away.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill. Continuing to allow the Santa Clarita
Valley Sanitation District meet in Whittier when making policy
decisions relating to pollutant levels makes public testimony
and access to information a burden for residents living 50 miles
away in the Santa Clarita area. By removing the Brown Act
exception that allows SCVSD to hold meetings on these matters in
Whittier instead of the Santa Clarita area, AB 951 makes the
agency's meetings more accessible to residents and ratepayers,
thereby forcing SCVSD to be more transparent and accountable to
the public.
2. Water under the bridge? AB 951 requires SCVSD to meet within
the agency's area of jurisdiction to encourage transparency and
public participation. However, information published online and
provided by SCVSD suggests that the public input process was
effective in the case of the proposed deep well injection site.
Constituents communicated their concerns to SCVSD, which then
abandoned the proposed brine well in response to strong public
opposition. The substantial public input provided to SCVSD and
its response makes it unclear whether it is necessary to require
SCVSD to relocate its meetings.
3. Brown Act precedent. The Brown Act currently requires regular
and special meetings of a legislative body to be held within the
boundaries of the territory over which the local agency
exercises jurisdiction, except that the local agency may meet at
its principal office if that office is located outside the
territory over which the agency exercises jurisdiction. This
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bill amends the Brown Act to require a single agency, the SCVSD,
to hold its regular and special meetings in a single, specified
location. The Brown Act does not otherwise specify meeting
locations for a particular entity. Creating a district-specific
exemption may set a precedent that invites further amendments to
the Brown Act.
4.Special legislation . The California Constitution prohibits
special legislation when a general law can apply (Article IV,
§16). AB 951 contains findings and declarations explaining the
need for legislation that applies only to the Santa Clarita
Valley Sanitation District.
5. Mandate . Because AB 951 sets forth where SCVSD can hold its
meetings, the Legislative Counsel's Office says that SB 951
creates a new state-mandated local program. But this bill
disclaims the state's responsibility for reimbursing the city of
Santa Clarita for this new requirement, since California voters
amended the State Constitution in 2012 (Proposition 42) to
eliminate the state's responsibility to pay local governments
for compliance with the Brown Act and its amendments.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government 9-0
Assembly Appropriations 17-0
Assembly Floor 77-0
Support and
Opposition (6/10/15)
Support : Unknown.
Opposition : Unknown.
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