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 |7/8/15 |
| | |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 regular and special meetings of the Santa Clarita
Valley Sanitation District related to a policy decision on total
maximum daily load (TMDL) of any pollutant 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
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District Act. To maximize efficiency and cost effectiveness,
the 24 districts work together under a Joint Administration
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
later that month in Santa Clarita, SCVSD's Board of Directors
approved the final cleanup plan, including brine disposal by
deepwell injection.
At subsequent public meetings in Santa Clarita on the subject,
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.
Concerned residents believe SCVSD should be required to make
policy decisions related to total maximum daily loads (TMDL) of
pollutants in Santa Clarita, rather than at LACSD's headquarters
near Whittier, 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 regular and special meetings within the
boundaries of the territory over which the agency exercises
jurisdiction, where such meetings involve policy decisions
related to a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of any pollutant.
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 to 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 effectively 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 AB 951
creates a new state-mandated local program. But this bill
disclaims the state's responsibility for reimbursing the Santa
Clarita Valley Sanitation District 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 (7/2/15)
Support : Unknown.
Opposition : Unknown.
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