BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1164 (Gatto) - Water conservation: drought tolerant
landscaping
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|Version: July 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: GOV.&F. 6-0, |
| | N.R.&W. 9-0 |
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|Urgency: Yes |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1164, an urgency measure, would prohibit cities and
counties from enacting or enforcing any ordinance or regulation
that prohibits the installation of synthetic grass or artificial
turf on residential property. The bill would also continuously
appropriate $300 million from the General Fund to the Department
of Water Resources (DWR) to provide matching funds to local
entities that provide incentives for the replacement of water
inefficient landscaping with drought tolerant landscaping, as
specified.
Fiscal
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Impact:
General Fund appropriation of $300 million, to be expended in
$100 million increments over the 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18
fiscal years.
Unknown, potentially significant DWR costs (General Fund) to
develop and administer a new grant program, likely in the low
millions annually over three years. There is no explicit
authority in the bill to allow DWR to use a portion of the
appropriated funds for administrative purposes.
No state costs are anticipated as a result of provisions that
prohibit cities and counties from enacting or enforcing
specified ordinances and regulations prohibiting synthetic
grass.
Background: Governor Brown issued two proclamations of a State of
Emergency in early 2014 due to severe and ongoing drought
conditions. In light of the impacts of the drought on water
supply, the Governor issued Executive Order B-29-15 on April 1,
2015, which includes orders to save water, increase enforcement
against water waste, invest in new technologies, and streamline
government response, as specified. Among its provisions, the
Executive Order requires the State Water Resources Control Board
to impose restrictions to achieve a statewide 25 percent
reduction in potable urban water usage through February 28,
2016, and requires DWR to lead a statewide initiative, in
partnership with local agencies, to replace 50 million square
feet of lawns and ornamental turf with drought tolerant
landscapes. DWR is directed to provide funding to allow for
lawn replacement programs in underserved communities to
complement existing local programs.
In response to the directive in the Executive Order, DWR has
developed the Turf Replacement Initiative, consisting of three
integrated program components:
A Residential Turf Rebate Program, which provides customer
rebates and contractor direct rebates for residential turf
removal and replacement efforts.
A Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Turf Replacement
Program targeting turf removal and replacement on government
and commercial sites in underserved communities of the San
AB 1164 (Gatto) Page 2 of
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Joaquin Valley.
A Statewide Campaign to Promote Drought Tolerant Landscapes,
which is a DWR partnership with state, regional, local, and
nonprofit entities to publicize the rebate initiative and
communicate the benefits of converting lawns to drought
tolerant landscapes, including outreach, community engagement,
and technical support.
The 2015 Budget Act includes $25 million in Proposition 1
general obligation bond funds designated for water use
efficiency to fund DWR's Turf Replacement Initiative. This
level of funding is expected to support the conversion of over
10 million square feet of turf. The guidelines for the
Residential Turf Rebate Program specify the state program rebate
amount will be $2 per square foot of turf removed with a maximum
rebate of $2,000 per household. The guidelines require rebated
portions of converted landscapes to only include low water use,
drought tolerant, or California native plants, and prohibit the
use of rebates for live or synthetic turf on converted
landscapes.
Existing law, Article XI, Section 7 of the California
Constitution, vests cities and counties with the police power to
make and enforce within their limits all local, police,
sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict
with general laws. Courts have interpreted the police power as
including the power to regulate the physical of appearance of
the environment within a community, including ordinances that
enforce aesthetic standards. Some California local governments
have adopted ordinances that ban residents from using synthetic
grass or artificial turf to replace natural turf lawns.
Proposed Law:
AB 1164, an urgency measure, would prohibit a city or county,
including a charter city, from enacting or enforcing any
ordinance or regulation that prohibits the installation of
synthetic grass or artificial turf on residential property. The
bill would allow local agencies to impose reasonable
restrictions on the type of synthetic grass that may be
AB 1164 (Gatto) Page 3 of
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installed if it doesn't substantially increase the costs or
effectively prohibit the installation.
AB 1164 would also continuously appropriate $300 million from
the General Fund to DWR to provide matching funds to any city,
county, or public or private water agency to provide incentives
to residents to replace water inefficient landscaping with
drought tolerant landscaping. The funds must be expended in
equal shares of $100 million for each of the 2015-16, 2016-17,
and 2017-18 fiscal years.
Related
Legislation: AB 349 (Gonzalez, 2015) would void, or make
unenforceable, any provision of a common interest development's
governing document or architectural or landscaping guidelines or
policies that prohibit the use of artificial turf or any other
synthetic surface that resembles grass. AB 349 is currently
pending on the Senate Floor. In 2011, Governor Brown vetoed SB
759 (Lieu), which contained language identical to AB 349. The
Governor's veto message stated the following:
Under this bill, homeowners associations that govern Common
Interest Developments would be forced to approve the
installation of Astro Turf. The decision about choosing
synthetic turf instead of natural vegetation should be left to
individual homeowners associations, not mandated by state law.
For this reason, I am returning this bill.
Staff
Comments: AB 1164 appropriates significant funding to DWR for
matching grants to local agencies, but does not explicitly
provide funding allowance for DWR's administrative costs. When
the legislative budget committees approved expenditures of Urban
Water Use Efficiency funds from Proposition 1 in the 2015-16
Budget, including the Turf Removal Rebate Program, $5.9 million
in state operations costs was approved for DWR to administer the
distribution of $39 million in funds. DWR would likely incur
administrative costs in the low millions to administer a program
with $100 million in annual funding over three years.
The current Turf Removal Rebate Program provides customer
rebates and contractor direct rebates for residential turf
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removal and replacement efforts. AB 1164 provides matching
funds to specified public agencies to provide incentives to
residents to replace water inefficient landscaping with drought
tolerant landscaping. Since the program would provide matching
grants, rather than direct rebates, it appears to be
inconsistent with the existing program. As such, DWR would need
to develop and adopt regulations to establish the parameters for
the program envisioned by this bill.
The Committee may wish to consider whether the level of funding
provided in the bill is appropriate. Using information in the
guidelines for the existing turf removal program, it appears
that $100 million in total expenditures would be needed to meet
the goals to replace 50 million square feet of lawns and
ornamental turf with drought tolerant landscapes, as specified
in the Governor's Executive Order. The Committee may also wish
to consider whether this purpose would be the highest and best
use for significant General Fund revenues, considering other
competing funding needs.
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