BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1274 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Das Williams, Chair AB 1274 (Stone) - As Amended March 26, 2015 SUBJECT: Public lands: geological or geophysical surveys SUMMARY: Authorizes the State Lands Commission to permit geophysical surveys on state lands, subject to specified conditions and exceptions. EXISTING LAW: 1)The Commission currently has authority to issue permits for geological or geophysical surveys on ungranted state lands, which is currently located within an oil and gas leasing statute. 2)The Commission currently has permitting authority for obtaining core samples to obtain geological information on lands within its jurisdiction, and has discretion in adopting permitting rules and regulations for this activity. THIS BILL: AB 1274 Page 2 1)Authorizes the Commission to permit geophysical surveys on state lands, including granted and ungranted tidelands and submerged lands, subject to terms and conditions as the commission shall specify to ensure public safety and protection of the environment. 2)Provides that no permit shall be required for any geophysical survey performed on public trust lands granted by statute to a local trustee if the geophysical survey is performed in support of dredging occurring on the granted public trust lands. 3)Requires the Commission to adopt regulations and any applicable California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown COMMENTS: 1)Background. In 1941, the Commission was given permitting authority for geological or geophysical surveys on ungranted tide and submerged lands. This authority was placed into an oil and gas leasing statute because at the time most surveys were geological and intended for oil and gas exploration only. Geophysical surveys today use acoustic-generating or passive equipment for numerous purposes besides oil and gas exploration, which include scientific, engineering, safety, and research. Potential impacts of low-energy geophysical AB 1274 Page 3 surveys include detrimental effects on wildlife and negative impacts on divers or fishermen. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, the Commission has prepared a Mitigation Negative Declaration to identify and address these concerns. The Commission issued seven non-exclusive permits for geophysical survey activities in 2013 and two non-exclusive permits in 2014. A 2014 assessment of the low energy geophysical permit program found that numerous unpermitted surveys were being conducted. This unauthorized activity can lead to unfair competitive advantages and unmitigated damage to wildlife and the coastal environment. 2)Purpose of this bill. According to the Commission, the purpose of this bill is to address compliance concerns by requiring implementing regulations and to better reflect current survey practices by separating geophysical permitting authority from the oil and gas statute. The Commission states that the added statutory language will provide clarity and make the permitting authority more apparent to operators, which will help address compliance concerns. Geophysical survey compliance issues will also be addressed by expanding permitting authority to include legislatively granted public trust lands. Permits for geophysical surveys on these lands are currently not required, and it is uncertain as to how many surveys are being conducted on granted public trust lands. Over 80 local municipalities have been legislatively granted management responsibilities for sovereign public trust lands, and the Commission maintains residual and review authority for these granted lands. 3)Existing law. As stated earlier, existing law (Public Resources Code, Section 6826) already contains language regarding permitting for geophysical surveys on state lands. The existing statute also has requirements for geophysical survey permittees to report results, logs, and records from their operations, as well as confidentiality conditions for AB 1274 Page 4 the members of the Commission. Having duplicative permitting authority might cause confusion during implementation of this bill. As the bill moves forward the author and sponsor should consider how to resolve this duplication. 4)Compliance enforcement. It appears uncertain how the added statutory language will significantly reduce unpermitted surveys on public lands. What type of enforcement actions is the Commission planning on taking in order to resolve these concerns? 5)Suggested Amendments. In order to better clarify and align the regulations with the intent of the language, the author and committee may wish to consider striking the reference to CEQA and instead add the following line to Section 6212.3 (c) on page 3, line 11: "The regulations shall include conditions that address and minimize the potential for impacts to aquatic life or to the marine and coastal environment that might arise from geophysical surveys performed on state lands" Also, in order to clearly state how the Commission intends to improve enforcement compliance, the author and committee may wish to consider adding subdivision (d) in Section 6212.3 to read: "(d) The Commission may enforce compliance with the permit through actions such as: (1) Providing educational outreach to increase awareness of permitting regulations and enforcement actions. (2) Using a toll-free number to report permit violators. (3) Issuing cease and desist orders to permit violators." REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: AB 1274 Page 5 Support State Lands Commission (sponsor) Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Paul Jacobs / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092