BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1274


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          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:










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          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  








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            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  








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            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:












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          Support




          State Lands Commission (sponsor)




          Opposition


          None on file 




          Analysis Prepared by:Paul Jacobs / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092