BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2002
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 2002
(Mark Stone) - As Amended April 12, 2016
SUBJECT: Political Reform Act of 1974: California Coastal
Commission: communications
SUMMARY: Provides that communicating with the Coastal
Commission (Commission) in order to influence specified actions
can result in a person being considered a "lobbyist" under the
Political Reform Act (PRA). Prohibits an ex parte communication
with a member of the Commission regarding a matter during the 24
hours before that matter will be discussed at a Commission
hearing.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and
makes it responsible for the impartial, effective
administration and implementation of the PRA.
2)Defines a "lobbyist," for the purposes of the PRA, as an
individual who receives $2,000 or more in a calendar month, or
whose principal duties as an employee are, to communicate with
an agency official, elected state official, or legislative
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official for the purpose of influencing legislative or
administrative action. This definition does not apply to any
elected public official acting in her official capacity, or
any state employee acting within the scope of his or her
employment.
3)Defines "administrative action," for the purposes of the PRA,
as either of the following:
a) The proposal, drafting, development, consideration,
amendment, enactment, or defeat by any state agency of any
rule, regulation, or other action in any ratemaking
proceeding or a quasi-legislative proceeding, as specified;
or,
b) With regard only to placement agents, as defined, the
decision by any state agency to enter into a contract to
invest state public retirement system assets on behalf of a
state public retirement system.
4)Defines "agency official," for the purposes of the PRA, as any
member, officer, employee, or consultant of any state agency
who as part of her official responsibilities participates in
any administrative action in other than a purely clerical,
secretarial, or ministerial capacity. Excludes Commissioners
from the agency official definition.
5)Requires a lobbyist to register as a lobbyist and to comply
with various ethics and reporting rules.
6)Requires lobbying firms and lobbyist employers to register
with the Secretary of State (SOS) and to file periodic
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disclosure reports that contain information about the firms'
and employers' lobbying interests and agencies lobbied.
7)Permits any person to testify at a Commission hearing,
workshop, or other official proceeding, or submit written
comments for the record on a matter before the Commission.
8)Requires any person who applies to the Commission for approval
of a development permit to provide the Commission with the
names and addresses of all persons who, for compensation, will
be communicating with the Commission or its staff on the
applicant's behalf or on behalf of the applicant's business
partners. Requires that disclosure to be provided to the
Commission prior to any such communication.
9)Requires Commissioners to disclose and make public any ex
parte communication by providing a full report of the
communication to the executive director within seven days of
the communication or, if the communication occurs within seven
days of the next Commission hearing, to the Commission on the
record of the proceeding at that hearing.
a) Defines an "ex parte communication," for the purposes of
communications related to actions of the Commission, as any
oral or written communication between a member of the
Commission and an interested person about a matter within
the Commission's jurisdiction, which does not occur in a
public hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or
that is not on the record at such a proceeding.
b) Defines an "interested person" as (a) any applicant,
applicant's agent or representative, or participant in a
Commission proceeding, (b) any person with a financial
interest in a matter before the Commission, or her agent or
employee, or (c) a representative acting on behalf of any
civic, environmental, neighborhood, business, labor, trade,
or similar organization who intends to influence the
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decision of a Commissioner.
c) Defines a "matter within the commission's jurisdiction"
as any permit action, federal consistency review, appeal,
local coastal program, port master plan, public works plan,
or any other quasi-judicial matter requiring Commission
action, for which an application has been submitted to the
Commission.
10)Prohibits a Commissioner who has knowingly had an ex parte
communication that has not been reported as required from
voting on the matter or influencing the Commission in any way.
Provides that knowing violations of the disclosure or recusal
requirements can result in fines of up to $7,500, and a court
order for the Commission to revoke its action and rehear the
matter.
THIS BILL:
1)Provides that communications with Commissioners regarding
specified business before the Commission can result in a
person being considered a lobbyist under the PRA, pursuant to
the following:
a) Expands the definition of "administrative action" to
also mean various actions intending to influence decisions
in proceedings before the Commission.
b) Provides, for the purposes of a quasi-judicial matter
before the Commission, that the term "agency official" only
means Commissioners, thereby generally excluding
communications with staff or consultants of the Commission
regarding matter before the Commission from the types of
communications that may result in a person being classified
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as a lobbyist under this bill.
c) Exempts from the definition of "lobbyist," for the
purposes of this bill, an employee of a local government
agency seeking, within the scope of his or her employment,
to influence quasi-judicial decisions of the Commission.
2)Requires Commissioners to disclose any ex parte communication
in writing at least 24 hours before a hearing if the
communication occurs within seven days of the next hearing and
relates to a matter that the Commission will discuss at the
hearing. Prohibits Commissioners or an interested person in a
Commission action from conducting an ex parte communication
within 24 hours before a hearing regarding a matter that the
Commission will discuss at that hearing.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's statement.
Currently members of the California Coastal Commission are
lobbied without the same level of transparency that is met
when other state officials are lobbied. AB 2002 will amend
the California Coastal Act and the California Political
Reform Act to require that those lobbying the Commission
must register with the Fair Political Practices Commission
as a lobbyist; they must disclose activities they are
pursuing on behalf of a client.
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The decisions made by the Commission can have broad
and lasting impacts on coastal conservation and
coastal access. The Commission works with cities and
counties in the coastal zone to approve land use
policy that reflects the values put forth by the
voters in 1972. Due to the gravity of these
decisions, transparency of the process is critical.
2)Coastal Commission. The Commission was established by
voter initiative in 1972 (Proposition 20) and later made
permanent by the Legislature through adoption of the
California Coastal Act of 1976 (Coastal Act). In
partnership with coastal cities and counties, the
Commission plans and regulates the use of land and water
in the coastal zone. Development activities, which are
broadly defined by the Coastal Act to include
construction of buildings, divisions of land, and
activities that change the intensity of use of land or
public access to coastal waters, generally require a
Coastal Development Permit (CDP) from either the
Commission or the local government with a certified Local
Coastal Program (LCP).
The Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial state
agency, and is composed of 12 voting members, appointed
equally (4 each) by the Governor, the Senate Rules
Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly. Six of the
voting commissioners are locally elected officials and
six are appointed from the public at large. Three ex
officio (non-voting) members represent the Natural
Resources Agency, the Transportation Agency, and the
State Lands Commission.
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According to the Commission's mission statement:
The Commission is committed to protecting and
enhancing California's coast and ocean for present and
future generations. It does so through careful
planning and regulation of environmentally-sustainable
development, rigorous use of science, strong public
participation, education, and effective
intergovernmental coordination.
3)Ex parte communications. Ex parte communications refer to any
communication made in private (i.e., off the record and
without notice and opportunity for all parties to participate)
between an interested party in a decision-making process and
any state official in a decision-making position. Ex parte
communication disclosure requirements for state policy makers
are intended to provide the public with information regarding
a decision and to prevent bias in decision makers. Prior to
1992, there was no mention of ex parte communications in the
Coastal Act. There were claims of frequent unreported ex
parte communications at the Commission. In 1992, basic ex
parte communications reporting was added to the Coastal Act.
In 2014, AB 474 (Stone), Chapter 125, Statutes of 2014,
improved ex parte communications reporting requirements. The
additions to the reporting requirements included the identity
of the person on whose behalf the communication was made, the
identity of all persons present during the communication, and
a complete, comprehensive description of the content of the ex
parte communication, including a complete set of all text and
graphic material that was part of the communication. However,
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concerns remain about ex parte communications at the
Commission. Those concerns include the quality of the oral
reports that are required within a week of a meeting and the
ability of the public to find specific ex parte communication
reports. This bill requires written reports for all ex parte
communications. This bill also prohibits ex parte
communications within 24 hours of a Commission hearing.
4)Political Reform Act of 1974. California voters passed an
initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974 that created the FPPC and
codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on
candidates, officeholders, and lobbyists. That initiative is
commonly known as the PRA. Amendments to the PRA that are not
submitted to the voters, such as the lobbying provisions of
this bill, must further the purposes of the initiative and
require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature.
5)Double-Referral. This bill was double-referred to the
Elections and Redistricting Committee and on March 30, 2016
passed out of that Committee 6-1.
6)Related legislation.
SB 1190 (Jackson) prohibits all ex parte communications at the
Commission. This bill is awaiting hearing in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
AB 2658 (Maienschein) imposes ex parte communications reporting
requirements on Commission staff. Specifies when videos and
other related material must be posted on the Commission's
website. This bill is scheduled to be heard in this Committee
on April 18.
AB 2002
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council
Audubon California
Azul
Black Surfers Collective
Blue Frontier
California Coastal Protection Network
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California League of Conservation Voters
California Native Plant Society
California Watershed Network
CALPIRG
The City Project
Climate Parents
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Controller Betty Yee
Courage Campaign
Environment California
Environmental Defense Center
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Friends of Harbors, Beaches, and Parks
Hispanic Access Foundation
Humboldt Baykeeper
IDARE Sustainable Leadership
Inland Empire Waterkeeper
Klamath Riverkeeper
Los Angeles Waterkeeper
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
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Monterey Coastkeeper & Otter Project
National Parks Conservation Association
The Nature Conservancy
Orange County Coastkeeper
Petaluma River Council
Preserve Rural Sonoma County
Russian Riverkeeper
San Diego Coastkeeper
San Francisco Baykeeper
San Luis Obispo Channelkeeper
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Sierra Club California
Smith River Alliance
Sonoma County Conservation Action
Surfrider Foundation
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Ventura Coastkeeper
WILDCOAST
Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation
One individual
Opposition
California Apartment Association
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Cattlemen's Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
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California Farm Bureau Federation
California Independent Petroleum Association
Western States Petroleum Association
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092