BILL NUMBER: AB 2616 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Burke
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mark Stone)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Sections 30213, 30301,
30301 and 30604 of, and to repeal Section 30500.1 of,
of the Public Resources Code, relating to
coastal resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2616, as amended, Burke. California Coastal Commission:
environmental justice.
Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, establishes the
California Coastal Commission and prescribes the membership and
functions and duties of the commission. Existing law provides that
the commission consists of 15 members.
This bill would increase the membership of the commission to 18
and would require by requiring 3
additional members to be appointed, one each by the Governor, the
Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the Assembly, who
represent and work directly with communities in the state that are
most burdened by, and vulnerable to, high levels of pollution and
issue issues of environmental justice,
as defined.
Existing law requires maximum access and recreational
opportunities to be provided to the public in the state's coastal
areas and, in that regard, requires lower cost visitor and
recreational facilities to be protected, encouraged, and, where
feasible, provided.
This bill would additionally require housing opportunities for
persons of low and moderate income to be protected, encouraged, and,
where feasible, provided in coastal areas.
Existing law provides that no local coastal program is required to
include housing policies and programs.
This bill would repeal that provision.
Existing law requires any person, as defined, wishing to perform
or undertake any development, as defined, in the coastal zone to
obtain a permit, except as provided. Existing law prescribes a
process for the certification of local coastal programs in the state
and requires that, requires, after
certification of the local coastal program, a coastal
development permit to be issued if the issuing agency, or
the commission on appeal, finds that the proposed development is in
conformity with the certified local coastal program.
This bill would authorize the issuing agency, or the commission on
appeal, to consider environmental justice, as defined, or the
equitable distribution of environmental benefits in communities
throughout the state, when acting on a coastal development permit.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 30213 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
30213. Lower cost visitor and recreational facilities and housing
opportunities for persons of low and moderate income shall be
protected, encouraged, and, where feasible, provided. Developments
providing public recreational opportunities are preferred.
The commission shall not do either of the following:
(a) Require that overnight room rentals be fixed at an amount
certain for any privately owned and operated hotel, motel, or other
similar visitor-serving facility located on either public or private
lands.
(b) Establish or approve any method for the identification of low
or moderate income persons for the purpose of determining eligibility
for overnight room rentals in any of those facilities.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 30301 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
30301. The commission shall consist of the following 18 members:
(a) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
(b) The Secretary of Transportation.
(c) The Chairperson of the State Lands Commission.
(d) Six representatives of the public from the state at large. The
Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the
Assembly shall each appoint two of these members.
(e) Six representatives selected from six coastal regions. The
Governor shall select one member from the north coast region and one
member from the south central coast region. The Speaker of the
Assembly shall select one member from the central coast region and
one member from the San Diego coast region. The Senate Committee on
Rules shall select one member from the north central coast region and
one member from the south coast region. For purposes of this
division, these regions are defined as follows:
(1) The north coast region consists of the Counties of Del Norte,
Humboldt, and Mendocino.
(2) The north central coast region consists of the Counties of
Sonoma and Marin and the City and County of San Francisco.
(3) The central coast region consists of the Counties of San
Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey.
(4) The south central coast region consists of the Counties of San
Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.
(5) The south coast region consists of the Counties of Los Angeles
and Orange.
(6) The San Diego coast region consists of the County of San
Diego.
(f) Three representatives of, and who work directly with,
communities in the state that are most burdened by, and vulnerable
to, high levels of pollution and issues of environmental justice, as
defined in subdivision (e) of Section 65040.12 of the Government
Code, including, but not limited to, communities with diverse racial
and ethnic populations and communities with low-income populations.
The Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the
Assembly shall each appoint one of these members.
SEC. 3. Section 30500.1 of the Public Resources
Code is repealed.
SEC. 4. SEC. 2. Section 30604 of the
Public Resources Code is amended to read:
30604. (a) Prior to certification of the local coastal program, a
coastal development permit shall be issued if the issuing agency, or
the commission on appeal, finds that the proposed development is in
conformity with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200) and that
the permitted development will not prejudice the ability of the local
government to prepare a local coastal program that is in conformity
with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200). A denial of a coastal
development permit on grounds it would prejudice the ability of the
local government to prepare a local coastal program that is in
conformity with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200) shall be
accompanied by a specific finding that sets forth the basis for that
conclusion.
(b) After certification of the local coastal program, a coastal
development permit shall be issued if the issuing agency, or the
commission on appeal, finds that the proposed development is in
conformity with the certified local coastal program.
(c) Every coastal development permit issued for any development
between the nearest public road and the sea or the shoreline of any
body of water located within the coastal zone shall include a
specific finding that the development is in conformity with the
public access and public recreation policies of Chapter 3 (commencing
with Section 30200).
(d) No development or any portion thereof that is outside the
coastal zone shall be subject to the coastal development permit
requirements of this division, nor shall anything in this division
authorize the denial of a coastal development permit by the
commission on the grounds the proposed development within the coastal
zone will have an adverse environmental effect outside the coastal
zone.
(e) No coastal development permit may be denied under this
division on the grounds that a public agency is planning or
contemplating to acquire the property, or property adjacent to the
property, on which the proposed development is to be located, unless
the public agency has been specifically authorized to acquire the
property and there are funds available, or funds that could
reasonably be expected to be made available within one year, for the
acquisition. If a permit has been denied for that reason and the
property has not been acquired by a public agency within a reasonable
period of time, a permit may not be denied for the development on
grounds that the property, or adjacent property, is to be acquired by
a public agency when the application for such a development is
resubmitted.
(f) The commission shall encourage housing opportunities for
persons of low and moderate income. In reviewing residential
development applications for low- and moderate-income housing, as
defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (h) of Section 65589.5 of the
Government Code, the issuing agency, or the commission on appeal,
may not require measures that reduce residential densities below the
density sought by an applicant if the density sought is within the
permitted density or range of density established by local zoning
plus the additional density permitted under Section 65915 of the
Government Code, unless the issuing agency or the commission on
appeal makes a finding, based on substantial evidence in the record,
that the density sought by the applicant cannot feasibly be
accommodated on the site in a manner that is in conformity with
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200) or the certified local
coastal program.
(g) The Legislature finds and declares that it is important for
the commission to encourage the protection of existing and the
provision of new affordable housing opportunities for persons of low
and moderate income in the coastal zone.
(h) When acting on a coastal development permit, the issuing
agency, or the commission on appeal, may consider environmental
justice, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 65040.12 of the
Government Code, or the equitable distribution of environmental
benefits throughout the state.