BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2616
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 2616
(Burke) - As Introduced April 12, 2016
SUBJECT: California Coastal Commission: membership:
environmental justice
SUMMARY: Increases the Coastal Commission (Commission)
membership by three members who are required to work directly
with communities in the state that are most burdened by, and
vulnerable to, high levels of pollution and issues of
environmental justice. Allows the Commission to address
affordable housing and environmental justice concerns.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Pursuant to the Coastal Act,
a) Establishes the Commission in the Natural Resources
Agency and requires the Commission to consist of 15 members
(3 non-voting and 12 voting).
b) Requires the membership of the Commission include six
members of the public at large and six from local
governments representatives from six coastal regions.
c) Provides that the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly,
and Senate Rules Committee each appoint four of the
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members.
d) Requires the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules,
and the Speaker of the Assembly to make good faith efforts
to assure that their appointments, as a whole, reflect, to
the greatest extent feasible, the economic, social, and
geographic diversity of the state.
e) Requires a person planning to perform or undertake any
development in the coastal zone to obtain a coastal
development permit (CDP) from the Commission or local
government enforcing a Local Coastal Program (LCP).
f) Defines "development" to mean, among other things, the
placement or erection of any solid material or structure on
land or in water. "Structure" includes, but is not limited
to, any building, road, pipe, flume, conduit, siphon,
aqueduct, telephone line, and electrical power transmission
and distribution line.
g) Defines the "coastal zone" as the land and water area of
the State of California from the Oregon border to the
border of the Republic of Mexico, extending seaward to the
state's outer limit of jurisdiction, including all offshore
islands, and extending inland generally 1,000 yards from
the mean high tide line of the sea. In significant coastal
estuarine, habitat, and recreational areas, the coastal
zone extends inland to the first major ridgeline
paralleling the sea or five miles from the mean high tide
line of the sea, whichever is less. In developed urban
areas, the zone generally extends inland less than 1,000
yards. The coastal zone does not include the area of
jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission, nor any area contiguous thereto,
including any river, stream, tributary, creek, or flood
control or drainage channel flowing into such area.
h) Requires lower cost visitor and recreational facilities
to be protected, encouraged, and, where feasible, provided.
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Declares a preference for developments providing public
recreational opportunities.
i) Prohibits LCP's from being required to include housing
polies and programs.
2)Defines "environmental justice" to mean the fair treatment of
people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the
development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
THIS BILL:
1)Requires that housing opportunities for persons of low and
moderate income to be protected, encouraged, and, where
feasible, provided.
2)Adds three members to the Commission who are required to work
directly with communities in the state that are most burdened
by, and vulnerable to, high levels of pollution and issues of
environmental justice. Specifies that the Governor, the
Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Rules Committee will each
appoint one of these new members.
3)Eliminates prohibition on requiring housing polies and
programs in LCPs.
4)Allows the Commission to consider environmental justice when
acting on a CDP.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
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1)Author's statement:
When the Coastal Act was originally passed it included
broad policy language requiring the provision of
affordable housing in the coastal zone for persons of
low and moderate income. From 1976 to 1981 under this
authority the Commission developed guidelines which
stated, "Meaningful access to the coast requires
housing opportunities as well as other forms of
coastal access? If the coast is not to exclude the
less affluent members of society and become an
exclusive enclave of the wealthy, affordable housing
must be protected, encouraged, and, where feasible,
provided." As a result, between 1976 and 1981 the
Commission approved approximately 5,000 affordable
units with about two-thirds of them located in
Southern California.
In the years after the Coastal Act was adopted there
were multiple attempts to undermine the Commission's
authority over affordable housing. Unfortunately, in
1981, Senate Bill 626 (Ch. 1007, Statutes of 1981) by
Senator Henry Mello repealed the Commission's
statutory authority to protect and provide affordable
housing for persons of low and moderate income in the
coastal zone. As a result of the repeal, only about
1,000 affordable units were built, instead of the
5,000 that were initially approved by the Commission.
This bill restores that authority that the Commission
initially was able to use.
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The additional three Commissioners that represent
diverse racial and ethnic populations and low-income
communities will help ensure that the California
Coastal Commission effectively addresses the needs and
perspectives of all of California's diverse residents.
The bill will also give the Commission the authority
to be an effective voice for these communities by
allowing the consideration of environmental justice
issues in a decision before the Commission.
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. 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 CDP from either the
Commission or the local government with a certified LCP.
The Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial state
agency. The Commission's mission statement is:
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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)Environmental justice. According to the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, approximately 8
million Californians (21%) live in zip codes that are
considered "highly impacted" by environmental, public health,
and socioeconomic stressors.
Nearly half of all Californians live within six miles of a
facility that is a significant
greenhouse gas emitter (46%), and they are disproportionately
people of color (62%). Throughout California, people of color
face a 50% higher risk of cancer
from ambient concentrations of air pollutants listed under the
Clean Air Act. These impacts
are felt by all Californians. The Air Resources Board (ARB)
estimates that air pollution
exposure accounts for 19,000 premature deaths, 280,000 cases
of asthma, and 1.9 million lost
work days every year.
4)This bill. This bill contains several provisions to empower
the Commission to protect affordable housing and consider
environmental justice impacts when acting on CDPs and LCPs.
These changes are consistent with the Commission's other
requirements to improve public access and protect low cost
visitor serving facilities on the coast. This bill also adds
three members to the Commission who are required to work
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directly with communities in the state that are most burdened
by, and vulnerable to, high levels of pollution and issues of
environmental justice. Each appointing authority would have
one of these appointments. Currently, the Commission voting
members are evenly divided between local governments and
public at large members. This bill would upset that balance
by adding three additional at large members who have expertise
with issues of environmental justice. Shifting the balance may
reduce representation from regions of the coast. Each
appointing authority already has four appointments. The
Governor, Speaker, and Senate Rules Committee could use their
existing appointment authority to appoint members with
expertise on issues of environmental justice. As the bill
moves forward, the author may wish to consider exploring other
options to improve the Commission's awareness of environmental
justice issues.
5)Prior Legislation.
AB 1288 (Atkins), Chapter 586, Statutes of 2015, requires the
Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly to each
appoint one member to the ARB. This bill requires appointees to
work directly with communities in the state that are most
significantly burdened by, and vulnerable to, high levels of
pollution, including communities with diverse racial and ethnic
populations and low-income populations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Amigos de los Rios
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Audubon California
Azul
California Coastal Protection Network
California League of Conservation Voters
Courage Campaign
Day One
Sierra Club California
The Nature Conservancy
Trust for Public Land
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092