BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2616|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2616
Author: Burke (D), et al.
Amended: 8/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 6-2, 6/28/16
AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning
NOES: Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 49-26, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: California Coastal Commission: environmental
justice
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill adds an environmental justice representative
to the Coastal Commission to be appointed by the Governor
without increasing the size of the commission, adds the
definition of "environmental justice" from existing law into the
Coastal Act, and adds the prohibition on discrimination from the
state Civil Rights Act into the Coastal Act.
ANALYSIS:
AB 2616
Page 2
Existing law, pursuant to the Coastal Act:
1)Establishes the Coastal Commission in the Natural Resources
Agency and requires the Commission to consist of 15 members (3
non-voting and 12 voting).
2)Requires the membership of the Commission include six members
of the public at large and six from local governments
representatives from six coastal regions.
3)Provides that the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and
Senate Rules Committee each appoint four of the members.
4)Requires the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, 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.
5)Requires a person planning to perform or undertake any
development in the coastal zone to obtain a coastal
development permit from the Commission or local government
enforcing a Local Coastal Program.
6)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.
7)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
AB 2616
Page 3
Development Commission, nor any area contiguous thereto,
including any river, stream, tributary, creek, or flood
control or drainage channel flowing into such area.
Existing law 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)Adds an environmental justice representative who resides in,
and who works directly with, communities in the state that are
disproportionately burdened by, and vulnerable to, high levels
of pollution and issues of environmental justice to be
appointed by the Governor from one of his four appointments
(may be either a local elected official or a public member) no
later than his fourth available appointment after the
effective date of this bill.
2)Cross-references and incorporates Section 11135 of the
Government Code into the Coastal Act to prohibit
discrimination on any and all of the bases identified in the
Civil Rights Act.
3)Cross-references and incorporates the definition of
"environmental justice" from the Health and Safety Code into
the Coastal Act.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there is no
fiscal impact.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/25/16)
Audubon California
Azul
California Coastal Commission
AB 2616
Page 4
California Coastal Protection Network
California League of Conservation Voters
Committee for Green Foothills
Courage Campaign
Earthjustice
Environment California
NextGen Climate
Sacred Places Institute
San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper
Sierra Club California
Surfrider Foundation
Trust for Public Land
Western Alliance for Nature
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/16)
County of Santa Barbara
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, this bill gives
a voice to the environmental justice community by adding an
environmental justice member and provides the Commission the
ability to consider environmental justice issues when making
decisions regarding the California coast. She believes that the
bill is consistent with a recent law that added additional
environmental justice representatives to the California Air
Resources Control Board and a pending proposal to add
representation to the South Coast Air Quality Management Board.
An environmental/social justice coalition supports strengthening
the civil rights language in the bill but did not address the
amendment from the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the
single environmental justice appointee.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The arguments in opposition do not
address the bill as amended in the Senate Appropriations
Committee except to note that the County of Santa Barbara
believes that environmental justice should be handled by the
Commission currently and it does not support adding new
commissioners for the specific purposes that the Commission
should be handling already.
AB 2616
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 49-26, 6/2/16
AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim,
Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez,
Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Daly, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Nazarian
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
8/25/16 9:55:24
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