BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 37 Hearing Date: March 24,
2015
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|Author: |Nielsen | | |
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|Version: |February 12, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor |
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Subject: Water: floods
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
In 2006, the voters ratified the Disaster Preparedness and Flood
Prevention Bond Act of 2006, shown on the ballot as Proposition
1E (Prop. 1E). Prop. 1E authorized $4.090 B in general
obligation bonds to fund infrastructure projects for flood
protection and levee repair and improvement.
Among other things, Prop. 1E provided $3 B for:
Evaluating, repairing, rehabilitating, reconstructing, or
replacing levees, weirs, bypasses, and facilities of the State
Plan of Flood Control, (SPFC);
Improving or adding facilities to the State Plan of Flood
Control to increase levels of flood prevention for urban
areas; and
Reducing the risk of levee failure in the delta.
Two years later, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed
the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008 (SB 5, Machado).
That act required The Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
develop, and the Central Valley Flood Protect Board to adopt, a
plan for reducing the risk of flooding throughout the SPFC
system, including recommended actions and projects. That plan,
called the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP), was
developed and adopted in 2012 and identified a total flood
control funding need of $14 B to $17 B.
SB 37 (Nielsen) Page 2
of ?
While the plan was being developed, DWR created a program for
improving or repairing facilities of the SPFC called the "Early
Implementation Program (EIP)." This program provided $936 M to
various projects, including $182.4 M to the Sutter Butte Flood
Control Agency (SBFCA) for the Feather River West Levee Project.
Upon completion of the CVFPP, the DWR established the Urban
Flood Risk Reduction (UFRR) Program to identify and fund
projects to reduce the risk of flooding in urban areas. The
Legislature appropriated $155 M in the 2014/15 budget for this
program. The schedule for this next round of funding is:
January 21, 2015 UFRR Program Guidelines and
Project Solicitation Package approved by the
Director, finalized and released to the public.
March 9, 2015 Concept Proposals due (or postmarked) by 5:00.
May 15, 2015 State notifies Local Agencies of results of
funding decisions.
SBFCA expects to receive additional funding through UFRR for the
Feather River West Levee Project.
Under the UFRR funding guidelines "only work performed after a
Funding Agreement is executed may be eligible for reimbursement.
However, the DWR is authorized to provide reimbursement to
funding recipients that execute a new funding agreement under
the UFRR program, or that amend an existing funding agreement
under the EIP program, for any expenditures associated with a
project initiated under the EIP program if such expenditure was
incurred after July 1, 2014 and before issuance of a funding
commitment letter or funding agreement amendment, but in no case
expenditures incurred later than October 1, 2015." So, if SBFCA
does receive additional funding for the Feather River West Levee
Project, it could receive reimbursement for expenditures
incurred after July 1, 2014 through October 1, 2015.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would authorize DWR to provide reimbursement to
funding recipients that execute a funding agreement under the
UFRR program for expenditures associated with continued funding
of a project initiated under the EIP program and incurred after
July 1, 2014, and before issuance of a funding commitment, or
amendment or execution of the funding agreement, but no later
than December 31, 2015.
SB 37 (Nielsen) Page 3
of ?
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, "Suspending work on the Feather River
West Levee Project could cost the State and local sponsor tens
of millions of dollars in construction contract claims, expired
right-of-way agreements, extended overhead and increased
financing costs. SB 37 facilitates construction moving forward
without delay, avoids burdening the local sponsor with
expenditures above the local project cost share, and avoids the
negative consequences that would result from unforeseen delays
in state contract approval of the final phase of the project.
Without this certainty, ongoing construction operations may be
forced to shut down, reducing public safety, cost effectiveness
and eroding public trust."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None received
COMMENTS
Is this really a problem? It depends on your expectations of
DWR. If you believe DWR will meet its May 15 date to award
grants and would then work expeditiously to execute funding
agreements before October 1, then no, it's not a real problem.
If, on the other hand, you think DWR is liable to run into some
difficulty causing it to miss the October 1 funding deadline,
then yes, it is a real problem.
What is the harm in passing this anyway? This bill was drafted
fairly narrowly. Should the bill be enacted and it was later
found to be unnecessary, there wouldn't likely be any lingering
consequence.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None
SUPPORT
Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency (Sponsor)
California Central Valley flood Control Association
OPPOSITION: None Received