BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 355
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB
355 (Lara) - As Amended June 15, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 24-12
SUBJECT: San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains
Conservancy.
SUMMARY: Increases the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers
and Mountains Conservancy's (Conservancy) governing board to 15
voting members and nine ex officio members and specifies the
additional members' qualifications.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Conservancy, which is responsible for the
preservation and protection of specified lands.
2)Requires the Conservancy to prepare a San Gabriel and Lower
Los Angeles Parkway and Open Space Plan, which includes
policies and priorities for the conservation of the San
Gabriel River and its watershed, the Lower Los Angeles River,
and the San Gabriel Mountains and identifies underused
existing public open spaces and recommendations for providing
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better public use and enjoyment.
3)Establishes the Conservancy's governing board and specifies
the board shall consist of 13 voting members and seven ex
officio members, as follows:
a) Voting members:
i) A member of the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors;
ii) Two members of the board of directors of the San
Gabriel Valley Council of Governments who must be a mayor
or city council member;
iii) Two members of the board of directors of the Gateway
Cities Council of Governments, one must be the mayor of
Long Beach or a Long Beach city council member and one
must be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly;
iv) Two members of the Orange County Division of the
League of California Cities who must be mayors or city
council members;
v) A San Gabriel Water Association representative;
vi) A Central Basin Water Association representative;
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vii) A member proposed by an environmental organization
involved in restoration, open space, or river
preservation activities;
viii) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency;
ix) The Secretary of the California Environmental
Protection Agency; and,
x) The Director of Finance.
b) Ex officio members:
i) The District Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers;
ii) The Regional Forester of the Pacific Southwest
Region, U.S. Forest Service;
iii) Director of Los Angeles County Department of Public
Works;
iv) Director of Orange County Department of Public
Works;
v) A member of the San Gabriel River Watermaster;
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vi) Director of State Parks; and,
vii) Executive Officer of the Wildlife Conservation
Board.
THIS BILL:
1)Expands the Conservancy's voting board members from 13 to 15
and specifies the two additional members will be appointed by
the Governor. Specifies one member be a resident of a city
bordering the San Gabriel River and one member be a resident
of a city bordering the Lower Los Angeles River.
2)Expands the Conservancy's ex officio board members from seven
to nine. Requires the additional members to be:
a) A member of the Senate, appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules, whose Senate district is at least
partially contained within the territory of the
conservancy.
b) A member of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of
the Assembly, whose Assembly district is at least partially
contained within the territory of the conservancy.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
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COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill. According to the author:
The recently approved state water bond provides
millions of dollars in funding opportunities for the
revitalization of the Lower Los Angeles River
watershed, including parks and open space along the
river. Many of those funds, including a $30 million
direct allocation for watershed improvements, and a
share of $100 million for urban creek restoration,
will be allocated through the Conservancy.
Opportunities for improvements to the Lower Los
Angeles River directly impact the communities that
border the river. It is vital that the conservancy
board include representation from the cities that
border the river, to provide a local perspective on
plans and developments. Adding state elected
officials as non-voting board members in an advisory
capacity has proven successful at other state
conservancies.
2)Conservancy. The Conservancy was created by the California
Legislature in 1999. It is one of ten conservancies within
the California Resources Agency. The Conservancy's mission is
to preserve open space and habitat in order to provide for
low-impact recreation and educational uses, wildlife habitat
restoration and protection, and watershed improvements within
its jurisdiction. The territory of the Conservancy includes
the watersheds for the San Gabriel River and the lower Los
Angeles River, along with portions of the Santa Clara River
and the lower Santa Ana River. According to the Conservancy's
web-page it has received funding from Proposition 12 (2000),
Proposition 13 (2000), Proposition 40 (2002), Proposition 50
(2002) and Proposition 84 (2006) in addition to the recently
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passed Proposition 1. Several of these bonds contained
specified funding for the Conservancy [Proposition 84 ($36
million), Proposition 50 ($20 million), Proposition 40 ($40
million) and Proposition 12, which predated the establishment
of the Conservancy, provided $25 million for the Los Angeles
and San Gabriel River watersheds]. Additionally, Proposition
1 and the earlier bonds also include programs which the
Conservancy would be eligible to receive funding from, such as
urban river restoration, among others.
1)Legislative representation. There are nine other state
conservancies with varying governing board member requirements
which include:
a) State Coastal Conservancy and Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy: In addition to their governing board members,
three members of the Senate and three members of the
Assembly are required to participate. There are no regional
geographic requirements for the Senate or Assembly members.
b) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy: The governing
board consists of eleven voting members and two nonvoting
members. The two nonvoting members must consist of a Senate
member and an Assembly member from districts encompassing a
portion of the Delta.
c) The remaining six conservancies do not have any
requirements for members of the Senate or Assembly to
participate.
This bill seeks to add legislative representation to the
governing board and requires those representatives come from
districts encompassing a portion of the conservancy territory.
Although it might often be best to have participating
legislators from the region, permanently limiting the choices
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the Senate Committee on Rules and Speaker of the Assembly
might exclude the best fit for these positions. The author and
committee may wish to consider striking the requirement that
the legislative district is at least partially contained
within the territory of the conservancy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
City of Paramount
City of South Gate
City of Vernon
Office of the Mayor, City of Compton
Opposition
Anaheim Chamber of Commerce
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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