BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 355
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Date of Hearing: July 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 355
(Lara) - As Amended June 25, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill increases the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers
and Mountains Conservancy's (Conservancy) governing board to 15
voting members and 9 ex officio members. Specifically, this
bill:
SB 355
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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.
b) A member of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of
the Assembly.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor, absorbable state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The recently approved state water bond provides
millions of dollars in funding opportunities for the
revitalization of the Los Angeles River watershed,
including parks and open space along the river.
Opportunities for improvements to the Lower Los Angeles
River directly impact the communities that border the
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river.
This bill modifies the Conservancy board to include
representation from the cities that border the river in
order to provide a local perspective on plans and
developments.
The Author further notes that adding state elected
officials as non-voting board members in an advisory
capacity has proven successful at other state
conservancies.
2)Background. 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.
3)Bond Funding. Proposition 1 provides $30 million for the
Conservancy and $100 million for urban rivers and streams
including, but not limited to the LA River and its
tributaries as defined in both the Conservancy Act and the
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) Act.
4)State Conservancies. There are currently 10 state
conservancies located within the Natural Resources Agency: a)
Sierra Nevada Conservancy; b) California Tahoe Conservancy; c)
State Coastal Conservancy; d) San Joaquin River Conservancy;
e) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy; f) Coachella
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Mountains Conservancy; g) San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles
Rivers Conservancy; h) Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy; i)
Baldwin Hills Conservancy; and j) San Diego River Conservancy.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081