BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 355
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
355 (Lara)
As Amended June 25, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 24-12
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |7-0 |Williams, Cristina | |
|Resources | |Garcia, Hadley, | |
| | |Harper, McCarty, | |
| | |Rendon, Mark Stone | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |14-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
SB 355
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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. Specifically, 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 Rules
Committee.
b) A member of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of
the Assembly.
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,
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and the San Gabriel Mountains and identifies underused
existing public open spaces and recommendations for providing
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 United States (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;
vi) Director of State Parks; and,
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vii) Executive Officer of the Wildlife Conservation
Board.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has minor, absorbable state costs.
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 10 conservancies within the
California Resources Agency. The Conservancy's mission is to
preserve open space and habitat in order to provide for
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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
passed Proposition 1 (2014). 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 11 voting members and two nonvoting
members. The two nonvoting members must consist of a
Senator member and an Assembly Member from districts
encompassing a portion of the Delta.
c) The remaining six conservancies do not have any
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requirements for members of the Senate or Assembly to
participate.
This bill adds legislative representation to the Conservancy's
governing board.
Analysis Prepared by:
Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN:
0001239