BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 798
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
SB
798 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water) - As Amended May
6, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
SUBJECT: Natural resources.
SUMMARY: Makes numerous technical changes to update the Fish
and Game, Public Resources and Water Codes. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Clarifies that actions taken by the Fish and Game Commission
to conform sport fishing regulations to federal regulations
are not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
2)Repeals several obsolete provisions of the Fish and Game Code
relating to sales of licenses and permits that are no longer
applicable now that all licenses, permits, reservations, tags
and other entitlements are issued through the Department of
Fish and Wildlife's (DFW's) Automated License Data System
(ALDS), which replaced DFW's paper license inventory system.
Makes other conforming changes.
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3)Deletes several obsolete references to the former Bay Delta
Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp which sunset.
4)Clarifies the process and conditions for state acceptance of
jurisdiction over land within the state currently under the
jurisdiction of the United States by the State Lands
Commission (SLC).
5)Changes the number of public members on the Range Management
Advisory Committee to the State Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection from two to three, and provides that one member
shall be nominated by the California Association of Resource
Conservation Districts instead of the Watershed Fire Council
of Southern California.
6)Amends the Coastal Act to require that the Coastal Commission
meet at least 10 times annually instead of once per month.
7)Repeals a provision in the Coastal Act providing that nothing
in law shall preclude or prevent the appointment of a public
member to the Coastal Commission who is not a locally elected
official.
8)Amends the Water Code to delete several obsolete and outdated
provisions and to update references.
9)Clarifies that complaints served by the State Water Resources
Control Board (Water Board) imposing administrative civil
liability must inform the party served of the requirements and
deadlines for requesting a hearing in writing, and that the
Board may adopt an order setting administrative civil
liability without a hearing if a written request for a hearing
is not delivered to, received by mail, or served on the board
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within 20 days.
10)Makes clarifying changes regarding temporary water diversion
and use permits that automatically expire 180 days after the
authorization takes effect, including that the 180 day period
does not include time required for monitoring, reporting, or
mitigation before or after the authorization.
11)Repeals sections of the Water Code relating to the Water
Resources Control Board Revolving Fund.
12)Makes other technical and grammatical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes the Fish and Game Commission to establish by
regulation an automatic process to conform its sport fishing
regulations to federal regulations.
2)Establishes different procedures for issuance of licenses and
permits from the DFW for fishing and hunting, both through a
paper process, and through the DFW's ALDS, which is designed
to replace the DFW's paper license inventory system.
3)Establishes conditions by which the Legislature accepts
jurisdiction over lands within the state currently under the
jurisdiction of the United States, including that the SLC
holds a hearing to determine if the acceptance, known as
"retrocession" is in the best interest of the state, pursuant
to regulatory procedures adopted by the SLC.
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4)Requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to
appoint a Range Management Advisory Committee and requires 2
public members to be appointed to the board, including one
member nominated by the Watershed Fire Council of Southern
California.
5)Requires the Coastal Commission to meet at least once per
month.
6)Authorizes the Water Board to issue a complaint to a person
who violates certain use and diversion of water requirements
and impose administrative civil liability on the violator.
Requires that the complaint be served and inform the party
served that they may request a hearing within 20 days from the
date of service.
7)Authorizes the Water Board to issue temporary permits for
diversion and use of water that automatically expire after 180
days.
8)Required the Water Board to adopt general conditions for small
irrigation use for facilities used for frost protection by
June 30, 2012.
9)Establishes the Water Rights Fund and the Water Resources
Control Board Revolving Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: This bill is a committee bill that makes numerous
primarily technical changes to clarify and update the Public
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Resources, Fish and Game, and Water Codes.
1)Author's statement: This bill makes clarifying and technical
changes to the Fish and Game Code and Water Code. This bill
includes an express exemption from the APA for FGC conforming
state sport fishing regulations to federal regulations. In
addition, it removes obsolete sections that reference the
paper licensing system at DFW that was replaced by the ALDS.
This bill also combines hearings for proposed government
retrocessions, and requires the California Coastal Commission
to meet 10 times annually rather than once per month. This
bill provides clarity as to the rights and responsibilities of
the Water Board and the timelines for complaints and permits
for the diversion of water. It also provides technical
cleanup of the Water Code as it relates to the Water Board,
updates references to the DFW within the Water Code, and
repeals outdated provisions.
2) Background: This bill makes a number of technical changes to
clarify and update provisions of the Fish and Game Code,
Public Resources Code, and Water Code, including provisions
related to fishing licenses and FGC regulations, and Water
Board processes related to water diversion and use permits, as
described above. The changes are primarily technical and
clarifying.
3)Prior and related legislation: Regarding the provision on
retrocession, AB 2764 (Committee on Natural Resources),
Chapter 512, Statutes of 2014, updated the Government Code to
more closely align with federal statute and combine hearings
for cession of criminal jurisdiction, but a similar update was
not performed for retrocessions of legislative jurisdiction
from the United States. This bill makes those changes.
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AB 435 (Goldberg), Chapter 112, Statutes of 2001, first added
provisions to the Fish and Game Code regarding DFW's
developing ALDS in 2001, but provisions related to the DFW's
paper licensing system were retained at that time until the
ALDS was phased in and fully implemented. Now that
implementation has occurred, the provisions regarding the
paper licensing system are obsolete and would be repealed by
this bill.
AB 2402 (Huffman), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2012, among other
things, changed the name of the former Department of Fish and
Game to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. This bill
updates existing provisions of the Water Code to reflect that
change.
4)Supporting Arguments: The State Lands Commission states that
the amendment to Government Code §113 "preserves a party's
right to object" to a proposed retrocession "while
simultaneously streamlining the process."
5)Opposing Arguments: None received.
6)Suggested Amendment: A concern has been raised regarding the
provision of this bill that allows the Coastal Commission to
meet 10 times per year instead of monthly. The concern is
that this change could have the unintentional effect of
interfering with some other statutory time frames, for
example, a requirement that a hearing be held within 49 days
for a substantial issue determination on appeal. Committee
staff suggests the following amendment which should address
this issue:
30315. (a)The commission shall meet at least 10 times
annually at a place convenient to the public, but shall not go
for two consecutive months without a meeting . All meetings of
the commission shall be open to the public.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Sierra Club California
State Lands Commission
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096