BILL NUMBER: SB 900 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Jackson
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Williams)
JANUARY 21, 2016
An act to amend Section 6217 of, and to add Section 6212 to, the
Public Resources Code, relating to state lands.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 900, as introduced, Jackson. State lands: coastal hazard
removal and remediation program.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Lands Commission in the
Natural Resources Agency and prescribes the functions and duties of
the commission. Under existing law, the commission has jurisdiction
over various state lands, including coastal lands.
This bill would require, upon appropriation of moneys by the
Legislature, the commission to administer a coastal hazard removal
and remediation program, as specified. The bill would authorize the
commission to seek and accept on behalf of the state any gift,
bequest, devise, or donation whenever the gift and the terms and
conditions thereof will aid in actions undertaken to administer that
program. The bill would authorize the commission to seek to abandon,
in cooperation with the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources, legacy oil and gas wells that present a hazard to the
public health and safety and the environment. The bill would require
the commission to annually report to the Legislature the activities
and accomplishments of the program.
(2) Existing law, with specified exceptions, generally requires
the State Lands Commission, on and after July 1, 2006, to deposit all
revenue, money, and remittances, derived from mineral extraction
leases on state tide and submerged lands, including tideland oil
revenue, into the General Fund, to be available upon appropriation by
the Legislature for specified purposes. Existing law establishes the
Land Bank Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, from which the
commission may expend moneys for management and improvement of real
property held by the commission, as trustee, to provide open space,
habitat for plants and animals, and public access.
This bill would require that, for the 2017-18 fiscal year, out of
those funds deposited into the General Fund by the commission, the
sum of $2,000,000 be transferred to the Land Bank Fund and be
available, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, for the
purpose of implementing the coastal hazard and remediation program.
The bill would require that, commencing with the 2018-19 fiscal year
and each fiscal year thereafter, an amount sufficient to bring the
unencumbered balance of the Land Bank Fund available for the purpose
of implementing the program to $2,000,000 be transferred to that fund
and be available, upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act,
for the purpose of implementing the program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Scattered along the California coastline are the remnants of
many old, manmade structures including abandoned oil and gas wells,
groins, jetties, piers, pilings, and seawalls.
(b) These remnants, which are often covered and uncovered by
tides, are the legacy of the rapid commercial development along the
coastline that began just before the turn of the 20th century.
(c) Most legacy wells were abandoned in the early 1900s when there
was little or no oversight of the abandonment activities, so the
level of demolition and removal, if any, varied from well to well.
Some legacy wells, therefore, may seep oil into the surf zone
impacting swimmers, surfers, and other recreational users, and
causing environmental degradation.
(d) The State Lands Commission has primary jurisdiction over
sovereign lands that are held in trust for statewide public purposes,
including, commerce, navigation, fishing, recreation, and open space
and habitat preservation.
(e) The State Lands Commission has long recognized the serious and
ongoing health concerns and safety hazards posed by coastal hazards
and legacy wells.
(f) There is a critical need for adequate funding to conduct an
in-depth inventory of coastal hazards, including legacy oil and gas
wells and related infrastructure, along the California coastline. An
assessment of the entitlement of lands and the engineering
requirements and related funding needs for removal of coastal hazards
is necessary to begin considering how to remove coastal hazards and
remediate legacy wells.
(g) Provided adequate funding, the State Lands Commission can
inventory coastal hazards, legacy wells and other oil and gas related
hazards along the California coastline, including determining
specific GPS locations, assessing entitlement requirements, preparing
preliminary engineering requirements and removal cost estimates for
each hazard, and removing and remediating hazards that are a
significant risk to public health and safety and the environment.
Adequate funding will also enable the State Lands Commission to
survey and monitor oil seepage in state waters under its jurisdiction
and on tidelands, and to request studies to determine oil seepage
locations, rates, environmental impacts, and mitigation measures.
SEC. 2. Section 6212 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
6212. (a) Upon appropriation of moneys by the Legislature for the
purposes of this section, the commission shall administer a coastal
hazard removal and remediation program to do all of the following:
(1) Remove coastal hazards from lands under its jurisdiction.
(2) Conduct an in-depth inventory of the legacy oil and gas wells
and other coastal hazards along the California coastline.
(3) Survey and monitor oil seepage in state waters and tidelands
under its jurisdiction and request studies to determine oil seepage
locations, rates, environmental impacts, and possible mitigation
measures.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code and any
other law requiring approval by a state officer of gifts, bequests,
devises, or donations, the commission may seek and accept on behalf
of the state any gift, bequest, devise, or donation whenever the gift
and the terms and conditions thereof will aid in actions undertaken
pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) In cooperation with the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources, the commission may seek to abandon legacy oil and gas
wells that present a hazard to the public health and safety and the
environment.
(d) The commission shall annually report to the Legislature the
activities and accomplishments of the program. The commission may
include this information in the annual report it submits pursuant to
Section 8618.
(e) For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:
(1) "Coastal hazards," include, but are not limited to, manmade
structures, including piers, jetties, groins, seawalls, and
facilities associated with past oil extraction operations, that pose
a hazard to the public health and safety. Coastal hazards may include
wood or steel piles or piling, sheet metal pilings, H piles and H
beams, well casings, well caissons, railroad irons, cables, angle
bars, pipes, pipelines, rip rap, and wood beams and structures.
(2) "Legacy oil and gas wells" are oil and gas wells that were
drilled in the surf zone or just offshore before the enactment of the
State Tidelands Act of 1921.
SEC. 3. Section 6217 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
6217. (a) With the
exception of revenue derived from state school lands and from sources
described in Sections 6217.6, 6301.5, 6301.6, 6855, and Sections
8551 to 8558, inclusive, and Section 6404 (insofar as the proceeds
are from property that has been distributed or escheated to the state
in connection with unclaimed estates of deceased persons), the
commission shall deposit all revenue, money, and remittances received
by the commission under this division, and under Chapter 138 of the
Statutes of 1964, First Extraordinary Session, in the General Fund.
Out of those funds deposited in the General Fund, sufficient moneys
shall be made available each fiscal year for the following purposes:
(1)
(a) Payment of refunds, authorized by the commission,
out of appropriations made for that purpose.
(2)
(b) Payment of expenditures of the commission as
provided in the annual Budget Act.
(3)
(c) Payments to cities and counties of the amounts
specified in Section 6817 for the purposes specified in that section,
out of appropriations made for that purpose.
(4)
(d) Payments to cities and counties of the amounts
agreed to pursuant to Section 6875, out of appropriations made for
that purpose.
(e) (1) For the 2017-18 fiscal year, the sum of two million
dollars ($2,000,000) shall be transferred to the Land Bank Fund and,
notwithstanding Section 8610, shall be available, upon appropriation
in the annual Budget Act, for the purpose of implementing the
commission's coastal hazard and remediation program provided in
Section 6212.
(2) Commencing with the 2018-19 fiscal year, and each fiscal year
thereafter, an amount sufficient to bring the unencumbered balance of
the Land Bank Fund available for the purpose of implementing the
commission's coastal hazard and remediation program provided in
Section 6212 to two million ($2,000,000) shall be transferred to the
Land Bank Fund and, notwithstanding Section 8610, shall be available,
upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, for the purpose of
implementing the commission's coastal hazard and remediation program
provided in Section 6212.
(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2006.