BILL NUMBER: SB 900	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 26, 2016
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 24, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 19, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 17, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 31, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 9, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Jackson
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Williams)
   (Coauthor: Senator Pavley)

                        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, 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, upon appropriation of moneys by the Legislature,
require the commission to, within 2 years, 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, as defined, 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 $500,000 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 removal 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 $500,000 be transferred to
that fund and be available, upon an appropriation in the annual
Budget Act, for the purpose of implementing the program.


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, human-made structures including abandoned oil and gas
wells, groins, jetties, piers, pilings, and seawalls.
   (b) These remnants, 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 oil and gas wells were abandoned in the early
1900s when there was little or no oversight of the abandonment and
removal, if any, varied from well to well. Some legacy oil and gas
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 along the California coastline 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
perennial health concerns and safety hazards that coastal hazards
and legacy oil and gas wells pose.
   (f) There is a critical need for adequate funding to inventory
coastal hazards, including legacy oil and gas wells and related
infrastructure, along the California coastline in order to begin
determining how to remove coastal hazards and to identify and
remediate leaking legacy oil and gas wells.
   (g) With adequate funding, the State Lands Commission can
inventory coastal hazards, legacy oil and gas wells and other oil and
gas related hazards along the California coastline, including
determining 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, within two years,
administer a coastal hazard removal and remediation program to do all
of the following:
   (1) Complete an in-depth inventory of legacy oil and gas wells and
other coastal hazards along the California coastline, including
conducting field surveys and determining high-priority hazards and
legacy oil and gas wells to remediate.
   (2) Survey, study, and monitor oil seepage in state waters and
tidelands under its jurisdiction to determine oil seepage locations,
rates, and environmental impacts. The study information can
facilitate possible mitigation measures.
   (3) Begin the process of remediating improperly abandoned legacy
oil and gas wells that have a high risk of leaking oil and, with any
remaining funds, remove other identified coastal hazards.
   (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) The commission shall prioritize its activities under this
section based on available resources.
   (f) For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:
   (1) "Coastal hazards" are legacy oil and gas wells and human-made
structures that have been orphaned, including piers, jetties, groins,
seawalls, and facilities associated with past oil extraction and
other operations, that pose a hazard to the public health and safety.
Coastal hazards may include, but are not limited to, 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 wells drilled near shore,
before current abandonment standards, where there is little or no
information on the well's abandonment procedure and there is no
viable company with the responsibility to reabandon the well should
it start leaking or pose a threat to the environment or the public
health and safety.
  SEC. 3.  Section 6217 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   6217.  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:
   (a) Payment of refunds, authorized by the commission, out of
appropriations made for that purpose.
   (b) Payment of expenditures of the commission as provided in the
annual Budget Act.
   (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.
   (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 five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000) 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 removal 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 removal and remediation program provided
in Section 6212 to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) 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 removal
and remediation program provided in Section 6212.