BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1020|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1020
Author: Wieckowski (D)
Amended: 4/19/16
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 4/12/16
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
SUBJECT: Land use: mitigation lands
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill creates a way for the East Bay Regional
Parks District to fulfill its natural resources mitigation
responsibilities through the possession of budget reserves
combined with compliance with other specified factors and
without creating a permanent endowment which would otherwise be
required.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes an agency required to mitigate its environmental
impacts to pay for that mitigation in several ways including
transferring an interest in land to a third party, providing
funds to third parties to acquire land or easements or to
undertake the mitigation, or to create an endowment under
specified terms. (Government Code Section 65967)
2)Specifies, for mitigation that will not be completed prior to
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the start of activities that will affect wildlife species
listed under the California endangered species act, the
Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) requires that a trust
account or other form of approved security document is
established to ensure that funding is available to carry out
mitigation and monitoring measures in the event the applicant
fails to complete these activities. DFW generally requires
that the performance security be in the form of an irrevocable
letter of credit, surety bond, a bank trust or escrow account,
or another form of security approved in writing in advance.
This bill:
1)Contains numerous findings regarding the East Bay Regional
Park District.
2)States the intent of the Legislature that the DFW, as part of
its mitigation and endowment practices, should not
unnecessarily obligate public resources of the district that
are otherwise performed as part of its ongoing
responsibilities and operations.
3)Is specific to the East Bay Regional Parks District (and other
regional park entities created pursuant to Section 5500 of
the Public Resources Code) and allows it, as an alternative to
an endowment, to satisfy its mitigation obligations by
possession of budget reserves in excess of funds required to
do all of the following:
a) Meet mitigation obligations.
b) Retain permanent stewardship and maintenance staff to
manage the resource.
c) Maintain mitigation obligations consistent with permit
requirements.
d) Ensure that if the mitigations are not maintained the
state will not incur any financial liabilities from the
lack of mitigation.
Comments
This bill continues to be a work in progress that will involve
future discussions with the opposition and DFW.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/19/16)
East Bay Regional Park District
John Muir Land Trust
Save Mount Diablo
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/19/16)
California Council of Land Trust
Center for Natural Lands Management
Defenders of Wildlife
Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
Wildlife Heritage Foundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, East Bay
Regional Parks District has an 80-year history of responsible
fiscal and environmental governance and is organized to serve a
steward of parklands in perpetuity. In his view, it is
unreasonable to require districts to set aside mitigation funds
which could be better used for staffing to actually manage
protected land. He believes that the district should be able to
rely on proven asset liquidity as an alternative form of
mitigation.
Save Mount Diablo works closely with the district and stated
that any concern about changing the provisions in this law
should not apply to the district because of its record, funding,
staff, and experience that can't be matched by any other public
agency.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A coalition of land trusts and other
conservation groups, including the California Council of Land
Trusts (CCLT), is in opposition. CCLT and others have built
California's endowment procedures in a series of 5 bills over
the past several years that it considers to be the nation's
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premier law regarding how mitigation endowments are held and
managed. The coalition is very concerned that the exception for
East Bay Regional Parks inevitably opens the door to a myriad of
exceptions for every agency not wishing to meet mitigation
endowment requirements-a policy it states has been rejected on
three previous occasions in both houses of the California
Legislature.
The coalition points out that other funding mechanisms are
specifically allowed in existing law (such as performance bonds)
for the long-term stewardship of the mitigation property. It
considers SB 1020 as "jumping completely past other funding
mechanisms to completely exempt selected public parties from any
form of dedicated financial assurance for mitigation lands."
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
4/20/16 15:43:42
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