BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1089
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 14, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
SB
1089 (Pavley) - As Amended May 11, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 33-0
SUBJECT: Wildlife Conservation Board
SUMMARY: Adds two public members, appointed by the Legislature,
to the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), and clarifies existing
law that allows the Director of Finance to appoint a designee.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands the composition of the WCB to include two public
members, one appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one
by the Senate Rules Committee. The public members would be
voting members and would serve 4 year terms.
2)Specifically authorizes the Director of Finance to appoint a
designee to serve on the WCB to represent the Director of
Finance.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the WCB, which consists of a three member board
including the Director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife
SB 1089
Page 2
(DFW), the President of the State Fish and Game Commission,
and the Director of Finance. Provides that the members of the
WCB shall receive actual and necessary travel expenses.
2)Provides that three members of the Senate, appointed by the
Senate Rules Committee, and three members of the Assembly,
appointed by the Assembly Speaker, shall serve as advisors and
participate in WCB meetings.
3)Authorizes the WCB to determine areas within the state that
are most essential and suitable for wildlife production and
preservation, and for fishing and hunting, and to authorize
acquisition of properties and property interests for these
purposes.
4)Authorizes the Director of Finance to designate any deputy of
his or her office to act in his or her place and stead on any
state board or commission.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible if any state
costs.
COMMENTS: This bill expands the membership of the WCB from
three to five members, by adding two public members appointed by
the Senate and Assembly.
1)Author's Statement: The author notes that the WCB is an
important, if not particularly well known, state agency that
plays a key role in funding conservation efforts across the
state. The WCB has become the leading state entity for
acquisition of resource and habitat lands, especially in areas
not covered by a conservancy. The WCB has a strong track
record of working with landowners, land trusts, local
governments, conservation groups, and state conservancies, and
the legislative advisory members to the WCB have served a
SB 1089
Page 3
constructive role. However, to increase the visibility of the
WCB, and to add public expertise to its work, this bill
proposes to add two public members to the WCB. The existing
three members of the WCB are all members who serve through
their appointment by the Governor to their positions. This
bill would add important perspectives to the work of the WCB
from individuals who are not members of the Administration.
2)Background: The WCB's three main functions are land
acquisition, habitat restoration, and development of wildlife
oriented public access facilities, which are carried out
through its programs. Much of the WCB's funding has come from
general obligation bond acts approved by the voters, the
Habitat Conservation Fund authorized by Proposition 117 in
1990, and other state and federal funds.
The WCB was created in 1947 to administer a capital outlay
program for wildlife conservation and related public
recreation. Originally created within the California
Department of Natural Resources, and later placed with DFW,
the WCB is a separate and independent Board with authority and
funding to carry out an acquisition and development program
for wildlife conservation.
The primary responsibilities of the WCB are to select,
authorize and allocate funds for the purchase of land and
waters suitable for recreational purposes and the
preservation, protection and restoration of wildlife habitat.
The WCB approves and funds projects that set aside lands for
such purposes, through acquisition or other means, to meet
these objectives. The WCB can also authorize the construction
of facilities for recreational purposes on property in which
it has a proprietary interest.
A number of other state environmental boards and commissions
include public members. For example, the Ocean Protection
Council consists of the Secretary of Natural Resources, the
SB 1089
Page 4
Secretary for Environmental Protection, the chair of the State
Lands Commission, and two public members appointed by the
Governor.
The State Coastal Commission and the State Coastal Conservancy
both have public members. The Coastal Commission consists of
12 members, six of which are public members. The Coastal
Conservancy consists of seven members, including the Secretary
of Natural Resources, the Director of the Department of
Finance, the Chair of the Coastal Commission, and four public
members.
The Air Resources Board consists of 14 members, 12 of which
are appointed by the Governor, including two public members.
Two additional members are appointed by the Legislature, one
by the Senate Committee on Rules and one by the Speaker of the
Assembly. The legislative appointments are required to be
persons who work directly with communities in the state that
are most significantly burdened by and vulnerable to high
levels of pollution, including communities with diverse racial
and ethnic populations and communities with low-income
populations.
The public members added to the WCB by this bill would serve
without compensation, but would receive reimbursement for
actual and necessary travel expenses, which is provided to all
WCB members under existing law.
3)Prior and Related Legislation: AB 1590 (Mathis) of this year
proposed to add 4 members to the State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) to be appointed by the Legislature, including
one member each to be appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly, the Assembly Minority Leader, the President pro
Tempore of the Senate, and the Senate Minority Leader. AB
1590 was dropped by the author.
4)Support Arguments: Adding two public members to the WCB would
broaden the representation and perspectives on the Board, and
SB 1089
Page 5
create additional ambassadors to represent the important work
of the WCB to the general public, which is largely unaware of
this important body.
5)Opposition Arguments: None received. The Department of
Finance raised concerns to a prior version of this bill which
they indicated was unclear as to who would appoint the public
members. This bill has since been amended to clarify that
point. The Department of Finance also noted that subsection
(b) of this bill is unnecessary, as the Government Code
already provides the Director of Finance with the authority to
appoint a designee.
6)Suggested Amendments: Government Code Section 7.9 gives the
Director of Finance general authority to appoint a designee to
represent the director and act in his or her stead on any
state board or commission of which the director is a member.
Subsection (b) of this bill is therefore redundant and can be
deleted as follows:
On page 2, strike lines 7-8.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Pacific Forest Trust
Trust for Public Lands
SB 1089
Page 6
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096