BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1172|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1172
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 8/9/16
Vote: 27
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 3/29/16
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 4/14/16 (Consent)
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,
Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: McGuire, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/15/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Tidelands and submerged lands: City of Albany
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill repeals the existing granting statute to the
City of Albany to eliminate the requirement that the trust lands
be used in a manner consistent with the obsolete Waterfront Plan
from 1977. This bill replaces that outdated granting statute
with a new grant of public trust lands that is consistent with
city's current waterfront improvement plans.
SB 1172
Page 2
Assembly Amendments clarify the definition of Public Trust
Doctrine to mean the common law doctrine as enunciated by the
court in Marks v. Whitney (1971) 6 Cal.3d 251 and National
Audubon Society v. Superior Court (1983) 33 Cal. 3d 419 and
other relevant judicial decisions. These judicial decisions
specify the state's authority as sovereign to exercise a
continuous supervision and control over the navigable waters of
the state, the lands underlying those waters, and nonnavigable
tributaries to navigable waters, including the protection of
maritime or water dependent commerce, navigation, and fisheries,
and the preservation of lands in their natural state for
scientific study, open space, wildlife habitat, and
water-oriented recreation.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Protects, pursuant to the common law doctrine of public trust
(Public Trust Doctrine), the public's right to use
California's waterways for commerce, navigation, fishing,
boating, natural habitat protection, and other water-oriented
activities. The Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled
and unfilled tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes,
streams, and other navigable waterways (public trust lands)
are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the
people of California.
2)Establishes that the State Lands Commission (SLC) is the
steward and manager of the state's public trust lands. SLC
has direct administrative control over the state's public
trust lands and oversight authority over public trust lands
granted by the Legislature to local public agencies (granted
lands).
SB 1172
Page 3
3)Grants the City of Albany (city) three parcels of submerged
tidelands along the San Francisco Bay waterfront for the
establishment, improvement, and conduct of a harbor and other
structures and utilities necessary for the promotion of
commerce and navigation.
4)Amends the original granting statute to require future
developments be consistent with the Albany Waterfront Plan of
1977, which permits recreation-oriented development, including
a small craft marina and retail complex.
5)Authorizes the City to grant franchises and leases on the
granted land for up to 66 years.
6)Allocates, excess revenue from the granted land as follows:
85% to the General Fund, and 15% to the City.
This bill:
1)Requires the city to submit a trust lands use plan to the SLC
for approval on or before January 1, 2022. The plan must
describe (a) any proposed development, preservation, or other
use of the trust lands; (b) the projected statewide benefit;
(c) the proposed method of financing any development; (d) an
estimated timetable for implementing each phase of the plan;
and (e) how the city proposes to protect the resources and
facilities on the trust lands, particularly from the impacts
of sea level rise.
2)Requires the city to submit a report to the SLC on or before
September 30, 2022, and every five years thereafter describing
how the trust lands have been used.
3)Requires the city to establish an accounting system to track
revenue received from the trust lands and any associated
assets. Any revenue received must be kept separate from other
city money and can only be spent in a way that is consistent
with this bill.
4)Requires the city to get approval from the SLC before spending
SB 1172
Page 4
trust revenues for any large capital improvement project
($250,000 or greater).
5)Requires 20 percent of trust revenue be transmitted to the
SLC. Of this amount transmitted, 80 percent will be put in the
General Fund and the remaining 20 percent will be deposited in
the Land Bank Fund pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with
Section 8600) of the Public Resources Code. Money in the Land
Bank Fund is used to manage the SLC's granted lands program.
6)Permits the city to lease the land, under specified
conditions, for less than 50 years.
Background
Since 1850, the California Legislature has periodically granted
public trust lands to local jurisdictions to hold and manage
according to various terms and conditions. These lands remain
subject to the Public Trust Doctrine and the SLC oversees the
grants to ensure the use and management of the trust lands is
consistent with the Public Trust Doctrine and granting statutes.
Chapter 211, Statutes of 1919 granted the city three parcels of
submerged tidelands along the San Francisco Bay waterfront.
These lands include what is now known as the Albany Neck and
Bulb portion of the waterfront. The Neck and Bulb are located at
the base of Buchanan Street and protrude into the bay. That
granting statute was later amended (Chapter 1223, Statutes of
1977) to require future development is consistent with the
Albany Waterfront Plan. The Albany Waterfront Plan reflected
the city's plans at that time for recreation-oriented
development, including constructing a small craft marina and
retail complex. However, the plan was never implemented.
Since 1977, policy at the local, regional, and state levels has
shifted away from commercial waterfront development on the
publically-owned portion of the Albany waterfront. The city is
currently in the process of developing a new plan for improving
the Albany Neck and Bulb area and transitioning the area to
become part of the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. The
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McLaughlin Eastshore State Park includes tidelands and upland
property along 8.5 miles of shoreline extending from the City of
Richmond in the north to Emeryville and Oakland in the south.
The Albany Bulb and Neck is currently open to the public for
recreational uses.
At its December 7, 2015 city council meeting, the city
authorized city staff to work with the SLC and the Legislature
to draft legislation updating the terms of the tidelands grant
on the city-owned portion of the Albany waterfront. This bill
is the result of those efforts.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Potential minor revenue increase. Existing law requires 85%
of excess trust revenues to be deposited in the GF. This bill
requires 20% of annual gross revenue to be transmitted to the
state. Of that amount, 20% is deposited into the Land Bank
Fund for use by SLC and the remaining 80% is deposited into
the GF.
Historically, granted lands rarely generate excess revenue.
The change from a percentage of excess trust revenues to
annual gross revenue could increase revenue to the state, both
to the GF and SLC. However, this area is currently used as
public open space and does not generate revenue. It is
unlikely that this bill will result in a significant change to
state revenue.
2)SLC costs are absorbable within existing resources.
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/15/16)
City of Albany
State Lands Commission
SB 1172
Page 6
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/15/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author stated that this bill is
designed to assist the "City of Albany with managing and
improving its waterfront."
According to the State Lands Commission, "?the city is in the
process of developing a new plan to improve its waterfront and
transition the Neck and Bulb area to become part of the
McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. The city's legislative
granting statute, however, is inconsistent with the city's
current waterfront improvement plans. SB 1172 eliminates the
requirement that the trust lands are used in a manner that is
consistent with the obsolete Waterfront Plan. The bill requires
the city to submit a new land use plan and sea-level rise
analysis to the commission for approval. The bill also
modernizes non-discrimination language in the granting statute
to reflect current law, aligns the city's financial reporting
requirements with current law, and deletes various obsolete
provisions."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/15/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Olsen
Prepared by:Matthew Dumlao / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
SB 1172
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8/19/16 19:54:01
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