BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1396|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1396
Author: Wolk (D), et al.
Amended: 5/31/16
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 6-2, 4/12/16
AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Jackson, Monning, Wolk
NOES: Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Wildlife Conservation Board: Inner Coast Range
Program
SOURCE: Tuleyome
DIGEST: This bill creates the Inner Coast Range Program, with
an advisory board, within the Wildlife Conservation Board.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Creates 10 state conservancies and the Wildlife
Conservation Board (WCB) for purposes of acquiring,
restoring, and conserving important recreational, open-space
and habitat lands. They range in size from the largest
conservancies (Coastal, Sierra Nevada) to the smallest
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Page 2
(Baldwin Hills, San Diego River, San Joaquin River), and
often are funded through specific allocations in state bond
acts. Some are urban (four in the Los Angeles area), some
very rural (Tahoe and Sierra Nevada), most operate within a
specified geographic area, and one, the Coastal Conservancy,
has a jurisdiction that includes the entire coast and the
inland watersheds that drain into the ocean. The ten
conservancies include Baldwin Hills, Tahoe, Coachella Valley
Mountains, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, San Diego River, San
Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains, San
Joaquin river, Santa Monica Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and
Coastal).
2) Creates the WCB which fulfills a statewide land acquisition
function that has proven useful in areas not served by a
conservancy. And in areas served by a conservancy, the WCB
has been a very useful partner in funding various projects
and leveraging other dollars
3) Specifies the composition of the boards of each conservancy
and the WCB. The board of the WCB consists of the President
of the Fish and Game Commission, the director of the
Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the director of the
Department of Finance. Conservancy boards generally have a
majority of appointees who were either directly appointed by
the Governor or who served on a conservancy board because of
their appointment to another position, such as the Director
of Finance or the Secretary for Natural Resources, both of
whom serve on many conservancy boards. That remains the
status for most conservancies although both the Sierra Nevada
and Delta conservancies have a narrow majority of local
government representatives.
4) Creates programs within the State Coastal Conservancy for
both the San Francisco Bay region and the Santa Ana River.
Through that structure, those regions are covered by the
conservancy, are eligible for specific line-item
appropriations in the budget or bond measures, and have
achieved some cost-savings with smaller administrative or
additional personnel costs than would normally occur with an
entirely new organization.
This bill:
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1) Makes findings regarding the significance of the Inner Coast
Range for scientific, recreational, economic, and other
purposes.
2) Defines the region, and includes specific boundaries for the
Inner Coast Range region. Generally, it include all or parts
of Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa,
Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Tehama, Trinity, and Yolo counties.
3) Establishes the Inner Coast Range Program (Program) within
the WCB and identifies the functions of the Program which
include tourism, recreation, assisting the regional economy,
all of which must be done in collaboration and cooperation
with local governments and other interested parties.
4) Requires the WCB to establish an advisory board of one
member from each county. The qualifications of advisory board
members will be established by the WCB. The WCB may also
invite legislators representing the region and
representatives of appropriate state and federal agencies to
participate as members of the advisory board.
5) Authorizes the WCB to establish committees, hold community
meetings, and allows, but does not require, the WC B to
establish a headquarters office for the Program within the
region.
6) Directs the WCB to ensure that Program funding and other
efforts are distributed equitably across the region.
7) Requires the WCB to cooperate with and consult local
governments where a grant is proposed to be expended or an
interest in real property is proposed for acquisition and
further requires coordination with other state agencies in
cooperation with the Natural Resources Agency.
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8) Requires the WCB, in consultation with the advisory board to
adopt guidelines setting priorities and criteria for projects
which is to reflect existing local government general plans
as well as existing plans regarding land and resource
management, water, groundwater, and other planning efforts. A
strategic plan shall be developed and updated every five
years.
9) Prohibits the WCB in administering the Program from
regulating land use which remains a matter for local
government except in situations where the Program owns an
interest in land or pursuant to an agreement with the
landowner. The Program is also prohibited from affecting
water rights held by others.
10)Authorizes the WCB to make grants for the purposes of the
Program and establishes requirements for grants, appraisals,
and other terms of any such grant. Like every other state
conservancy, grants may be made to public agencies,
nonprofits, and tribes to acquire an interest in property,
including a fee interest in that property. The WCB may also
provide planning and technical assistance to applicants.
11)Prohibits the WCB from acquiring a fee interest in real
property by purchase.
12)Prohibits the WCB from the exercise of the power of eminent
domain.
13)Provides that acquisitions valued at more than $250,000 are
subject to the Property Acquisition Law.
14)Requires biannual reporting of expenditures, land management
costs, and administrative costs of the Program.
15)Prohibits the Program from supporting or deterring the
planning of the Sites Reservoir project.
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16)Authorizes the WCB to manage the lands of the Program where
necessary as well as to improve or restore such lands.
17)Establishes a fund for the Program, requires all Program
funds from bonds or other sources to be deposited in that
fund, and provides that the fund is subject to appropriation
by the Legislature.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, unknown, but
potentially in the low hundreds of thousands, in costs to the
WCB (special fund) to develop and administer the program. These
costs would be partially mitigated because the WCB would conduct
some activities in this region in its normal course of business.
SUPPORT: (Verified5/27/16)
Tuleyome (source)
County of Lake
East Lake Resource Conservation District
Lake County Land Trust
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/27/16)
California Cattlemen's Association
California Farm Bureau
Glenn County Rangeland Association
Tehama County Cattlemen's Association
One individual
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, the Inner Coast
Range of Northern California is a globally significant region,
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including world-renowned geological, biological, and cultural
resources, a natural monument, many publicly owned lands, and an
important part of the state's economy providing substantial
agricultural products, timber, water, fisheries, and ranching,
tourism, and recreation.
As sponsor, Tuleyome, a regional nonprofit, and the Lake County
Land Trust and the East Lake Resource Conservation District, are
both in support because they believe that a new conservancy
would support collaborative efforts to protect, conserve, and
restore the region's physical, cultural, archeological,
historical, and biological resources while preserving working
landscapes.
Lake County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution of support
of the new conservancy.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The California Farm Bureau
appreciates the prohibition on eminent domain and ownership in
fee title, but does not want grants to go to third parties who
may obtain fee title from willing sellers. In that concern, the
Farm Bureau is allied with the California Cattlemen's
Association. Others in opposition have a policy against any net
loss of private property in the state and also assert that this
program would make it more difficult to conduct agricultural and
ranching activities.
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
5/31/16 22:24:23
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