BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1473
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1473 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water)
As Amended August 11, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 37-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Water |14-0 |Levine, Gallagher, |> |
| | |Bigelow, Dodd, Eggman, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, Gomez, | |
| | |Harper, Lopez, Medina, | |
| | |Olsen, Salas, Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Natural |8-0 |Williams, Cristina |> |
|Resources | |Garcia, Gomez, Hadley, | |
| | |Harper, McCarty, Mark | |
| | |Stone, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, |> |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, Daly, | |
SB 1473
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| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Makes procedural and technical changes to update the
Fish and Game Code, including conforming certain regulatory
processes of the Fish and Game Commission to the State
Administrative Procedures Act (APA), and deleting obsolete
provisions. Specifically, this bill:
1)Clarifies that, except where otherwise expressly excluded, all
Fish and Game Commission regulations governing take or
possession of wild animals are subject to the general
rulemaking procedures specified in Fish and Game Code Division
1 Chapter 2 Article 1.
2)Revises and updates the regulatory procedures specified in
Article 1 to make these rules consistent with the requirements
of the APA.
3)Repeals several obsolete and superfluous provisions of the
Fish and Game Code, and reorganizes other provisions based on
their function, without substantive change.
4)Makes various other technical and conforming changes.
5)Repeals obsolete provisions of existing law that conditionally
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granted certain tidelands and submerged lands to the county of
Los Angeles, but which by their terms never took effect,
thereby causing the lands to revert to the state and the
jurisdiction of the State Lands Commission.
6)Clarifies that the existing requirement that each Coastal
Commission meeting shall occur not more than 45 days after the
previous meeting means 45 working days. Similarly clarifies
that the existing requirement that a hearing on any coastal
development permit application or an appeal shall be set no
later than 49 days after the date on which the application or
appeal is filed with the commission, means 49 working days.
7)Adds technical language to avoid chaptering out problems with
SB 345 (Berryhill), SB 1287 (McGuire), and AB 2249 (Cooley),
all of the current legislative session.
8)Authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to
award a concession agreement at Will Rogers State Beach for up
to 50 years in length upon approval of the DPR director, and
if the director determines that a longer term is necessary to
allow the concessionaire to amortize improvements made by the
concessionaire that are anticipated to exceed $1.5 million in
capital improvements.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Specifies in the Fish and Game Code state laws concerning fish
and wildlife in California, including laws regarding the
conservation and management of fish and wildlife resources,
and laws governing the recreational and commercial take of
game and nongame species in the State. Specifies the duties,
responsibilities and authorities of the Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the Fish and Game Commission with regard to
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implementation of the code requirements.
2)Provides for a grant of certain tidelands and submerged lands
in trust to the City and County of Los Angeles, and to the
City of Santa Monica, based on specified conditions, including
development and approval of a master plan. Requires that the
tidelands shall revert to the State and the jurisdiction of
the State Lands Commission if the conditions are not met.
3)Prohibits a state park concession contract from exceeding 20
years in length without specific statutory authorization.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state impact.
COMMENTS: This bill makes nonsubstantive changes to the Fish
and Game Code recommended by the California Law Revision
Commission (CLRC). The recommended changes update and modernize
the code by conforming procedural rules to current practices and
the APA, improve the organization of the code, and eliminate
obsolete language.
In 2012, the Legislature asked the CLRC to conduct a
comprehensive review of the Fish and Game Code, and to recommend
changes to the Legislature that would update, clarify, and
improve the code. In 2015, the Legislature passed and the
Governor signed AB 1527 (Committee on Water, Parks and
Wildlife), Chapter 154, which contained the first set of
recommendations. This bill is the second set of such
recommendations. Specifically, the changes put forward in this
bill would 1) generalize the rulemaking procedure for the Fish
and Game Commission, 2) modernize the statutes governing
rulemaking at public meetings to conform to APA requirements,
and 3) repeal obsolete provisions and make conforming revisions.
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In addition to the technical changes to the Fish and Game Code,
this bill would repeal an outdated statute that granted
tidelands to the County of Los Angeles in 1967 that has been
agreed to by the County and the State Lands Commission. This
provision being repealed was never implemented and is now
obsolete. The State Lands Commission has asked that the statute
be deleted to avoid confusion. The State Lands Commission
explains that in 1967, the California Legislature conditionally
granted public trust lands to the County of Los Angeles. To be
operative, the grantee was required to submit a land use plan to
the State Lands Commission for approval. The land use plan was
not submitted and the land reverted back to the State. It is
currently under the State Lands Commission's jurisdiction. This
bill would repeal the granting statute to clarify jurisdiction
and lessen confusion when projects are proposed on the land.
The latest amendments also add a provision authorizing the
director of the DPR to approve a concession agreement at Will
Rogers State Beach to be awarded for up to 50 years if the
director determines that the longer term is necessary to allow
the concessionaire to amortize improvements made by the
concessionaire that are anticipated to exceed $1.5 million in
capital improvements. Since 1975, the County of Los Angeles has
been managing Will Rogers State Beach under an operating
agreement with the DPR. A concession contract for a restaurant
on the property has been providing the county with annual rent
payments, but those rent payments have been declining. The
concession contract is expiring at the end of 2017 and is not
being renewed.
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According to the DPR, the facilities will require a multimillion
capital investment to make them profitable again. The County is
currently in the process of issuing an RFP for the concession.
According to the DPR and the County, it is probable that
prospective concessionaires, who will likely be required to
demolish the existing building and construct an entirely new
facility on the property, will be deterred from bidding on the
project because current law does not allow for a concession
contract term longer than 20 years for this type of structure
without specific statutory authorization. Without full
refurbishment, due to the age and deterioration of the building,
the County will experience a decline in revenue which is
currently used to defray beach maintenance operations. This
bill allows the DPR director to approve a longer term concession
agreement of up to 50 years, in order to allow these significant
investments to be amortized over a longer period.
Analysis Prepared by:
Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096
FN:
0003891