BILL NUMBER: AB 360 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 8, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 5, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 8, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 1996
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hannigan
FEBRUARY 10, 1995
An act to amend Sections 12300, 12301, 12303, 12310, 12311, 12312,
12314, 12316, 12980, 12981, 12984, 12986, 12987, 12988, and 12989
of, to amend and repeal Section 12987.5 of, and to add Sections
12318, 12994, and 12995 to, the Water Code, relating to water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 360, as amended, Hannigan. Delta flood protection: delta
levee maintenance.
(1) Existing law creates, until January 1, 1999, the Delta Flood
Protection Fund to provide funds for delta levee maintenance
subventions. Existing law provides for special delta flood protection
projects at certain locations in the delta for specified purposes,
as prescribed, and imposes related environmental mitigation and
protection requirements. Existing law defines "project" as a flood
control improvement or interests in land acquired for flood control
improvement.
This bill would revise those provisions to, among other things,
extend the existence of the fund until July 1, 2006, authorize the
use of fund money for projects at any other location in the delta and
certain levees on specified islands bordering the Northern Suisun
Bay, extend the application of special delta flood project provisions
to specified project levees, as defined, and require net long-term
habitat improvement.
The bill would authorize the Resources Agency to establish a team
of federal, state, and local agencies to develop guidelines
recommendations for the beneficial reuse of
dredged material, as prescribed.
(2) Existing law governing delta levee maintenance requires the
Department of Water Resources to develop and submit to the
Reclamation Board, for adoption by the board, criteria for the
maintenance and improvement of levees that are not project facilities
under the State Water Resources Law of 1945, known as nonproject
levees, as prescribed. Existing law provides for the reimbursement
of eligible local agencies for costs incurred in any year for the
maintenance or improvement of nonproject levees. Local agencies that
maintain nonproject levees, to be eligible for reimbursement, are
required to submit to the board plans for the maintenance and
improvement of the levees, as prescribed.
This bill would require those maintenance and improvement criteria
to include specified vegetation management guidelines. The bill
would revise those reimbursement provisions to, among other things,
provide for the reimbursement of eligible local agencies for costs
incurred for the maintenance or improvement of project levees,
defined as federal flood control levees that are project facilities
under the State Water Resources Law of 1945 and other specified
existing law, if not less than a majority of the acreage within the
jurisdiction of the local agency that maintains the levee is within
the primary zone of the delta, as defined. The bill would also
require local agencies that maintain project levees, and seek
reimbursement, to submit levee maintenance and improvement plans, as
prescribed, and would revise plan requirements with regard to
subsidence, easements, and net long-term habitat improvement.
The bill would authorize the Department of Water Resources to use
maintenance and improvement funds, as specified, in an emergency, as
defined, prepare a delta emergency response plan for levee failures,
as prescribed, and establish a multiagency emergency response team to
advise on methods to ensure that levee emergencies will be resolved
as quickly and safely as possible.
The bill would authorize the Department of Water Resources and the
board to cooperate with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to
develop and implement delta levee rehabilitation, improvement, and
realignment, and enhance the environment.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12300 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12300. (a) The Delta Flood Protection Fund is hereby created in
the State Treasury. There shall be deposited in the fund all moneys
appropriated to the fund and all income derived from the investment
of moneys that are in the fund.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate, in
accordance with Section 12938, twelve million dollars ($12,000,000)
each year through fiscal year 1998-99 to the Delta Flood Protection
Fund from moneys deposited in the California Water Fund pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 6217 of the Public Resources Code. It is
further the intent of the Legislature to appropriate annually moneys
in the Delta Flood Protection Fund to the department for expenditure
and allocation, without regard to fiscal years, in the following
amounts and for the following purposes:
(1) Six million dollars ($6,000,000) annually for local assistance
under the delta levee maintenance subventions program pursuant to
Part 9 (commencing with Section 12980), and for the administration
thereof.
(2) Six million dollars ($6,000,000) annually for special delta
flood protection projects under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
12310) and subsidence studies and monitoring, and the administration
thereof. These funds shall only be allocated for projects on Bethel,
Bradford, Holland, Hotchkiss, Jersey, Sherman, Twitchell, and Webb
Islands, and at other locations in the delta and for the Towns of
Thornton and Walnut Grove and for approximately 12 miles of levees on
islands bordering the Northern Suisun Bay from Van Sickle Island
westerly to Montezuma Slough.
(c) Any moneys unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall revert
to the Delta Flood Protection Fund and shall be available for
appropriation by the Legislature for the purposes specified in
subdivision (b).
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent
consistent with Sections 12314, 12987, and 78543, projects funded
under subdivision (b) shall be consistent with the delta ecosystem
restoration strategy of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program.
SEC. 2. Section 12301 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12301. The Delta Flood Protection Fund is hereby abolished on
July 1, 2006, and all unencumbered moneys in the fund are transferred
to the General Fund.
SEC. 3. Section 12303 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12303. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that, subject to
subdivision (b) of Section 12929.12, if twelve million dollars
($12,000,000) or any lesser amount is transferred pursuant to
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 12937 to the California
Water Fund from the California Water Resources Development Bond Fund
in each of the fiscal years 1990-91 to 1997-98, inclusive, and if six
million dollars ($6,000,000) or any lesser amount is so transferred
in the 1998-99 fiscal year, that amount shall be appropriated to the
Delta Flood Protection Fund for the purposes specified in subdivision
(b) of Section 12300, in lieu of the funds deposited in the
California Water Fund pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6217 of
the Public Resources Code. However, that the director, in
consultation with the Department of Finance, may accelerate payments
to the California Water Fund for reappropriation to the Delta Flood
Protection Fund if the director deems it appropriate to do so.
(b) The obligation of the State Water Resources Development System
to reimburse the California Water Fund, pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (b) of Section 12937, shall decrease by amounts equal to
the amounts which are transferred from the California Water
Resources Development Bond Fund to the California Water Fund and
appropriated to the Delta Flood Protection Fund pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(c) For any fiscal year, the Director of Finance, in consultation
with the Director of Water Resources, may recommend in the Budget Act
a source of funding for the Delta Flood Protection Fund which is
different from that set forth in subdivision (a). If the Legislature
approves the alternative source of funding, the portion of the State
Water Resources Development System obligation specified in
subdivision (b) which remains outstanding because of the selection of
the alternative funding source shall be discharged pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 11913.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature, upon the creation of the
Delta Levee Rehabilitation Subaccount pursuant to Section 78540, as
proposed to be added by S.B. 900 of the 1995-96 Regular Session, that
subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall not apply to the Delta Levee
Rehabilitation Subaccount and that the funds of the subaccount shall
be available to fund equally both of the following:
(1) The delta levee maintenance subventions program pursuant to
Part 9 (commencing with Section 12980), associated mitigation and
habitat improvement programs, and the administration thereof.
(2) The special delta flood protection projects pursuant to
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12310), associated mitigation and
habitat improvement programs, and the administration thereof.
SEC. 4. Section 12310 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12310. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Local public agency" means a reclamation district or levee
district or other public agency responsible for the maintenance of a
nonproject levee as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 12980 or a
project levee as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 12980.
(b) "Project" means the flood control improvement and any
mitigation and habitat improvement constructed, or interests in land
acquired, for those purposes pursuant to this part.
(c) "Department" means the Department of Water Resources.
(d) "Delta" means the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as described in
Section 12220.
(e) "Net long-term habitat improvement" means enhancement
of aquatic, including fish, and terrestrial, including wildlife,
habitat. enhancement of riparian, fisheries, and
wildlife habitat.
(f) "CALFED Bay Delta Program" or "CALFED program" means the
program established in May 1995 as a joint effort among state and
federal agencies with management and regulatory responsibilities in
the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to
develop long-term solutions to resource management problems involving
the bay-delta.
SEC. 5. Section 12311 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12311. (a) The department shall develop and implement a program
of flood control projects on Bethel, Bradford, Holland, Hotchkiss,
Jersey, Sherman, Twitchell, and Webb Islands, and at other locations
in the delta and for the Towns of Thornton and Walnut Grove, and for
approximately 12 miles of levees on islands bordering Northern Suisun
Bay from Van Sickle Island westerly to Montezuma Slough. This
program shall have, as its primary purpose, the protection of
discrete and identifiable public benefits, including the protection
of public highways and roads, utility lines and conduits, and other
public facilities, and the protection of urbanized areas, water
quality, recreation, navigation, and fish and wildlife habitats, and
other public benefits. The program shall also include net long-term
habitat improvement.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department shall develop
and recommend a plan of action, including alternatives, for flood
control for the Towns of Thornton and Walnut Grove and shall submit
the plan to the Legislature by January 1, 1989. The department shall
not allocate any funds for implementation of the plan of action for
flood control for the Towns of Thornton and Walnut Grove until a plan
is approved by the Legislature.
SEC. 6. Section 12312 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12312. The department may expend any moneys available to it
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 12300 or any
moneys available from other sources of funding appropriated by the
Legislature for the purposes of this part. In addition, the
department shall seek a sharing of costs with the beneficiaries or
owners or operators of the public facilities benefited by the flood
protection projects. The department shall also seek cost sharing
with, or financial assistance from, federal agencies which have
programs applicable to, or which have an interest in, the flood
protection projects.
SEC. 7. Section 12314 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12314. (a) Guided by the approved priority list developed
pursuant to Section 12313, the department shall develop project plans
to accomplish the needed flood protection work in cooperation with
the local public agency, the public beneficiary, and the Department
of Fish and Game.
(b) The plans shall be subject to the approval of the appropriate
local public agency or agencies and subject to any cost-sharing
agreement the department may have entered into under Section 12312.
Project plans may include, or be a combination of, the improvement,
rehabilitation, or modification of existing levees, and the
conveyance of interests in land to limit or to modify land management
practices which have a negative impact on flood control facilities.
(c) Project plans shall include provision for the protection of
fish and wildlife habitat determined to be necessary by the
Department of Fish and Game and not injurious to the integrity of
flood control works. The Department of Fish and Game shall consider
the value of the riparian and fisheries habitat and the need to
provide greater flood protection in preparing its requirements, and
shall not approve any plan which calls for the use of channel islands
or berms with significant riparian communities as borrow sites for
levee repair materials, unless fully mitigated, or any plans that
will result in a net long-term loss of riparian, fisheries, or
wildlife habitat.
(d) After the memorandum of understanding required pursuant to
Section 12307 is amended as provided by Section 78543 to
define a net long-term habitat improvement program, the Department of
Fish and Game shall also require plans to be consistent with net
long-term habitat improvement. The memorandum of
required by Section 78543, the Department of Fish and Game shall also
make a written determination as part of its review and approval of a
plan or project pursuant to this section and Section 12987 that the
proposed expenditures are consistent with a net long-term habitat
improvement program and have a net benefit for aquatic species in the
delta. The memorandum of understanding in effect prior to the
amendments required by Section 78543 shall remain in effect with
regard to levee projects and plans until the memorandum of
understanding is amended.
SEC. 8. Section 12316 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12316. In addition to any obligations assumed under an agreement
with the department and to the extent consistent with that agreement,
the local public agency shall do all of the following:
(a) Provide construction access to lands or rights-of-way which
it owns or maintains for flood control purposes or for purposes with
which the project's required uses are compatible and necessary to
complete the project.
(b) Maintain the completed project pursuant to maintenance
criteria developed and adopted in accordance with Section 12984.
(c) Apply for federal disaster assistance, whenever eligible,
under Public Law 93-288.
(d) Hold and save the department, any other agency or department
of the state, and their employees free from any and all liability for
damages, except that caused by gross negligence, that may arise out
of the construction, operation, or maintenance of the project.
(e) Acquire easements from the crown along levees for the control
and reversal of subsidence in areas where the department determines
that such an easement is desirable to maintain structural stability
of the levee. The easement shall (1) restrict the use of the land to
open-space uses, nontillable crops, the propagation of wildlife
habitat, and other compatible uses, (2) provide full access to the
local agency for levee maintenance and improvement purposes, and (3)
allow the owner to retain reasonable rights of ingress and egress as
well as reasonable rights of access to the waterways for water supply
and drainage. The local public agency costs of acquisition of the
easements shall be reimbursable by the department from moneys
appropriated pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section
12300 or any sources of funding appropriated by the Legislature for
purposes of this part.
(f) Comply with all habitat mitigation and improvement
requirements pursuant to this part.
(g) Use subsidence control alternatives, where appropriate, to
reduce long-term maintenance and improvement costs.
SEC. 9. Section 12318 is added to the Water Code, to read:
12318. (a) The Resources Agency may establish a multiagency team
of state, federal, and local agencies to develop recommendations for
the beneficial reuse of dredged material, consistent with actions
identified by the CALFED Bay-Delta Program as core actions, which are
those actions included in all bay-delta solutions. The
recommendations shall address all of the following needs:
(1) Long-term availability of cost-effective, environmentally
safe, and appropriate dredged material for delta levee maintenance
and improvements.
(2) Beneficial reuse of dredged or suitable alternative materials.
(3) Coordination of dredging projects to augment on-island
stockpiles.
(4) Development of a comprehensive monitoring program of the
effects of the reuse of dredged material.
(5) A study of the applicability of constructing channel sediment
traps and dredged material rehandling facilities adjacent to
frequently dredged channel sections.
SEC. 10. Section 12980 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12980. As used in this part:
(a) "Board" means the Reclamation Board.
(b) "Delta" means the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as described in
Section 12220.
(c) "Local agency" means any city, county, district, or other
political subdivision of the state which is authorized to maintain
levees.
(d) "Net long-term habitat improvement" means enhancement of
riparian, fisheries, and wildlife habitat.
(e) "Nonproject levee" means a local flood control levee in
the delta that is not a project facility under the State Water
Resources Law of 1945, as shown on page 38 of the Department of Water
Resources "Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Atlas," dated 1993.
(e)
(f) "Project levee" means a federal flood control levee, as
shown on page 40 of the Department of Water Resources "Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Atlas," dated 1993, that is a project facility under
the State Water Resources Law of 1945 (Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 12570) and Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) of Part
6), if not less than a majority of the acreage within the
jurisdiction of the local agency that maintains the levee is within
the primary zone of the delta, as defined in Section 29728 of the
Public Resources Code.
SEC. 11. Section 12981 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12981. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the delta is
endowed with many invaluable and unique resources and that these
resources are of major statewide significance.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the delta's
uniqueness is particularly characterized by its hundreds of miles of
meandering waterways and the many islands adjacent thereto; that, in
order to preserve the delta's invaluable resources, which include
highly productive agriculture, recreational assets, fisheries, and
wildlife environment, the physical characteristics of the delta
should be preserved essentially in their present form; and that the
key to preserving the delta's physical characteristics is the system
of levees defining the waterways and producing the adjacent islands.
However, the Legislature recognizes that it may not be economically
justifiable to maintain all delta islands.
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that funds
necessary to maintain and improve the delta's levees to protect the
delta's physical characteristics should be used to fund levee work
that would promote agricultural and habitat uses in the delta
consistent with the purpose of preserving the delta's invaluable
resources.
SEC. 12. Section 12984 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12984. The department shall develop and submit to the board, for
adoption by the board, criteria for the maintenance and improvement
of nonproject levees. The criteria shall vary as required to meet
specific conditions and shall be multipurpose in nature, and include
environmental considerations, when feasible. The criteria shall
embody and implement both of the following:
(a) The short-term mitigation plan set forth in the "Flood Hazard
Mitigation Plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta," prepared by
the department for the Office of Emergency Services, dated September
15, 1983, or as amended.
(b) The "Vegetation Management Guidelines for Local Nonproject
Delta Levees" dated April, 1994, or any successor guidelines.
SEC. 13. Section 12986 of the Water Code, as amended by Section 5
of Chapter 28 of the Statutes of 1988, is amended to read:
12986. (a) It is the intention of the Legislature to reimburse an
eligible local agency pursuant to this part for costs incurred in
any year for the maintenance or improvement of project or nonproject
levees as follows:
(1) No costs incurred shall be reimbursed if the entire cost
incurred per mile of project or nonproject levee is one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or less.
(2) Not more than 75 percent of any costs incurred in excess of
one thousand dollars ($1,000) per mile of project or nonproject levee
shall be reimbursed.
(3) (A) As part of the project plans approved by the board, the
department shall require the local agency or an independent financial
consultant to provide information regarding the agency's ability to
pay for the cost of levee maintenance or improvement. Based on that
information, the department may require the local agency or an
independent financial consultant to prepare a comprehensive study on
the agency's ability to pay.
(B) The information or comprehensive study of the agency's ability
to pay shall be the basis for determining the maximum allowable
reimbursement eligible under this part. Nothing in this paragraph
shall be interpreted to increase the maximum reimbursement allowed
under paragraph (2).
(4) Reimbursements made to the local agency in excess of the
maximum allowable reimbursement shall be returned to the department.
(5) The department may recover, retroactively, excess
reimbursements paid to the local agency from any time after January
1, 1997, based on an updated study of the agency's ability to pay.
(6) All final costs allocated or reimbursed under a plan shall be
approved by the reclamation board for project and nonproject levee
work.
(7) Costs incurred pursuant to this part that are eligible for
reimbursement include construction costs and associated engineering
services, financial or economic analyses, environmental costs,
mitigation costs, and habitat improvement costs.
(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2006, and, as
of January 1, 2007, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2007, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 14. Section 12986 of the Water Code, as added by Section 6 of
Chapter 28 of the Statutes of 1988, is amended to read:
12986. (a) It is the intention of the Legislature to reimburse
from the General Fund an eligible local agency pursuant to this part
for costs incurred in any year for the maintenance or improvement of
project or nonproject levees as follows:
(1) No costs incurred shall be reimbursed if the entire cost
incurred per mile of levee is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less.
(2) Fifty percent of any costs incurred in excess of one thousand
dollars ($1,000) per mile of levee shall be reimbursed.
(3) The maximum total reimbursement from the General Fund shall
not exceed two million dollars ($2,000,000) annually.
(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2006.
SEC. 15. Section 12987 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12987. (a) Local agencies maintaining project or nonproject
levees shall be eligible for reimbursement pursuant to this part upon
submission to and approval by the board of plans for the maintenance
and improvement of the project or nonproject levees, including plans
for the annual routine maintenance of the levees, in accordance with
the criteria adopted by the board.
(b) The nonproject plans shall also be compatible with the plan
for improvement of the delta levees as set forth in Bulletin No.
192-82 of the department, dated December 1982, and as approved in
Section 12225. Both project and nonproject plans shall include
provisions to acquire easements along levees that allow for the
control and reversal of subsidence in areas where the department
determines that such an easement is desirable to maintain structural
stability of the levee. The easement shall (1) restrict the use of
the land to open-space uses, nontillable crops, the propagation of
wildlife habitat, and other compatible uses, (2) provide full access
to the local agency for levee maintenance and improvement purposes,
and (3) allow the owner to retain reasonable rights of ingress and
egress as well as reasonable rights of access to the waterways for
water supply and drainage. The local agency cost of acquisition of
the easements shall be reimbursable by the department from moneys
appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section
12300, or any other sources appropriated by the Legislature for
purposes of this part.
(c) The plans shall also include provision for protection of the
fish and wildlife habitat determined to be necessary by the
Department of Fish and Game and not injurious to the integrity of the
levee. The Department of Fish and Game shall consider the value of
the riparian and fisheries habitat and the need to provide safe
levees in preparing its requirements. The Department of Fish and
Game shall not approve any plan which calls for the use of channel
islands or berms with significant riparian communities as borrow
sites for levee repair material, unless fully mitigated, or any plans
which will result in a net long-term loss of riparian, fisheries, or
wildlife habitat.
(d) After the memorandum of understanding required pursuant to
Section 12307 is amended as required by Section 78543 to
define a net long-term habitat improvement program, the Department of
Fish and Game shall also require plans to be consistent with net
long-term habitat improvement. The 78543, the
Department of Fish and Game shall also make a written determination
as part of its review and approval of a plan or project pursuant to
Section 12314 and this section that the proposed expenditures are
consistent with a net long-term habitat improvement program and have
a net benefit for aquatic species in the delta. The memorandum
of understanding in effect prior to the amendments required by
Section 78543 shall remain in effect with regard to levee projects
and plans until the memorandum of understanding is amended.
(e) The plans shall also take into account the most recently
updated Delta Master Recreation Plan prepared by the Resources
Agency.
(f) Upon approval of the plans by the board, the local agencies
shall enter into an agreement with the board to perform the
maintenance and improvement work, including the annual routine
maintenance work, specified in the plans. If applications for state
funding in any year exceed the state funds available, the board shall
apportion the funds among those levees or levee segments that are
identified by the department as most critical and beneficial,
considering the needs of flood control, water quality, recreation,
navigation, habitat improvements, and fish and wildlife.
SEC. 16. Section 12987.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12987.5. (a) In an agreement entered into under Section 12987,
the board may provide for an advance to the applicant in an amount
not to exceed 75 percent of the estimated state share. The agreement
shall provide that no advance shall be made until the applicant has
incurred costs averaging one thousand dollars ($1,000) per mile of
levee.
(b) Advances made under subdivision (a) shall be subtracted from
amounts to be reimbursed after the work has been performed. If the
department finds that work has not been satisfactorily performed or
where advances made actually exceed reimbursable costs, the local
agency shall promptly remit to the state all amounts advanced in
excess of reimbursable costs. If advances are sought, the board may
require a bond to be posted to ensure the faithful performance of the
work set forth in the agreement.
(c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2006, and, as
of January 1, 2007, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2007, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 17. Section 12988 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12988. Upon the completion in any year of the maintenance or
improvement work, including annual routine maintenance work, as
specified in the plans approved by the board, the local agency shall
notify the department, and the department shall inspect the completed
work. The department, upon completion of such inspection, shall
submit to the board a report as to its findings. Upon a finding that
the work has been satisfactorily completed in accordance with the
approved plans, the board shall certify for reimbursement 75 percent
of any costs incurred per mile of levee if the entire cost incurred
per mile of levee is greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
SEC. 18. Section 12989 of the Water Code is amended to read:
12989. (a) The department shall conduct at least one annual
inspection of every levee for which maintenance or improvement costs
have been reimbursed pursuant to this part. In addition, the
department shall inspect nonproject levees of local
agencies for the purpose of monitoring and
ascertaining the degree of compliance with, or progress toward
meeting, standards such as those set forth in Section 12984.
(b) The local agency shall cooperate with the department in the
conduct of these inspections, including the provision of reasonable
access over local agency lands and easements.
SEC. 19. Section 12994 is added to the Water Code, to read:
12994. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The CALFED Bay-Delta Program has identified as a core action
the need for emergency levee management planning for delta levees to
improve system reliability.
(2) Even with active levee maintenance, the threat of delta levee
failures from earthquake, flood, or poor levee foundation, will
continue to exist.
(3) Because of this threat of failure, and the potential need to
mobilize people and equipment in an emergency to protect delta levees
and public benefits, the department needs authority that will enable
it to act quickly.
(b) The department may do all of the following:
(1) In an emergency, as defined by Section 21060.3 of the Public
Resources Code, that requires immediate levee work to protect public
benefits in the delta, the department may use funds pursuant to this
part without prior approval of a plan by the board or the Department
of Fish and Game, in which case the requirements of Sections 12987
and 12314, and the memorandum of understanding pursuant to Section
12307, shall be carried out as soon as possible.
(A) The amount of funds that may be expended each year on
emergency levee work under this section shall not be greater than two
hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) and the amount that may be
expended per emergency levee site shall not be greater than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000). The local agency shall fund 25 percent
of the total costs of the emergency repair at a site or shall fund an
appropriate share of the costs as approved by the board and based
upon information of the local agency's ability to pay for the
repairs.
(B) Department contracts executed for emergency levee work under
this section shall be exempted from Department of General Services
approval required under the Public Contract Code.
(C) As soon a feasible after the emergency repair, the department
shall submit a report to the board describing the levee work, costs
incurred, and plans for future work at the site, including any
necessary mitigation.
(D) This section is intended to supplement emergency services
provided by the state or the United States. Nothing in this section
overrides or supersedes the authority of the Director of the Office
of Emergency Services under the California Emergency Services Act
(Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2 of
the Government Code) or the Natural Disaster Assistance Act (Chapter
7.5 (commencing with Section 8680) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the
Government Code).
(2) Prepare and submit to the board for adoption a delta emergency
response plan for levee failures. The plan is exempt from Chapter
3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Government Code. The plan may include recommendations of
the multiagency response team established pursuant to paragraph (3)
and may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(A) Standardized contracts for emergency levee work to be executed
by the department, local agencies, or other appropriate entities.
(B) Criteria for eligible emergency levee work.
(C) Definition of an emergency levee site.
(D) Documentation requirements.
(E) Proposals for complying with the federal Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.) and the California
Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code) in an emergency.
(F) Stages of emergency response that may occur in various
situations.
(3) Establish a multiagency emergency response team, consisting of
representatives from the department, the board, the Department of
Fish and Game, the California Conservation Corps, the Office of
Emergency Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service to advise on methods to ensure that levee
emergencies will be resolved as quickly and safely as possible.
SEC. 20. Section 12995 is added to the Water Code, to read:
12995. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares both of the
following:
(1) There is an urgent need for rehabilitation and improvement of
delta levees, and that the United States Army Corps of Engineers has
a crucial and continuing role in that work.
(2) The department and the board have been cooperating with the
United States Army Corps of Engineers in a feasibility study for
rehabilitation and improvement of the levees in the delta. That
feasibility study identified a federal interest in levee
rehabilitation and improvements due to benefits to navigation,
commerce, the environment, and flood damage reduction.
(b) The department and the board may cooperate with the United
States Army Corps of Engineers to develop and implement delta levee
rehabilitation, improvement, and realignment, and to enhance the
environment.
SEC. 21. This act shall become operative only if Senate Bill 900
of the 1995-96 Regular Session is enacted and approved by the voters
in the November 5, 1996, general election.