BILL NUMBER: AB 41	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member La Malfa
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aghazarian, Berryhill, Gaines, Maze,
and Villines)

                        DECEMBER 4, 2006

   An act to  add Section 21080.34 to the Public Resources Code,
  relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 41, as amended, La Malfa. Water resources:  bond
proceeds.   Temperance Flat Surface Water Storage
Project and Sites Reservoir: California Environmental Quality Act.
 
    The  
   (1) Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be
prepared by contract, and certify the completion of, an environmental
impact report on a project, as defined, that may have a significant
effect on the environment, or to adopt a negative declaration if it
finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA provides for
various exemptions from the requirements of the act.  
   This bill would exempt from CEQA, the construction of the
Temperance Flat Surface Water Storage Project and the Sites
Reservoir. By imposing new duties on a local agency to determine
whether this exemption applies to a project, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program. 
    (2)     The  Disaster Preparedness and
Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006, a bond act approved by the voters
at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes the
issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,090,000,000 for the purposes of
financing disaster preparedness and flood prevention projects. The
Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River
and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative bond act
approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide general
election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of
$5,388,000,000 for the purposes of financing a safe drinking, water
quality and supply, flood control, and resource protection program.
   This bill would declare that it is the intent of the Legislature
that the funds derived from these bond acts, consistent with the
intent of the voters, be expended in the most cost-efficient and
effective manner and, to the greatest extent possible, to address
this state's critical lack of adequate surface water storage. The
bill would make related legislative findings and declarations. 
   (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) For years, California has failed to address adequately the
need for increased water storage to meet the state's residential,
business, agricultural, environmental, and water quality needs.
   (2) According to the Department of Water Resources, by 2020
California will fall short of meeting its water needs in critically
dry years by 6.2 million acre-feet.
   (3) Our population will increase by an amount that is equivalent
to the current population of Michigan by 2020, or a city the size of
Long Beach each and every year.
   (4) The CALFED Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000,
identified five major dam projects that could provide significant new
surface water to California.
   (5) Two projects, Temperance Flat in Fresno County and Sites
Reservoir in Colusa County, hold the greatest promise for providing
new surface shortage. Environmental documentation for both projects
is expected to be completed by 2008.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the funds derived
from the Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006
and the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control,
River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, which laws the voters
approved at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, be
expended, consistent with the intent of the voters, in the most
cost-efficient and effective manner and, to the greatest extent
possible, to address this state's critical lack of adequate surface
water storage.
   SEC. 2.    Section 21080.34 is added to the 
 Public Resources Code   , to read:  
   21080.34.  This division does not apply to the construction of the
Temperance Flat Surface Water Storage Project and the Sites
Reservoir. 
   SEC. 3.   The Legislature finds and declares that,
because of the unique circumstances applicable to only the Temperance
Flat Surface Water Storage Project and the Sites Reservoir, a
statute of general applicability cannot be ena   cted within
the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution, and, therefore, this special statute is
necessary. 
   SEC. 4.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.