BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 39|
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CONFERENCE COMPLETED
Bill No: AB 39
Author: Huffman (D)
Amended: Conference Report No. 1 - 9/9/09
Vote: 21
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE VOTE : 8-0, 9/9/09
AYES: Senators Steinberg, Pavley, Padilla, and Florez,
Assembly Members Bass, Huffman, Caballero, and Solorio
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Cogdill, Fuller, Huff,
Jeffries, Nielsen
SUBJECT : Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Delta Plan
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : Conference Committee Amendments delete the prior
version of the bill stating the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to establish a Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta Plan. This bill now requires the Delta Stewardship
Council, created pursuant to SB 12 (Simitian), 2009-10
Regular Session, on or before January 1, 2012, to develop,
adopt, and commence implementation of a comprehensive
management plan for the Delta, meeting specified
requirements. The provisions of this bill only become
operative if AB 49 (Feuer), SB 12 (Simitian), SB 229
(Pavley), and SB 458 (Steinberg and Simitian) of the
2009-10 Regular Session of the Legislature, relating to
water use and resource management, are enacted and become
effective on or before January 1, 2010.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Existing law requires various state agencies
to administer programs relating to water supply, water
quality, and flood management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency to convene a committee to develop and
submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before
December 31, 2008, recommendations for implementing a
specified strategic plan relating to the sustainable
management of the Delta.
This bill requires the Delta Stewardship Council to be
created by SB 12, on or before January 1, 2012, to develop,
adopt, and commence implementation of the Delta Plan
pursuant to this part that furthers the coequal goals. The
Delta Plan shall include subgoals and strategies to assist
in guiding state and local agency actions related to the
Delta. In developing the Delta Plan, the council shall
consider each of the strategies and actions set forth in
the Strategic Plan and may include any of those strategies
or actions in the Delta Plan. The Delta Plan may also
identify specific actions that state or local agencies may
take to implement the subgoals and strategies. In
developing the Delta Plan, the Council shall consult with
federal, state, and local agencies with responsibilities in
the Delta. All state agencies with responsibilities in the
Delta shall cooperate with the council in developing the
Delta Plan, upon request of the Council. The council shall
review the Delta Plan at least once every five years and
may revise it as the Council deems appropriate. The
Council may request any state agency with responsibilities
in the Delta to make recommendations with respect to
revision of the Delta Plan. The Council shall develop the
Delta Plan consistent with all of the following:
1. The federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16
U.S.C. Sec. 1451 et seq.), or an equivalent compliance
mechanism.
2. Section 8 of the federal Reclamation Act of 1902.
3. The federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et
seq.).
If the Council adopts a Delta Plan pursuant to the federal
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Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1451 et
seq.), the Council shall submit the Delta Plan for approval
to the United States Secretary of Commerce pursuant to that
act, or to any other federal official assigned
responsibility for the Delta pursuant to a federal statute
enacted after January 1, 2010.
The Council shall report to the Legislature no later than
March 31, 2012, as to its adoption of the Delta Plan.
Requires the Delta Protection Commission, established by SB
12 (Simitian), to develop, for consideration and
incorporation into the Delta Plan by the Council, a
proposal to protect, enhance, and sustain the unique
cultural, historical, recreational, agricultural, and
economic values of the Delta as an evolving place, in a
manner consistent with the coequal goals. For the purpose
of carrying out this subdivision, the commission may
include in the proposal the relevant strategies described
in the Strategic Plan. The Commission shall include in the
proposal a plan to establish state and federal designation
of the Delta as a place of special significance, which may
include application for a federal designation of the Delta
as a National Heritage Area. The Commission shall include
in the proposal a regional economic plan to support
increased investment in agriculture, recreation, tourism,
and other resilient land uses in the Delta. The regional
economic plan shall include detailed recommendations for
the administration of the Delta Investment Fund created by
Section 29778.5 of the Public Resources Code.
For the purposes of assisting the Commission in its
preparation of the proposal, both of the following actions
shall be undertaken:
1. The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) shall
prepare a proposal, for submission to the commission, to
expand within the Delta the network of state recreation
areas, combining existing and newly designated areas.
The proposal may incorporate appropriate aspects of any
existing plans, including the Central Valley Vision
Implementation Plan adopted by the DPR.
2. The Department of Food and Agriculture shall prepare a
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proposal, for submission to the Commission, to establish
market incentives and infrastructure to protect and
enhance the economic and public values of Delta
agriculture.
The Commission shall submit the proposal developed pursuant
to subdivision (a) to the Council. The Council shall
consider the proposal and may include any portion of the
proposal in the Delta Plan as it deems appropriate, to the
extent that the proposal furthers the coequal goals.
Implementation of the Delta Plan is to further the
restoration of the Delta ecosystem and a reliable water
supply. The geographic scope of the ecosystem restoration
projects and programs identified in the Delta Plan shall be
the Delta, except that the Delta Plan may include
recommended ecosystem projects outside the Delta that will
contribute to achievement of the coequal goals. The Delta
Plan shall include measures that promote all of the
following characteristics of a healthy Delta ecosystem:
1. Viable populations of native resident and migratory
species.
2. Functional corridors for migratory species.
3. Diverse and biologically appropriate habitats and
ecosystem processes.
4. Reduced threats and stresses on the Delta ecosystem.
5. Conditions conducive to meeting or exceeding the goals
in existing species recovery plans and state and federal
goals with respect to doubling salmon populations.
The Delta Plan shall include measures to promote a more
reliable water supply that do all of the following:
1. Assist in meeting the needs for reasonable and
beneficial uses of water.
2. Sustain the economic vitality of the state.
3. Improve water quality to protect human health and the
environment.
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The following subgoals and strategies for restoring a
healthy ecosystem shall be included in the Delta Plan:
1. Restore large areas of interconnected habitats within
the Delta and its watershed by 2100.
2. Establish migratory corridors for fish, birds, and other
animals along selected Delta river channels.
3. Promote self-sustaining, diverse populations of native
and valued species by reducing the risk of take and harm
from invasive species.
4. Restore Delta flows and channels to support a healthy
estuary and other ecosystems.
5. Improve water quality to meet drinking water,
agriculture, and ecosystem long-term goals.
6. Restore habitat necessary to avoid a net-loss of
migratory bird habitat.
The Council shall consider, for incorporation into the
Delta Plan, actions designed to implement the subgoals and
strategies described above.
In carrying out this section, the Council shall make use of
the best available science.
The Delta Plan shall include recommendations regarding
state agency management of lands in the Delta.
The Delta Plan shall promote statewide water conservation,
water use efficiency, and sustainable use of water.
The Delta Plan shall promote options for new and improved
infrastructure relating to the water conveyance and storage
systems and for the operation of both to achieve the
coequal goals.
The Delta Plan shall attempt to reduce risks to people,
property, and state interests in the Delta by promoting
effective emergency preparedness, appropriate land uses,
and strategic levee investments.
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The Council may incorporate into the Delta Plan the
emergency preparedness and response strategies for the
Delta developed by the California Emergency Management
Agency.
The Council, in consultation with the Central Valley Flood
Protection Board, shall recommend in the Delta Plan
priorities for state investments in levee operation,
maintenance, and improvements in the Delta, including both
levees that are a part of the State Plan of Flood Control
and nonproject levees.
The Delta Plan may identify actions to be taken outside of
the Delta, if those actions are determined to significantly
reduce flood risks in the Delta.
The Delta Plan may include local plans of flood protection.
The Council, in consultation with the Department of
Transportation, may address in the Delta Plan the effects
of climate change and sea level rise on the three state
highways that cross the Delta.
The Council, in consultation with the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the
Public Utilities Commission, may incorporate into the Delta
Plan additional actions to address the needs of Delta
energy development, energy storage, and energy
distribution.
The Delta Plan shall meet all of the following
requirements:
1. Be based on the best available scientific information
and the independent science advice provided by the Delta
Independent Science Board.
2. Include quantified or otherwise measurable targets
associated with achieving the objectives of the Delta
Plan.
3. Where appropriate, utilize monitoring, data collection,
and analysis of actions sufficient to determine progress
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toward meeting the quantified targets.
4. Describe the methods by which the council shall measure
progress toward achieving the coequal goals.
5. Where appropriate, recommend integration of scientific
and monitoring results into ongoing Delta water
management.
6. Include a science-based, transparent, and formal
adaptive management strategy for ongoing ecosystem
restoration and water management decisions.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR), in consultation
with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the
Central Valley Flood Protection Board, shall prepare a
proposal to coordinate flood and water supply operations of
the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley
Project, and submit the proposal to the council for
consideration for incorporation into the Delta Plan. In
drafting the proposal, DWR shall consider all related
actions set forth in the Strategic Plan.
The Council may incorporate other completed plans related
to the Delta into the Delta Plan to the extent that the
other plans promote the coequal goals.
This act shall only become operative if AB 49, SB 12, SB
229, and SB 458 of the 2009-10 Regular Session of the
Legislature, relating to water use and resource management,
are enacted and become effective on or before January 1,
2010.
Background
The Delta . For several years, the Delta has suffered a
crisis - ecosystem, water supply, levee stability, water
quality, policy, program, and litigation. In June 2004, a
privately owned levee failed and the state spent nearly
$100 million to fix it and save an island whose property
value was far less. In August 2005, the Department of Fish
and Game reported a trend showing severe decline in the
Delta fishery. In 2006, the Legislature reorganized Delta
programs and funding under the Resources Agency Secretary.
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In 2007, a federal judge, acting under the federal
Endangered Species Act, declared illegal certain federal
biological opinions about near-extinct fish and restricted
water exports from the Delta, to the San Francisco Bay
Area, the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. The
Governor shortly thereafter called the Legislature into an
extraordinary session on water.
Delta Vision . Through this enduring Delta crisis, the
Legislature and the Governor initiated, in 2006, a process
to develop a new long-term vision for the Delta. SB 1574
(Kuehl), Chapter 535, Statutes of 2006, required a cabinet
committee to present recommendations for a Delta vision.
The Governor created a Delta Vision Blue-Ribbon Task Force
to advise the Cabinet Committee. The Task Force produced
an October 2008 Strategic Plan, which the Cabinet Committee
largely adopted and submitted the recommendations to the
Legislature on January 3, 2009.
Legal Framework for the Delta . Since statehood, California
has asked much of the Delta. Conflicting demands have led
to crisis and conflict - between and among agencies,
stakeholders and natural resources. The Delta Vision
process spent more than 18 months, investigating the Delta,
engaging agencies and stakeholders, and thinking carefully
about the Delta's challenges and prospects for change. The
Task Force's first recommendation was to change the
fundamental legal framework for the state to make decisions
as to its activities in the Delta - encapsulated in two
"coequal goals" of "restoring the Delta ecosystem and
creating a more reliable water supply for California."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
DLW:mw 10/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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