BILL ANALYSIS
AB 39
Page 1
PROPOSED CONFERENCE REPORT NO. 1 - September 9, 2009
AB 39 (Huffman)
As Amended July 9, 2009
Majority vote
------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |46-28|(June 3, 2009) |SENATE: | |(July 13, 2009) |
| | | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------
(vote not relevant)
ASSEMBLY CONFERENCE VOTE : 4-0 SENATE CONFERENCE VOTE :4-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Bass, Caballero, Huffman, |Ayes:|Steinberg, Florez, |
| |Solorio | |Padilla, Pavley |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: W., P. & W.
SUMMARY : Requires the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) to
develop a new comprehensive plan for the Delta by 2012.
Specifically, the conference committee amendments :
1)Require the Council to develop, adopt, and commence
implementation of the "Delta Plan" by January 1, 2011, with a
report to the Legislature by March 31, 2012.
a) Require Council to consider strategies and actions set
forth in the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force Strategic
Plan (Strategic Plan).
b) Allow Council to identify actions that state or local
agencies may take to implement the subgoals or strategies.
c) Require consultation and cooperation between the Council
and federal, state and local agencies in developing the
Delta Plan.
d) Require Council to review the Delta Plan every five
years, allowing the Council to request state agency
recommendations for revisions.
e) Require the Council to develop the Plan consistent with
federal statutes, including the Coastal Zone Management
AB 39
Page 2
Act, Clean Water Act and the Reclamation Act.
2)Require Delta Protection Commission (DPC) to develop a
proposal to protect, enhance, and sustain the unique cultural,
historical, recreational, agricultural, and economic values of
the Delta as an evolving place, for consideration by the
Council as part of Delta Plan, including proposals for:
a) Federal/state designation of the Delta as a place of
special significance.
b) Regional economic plan to increase investment in
agriculture, recreation, tourism and other resilient land
uses in the Delta, including administration of Delta
Investment Fund.
c) Expansion of state recreation areas in the Delta.
d) Market incentives and infrastructure to support Delta
agriculture.
3)Require Delta Plan to further the coequal goals of Delta
ecosystem restoration and a reliable water supply.
a) Limit geographic scope of ecosystem restoration projects
to the Delta (defined separately as legal Delta, Suisun
Marsh and Yolo Bypass), except for ecosystem projects
outside the Delta that contribute to achievement of coequal
goals.
b) Require Delta Plan to promote specified characteristics
and include specified strategies for a healthy Delta
ecosystem.
4)Require Delta Plan to promote a more reliable water supply to:
a) Assist in meeting the needs of reasonable and beneficial
uses of water.
b) Sustain the economic vitality of the state.
c) Improve water quality to protect human health and the
environment.
5) Require Delta Plan to promote statewide water conservation,
AB 39
Page 3
water use efficiency, and sustainable use of water, as well as
improvements to water conveyance/storage and operation of both
to achieve the coequal goals.
6)Require Delta Plan to 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.
a) Allow Delta Plan to include actions outside the Delta
that reduce flood risks, and local plans of flood
protection.
b) Allow Council, in consultation with the Department of
Transportation, to address climate change effects on state
highways in the Delta in the Delta Plan.
c) Allow Council, in consultation with the California
Energy Commission, to address the needs of Delta energy
development, storage and distribution in the Delta Plan.
7)Require Delta Plan to meet the following requirements:
a) Be based on best available scientific information and
advice from the Delta Independent Science Board.
b) Include quantified targets for achieving the objectives
of the Delta Plan.
c) Utilize monitoring and analysis to determine progress
toward targets.
d) Describe methods to measure progress.
e) Include adaptive management strategy for ecosystem
restoration and water management.
8)Require DWR to prepare proposal to coordinate flood and water
supply operations of the State Water Project and Central
Valley Project, for Council consideration.
9)Allow Council to incorporate other completed Delta-related
plans into Delta Plan.
10)Condition enactment on enactment of AB 49, SB 12, SB 229 and
AB 39
Page 4
SB 458.
EXISTING LAW requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency to develop a strategic plan for the Delta, and authorizes
various state agencies, including the California Bay-Delta
Authority, to implement Delta projects under the CALFED
Bay-Delta Program.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required a Delta Plan, but
had no further substance.
The Senate amendments stripped all substantive provisions,
transforming bill into legislative intent statement regarding
development of a Delta Plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimated
one-time, special fund costs of $500,000 to $1 million to create
this Delta Plan.
COMMENTS : 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 & Game (DFG) reported a trend
showing severe decline in the Delta fishery. In 2006, the
Legislature reorganized Delta programs and funding under the
Resources Agency Secretary. 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)
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. This
year, the Legislature held numerous hearings on Delta Vision and
AB 39
Page 5
a set of five bills, including this one. In August, policy
committees in both houses held hearings on the topics in these
bills, and considered "pre-print" versions. Conference
Committee substantially amended the pre-prints.
Delta Plan : This bill will set a new course for the Delta, by
requiring the new Delta Stewardship Council to develop a new,
comprehensive Delta Plan. This bill, however, comprises only
one part of a larger, new division in the Water Code, whose
other parts are enacted by SB 12 (Simitian), which creates the
legal foundation for developing the new Delta Plan. A key
example is the definition of the "coequal goals" of ecosystem
restoration and a more reliable water supply, which the Delta
Plan will "further."
Federal Government Participation :In order to encourage federal
government participation under the State's leadership, AB 39
requires the Delta Plan to be developed consistent with certain
statutes that allow for certain state discretion over federal
activities. These statutes include the Coastal Zone Management
Act (CZMA), the Reclamation Act of 1902 (which governs the
Bureau of Reclamation's Central Valley Project), and the Clean
Water Act. If the Council decides to adopt the Delta Plan
pursuant to the CZMA, then the bill requires submission to the
Secretary of Commerce for approval, so the State may exercise
certain authority over federal agency actions. It is widely
anticipated that California may need Congress to enact laws to
protect the Delta consistent with the State's plan - perhaps a
"Delta Zone Management Act." This bill allows for that
eventuality, by providing for submission of the Delta Plan to
whatever federal official a subsequent federal statute
identifies.
Conference Committee Amendments : The Conference Committee
amendments added substantive detail as to the nature of the
Delta Plan, focusing on balancing the two coequal goals of
ecosystem restoration and water supply reliability. The
amendments to the pre-print versions of the bill narrowed the
focus of the ecosystem restoration to the Delta, and not its
entire watershed, and eliminated the authority of the Council to
direct other state agencies to contribute to the Delta Plan.
Levees/Flood Protection : The bill requires the Delta Plan to
reduce risks to people, property and state interests in the
Delta with emergency preparedness, appropriate land uses and
AB 39
Page 6
strategic levee investments. The Delta Plan will include
recommendations for priorities for state investments in levees.
These recommendations, in combination with the Council's
authority to ensure that state agencies act consistently with
the Delta Plan (in SB 12), will ensure that spending by DWR and
the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB) reflects these
priorities. The Legislature generally does not appropriate
funding to specific Delta levee projects, and has not been
successful in imposing priorities on state levee spending in the
Delta. Instead, the State Budget leaves the discretion to DWR
and the CVFPB to determine how to spend state money on both
levees in the State Plan of Flood Control and non-project
levees. These priorities will affect both the Delta levee
subvention program (non-project levees) and the special projects
program (levees with a State interest).
Analysis Prepared by : Alf W. Brandt / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0003146