BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 444|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 444
Author: Caballero (D)
Amended: 9/1/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 5-0, 7/1/09
AYES: Wiggins, Cox, Aanestad, Kehoe, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 13-0, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Land use: natural resources: transfer of
long-term
management funds
SOURCE : California Council of Land Trusts
DIGEST : This bill allows funds that have been set aside
for the long-term management of lands or easements that
have been conveyed to a nonprofit organization to be
conveyed to that nonprofit organization, as specified.
This bill requires, as specified, the nonprofit
organization to manage those funds to further the managing
and stewarding of that land or easement.
ANALYSIS : When cities and counties approve land use
projects, they can require builders to set aside resource
CONTINUED
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land or easements to mitigate the conversion of other
property to development. Sometimes public agencies impose
mitigation conditions to offset the effects of other
agencies' public works projects. Rather than own and
manage the mitigation land or the easements themselves,
public agencies can turn over the property interests to
nonprofit organizations that meet statutory criteria (AB
2746, Blakeslee, Chapter 577, Statutes of 2006; AB 1246,
Blakeslee, Chapter 330, Statutes of 2007).
In addition to requiring project sponsors to set aside
resource lands for mitigation purposes, sometimes public
agencies also require applicants to set aside money to pay
for managing the land or easements. A 2006 Legislative
Counsel opinion explained that the 2006 Blakeslee bill
allows the State Department of Fish and Game to authorize a
nonprofit organization to hold and manage funds for the
operation and management of the resource lands or
easements. Land trusts want explicit statutory authority
for this practice.
This bill allows funds that have been set aside for the
long-term management of lands or easements that have been
conveyed to a nonprofit organization to be conveyed to that
nonprofit organization, beginning July 1, 2010. The public
agency must determine that the nonprofit organization meets
four criteria involving managerial capacity, investment
capacity, accounting practices, and investment policies.
This bill requires the nonprofit organization to manage
those funds to further the managing and stewarding of that
land or easement. The public agency can require the
nonprofit organization to provide annual financial reports.
If the public agency determines that there is a concern
over the funds' management, the bill allows the public
agency to review accounting documents or require an audit
report. The funds held by the nonprofit organization
revert to the public agency if the nonprofit organization
stops operating, dissolves, becomes bankrupt or insolvent,
or fails to perform. This bill allows public agencies to
adopt guidelines for its financial reviews.
The bill also allows a state or local public agency to
provide funds to a nonprofit organization to acquire land
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or easements that satisfy the agency's obligation to
mitigate the effects of development.
This bill specifies that the permissive nature of
transferring an endowment is only applicable on a
going-forward basis and will not have any effect on
endowment funds currently held by the state in the Pooled
Money Investment Account as of July 1, 2010. The section
of this bill allowing for the transfer of the endowment
shall sunset on January 1, 2014, unless amended or
extended.
Comments
Just as public agencies can turn over mitigation property
and easements to nonprofit organizations, they should be
able to turn over the funds that are needed to manage those
property interests. AB 444 extends the Legislative
Counsel's view that the State Department of Fish and Game
has this authority and explicitly allows any state or local
agency to send endowment dollars to help pay for their
mitigation duties. Unlike AB 2916 (Wolk, 2006) and SB 1011
(Hollingsworth, 2007), both of which died on the Senate
Appropriations Committee's suspense file, this bill applies
broadly to all state and local agencies and is clearly
permissive.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
DFG regulations $100 $200 $100 General/
Special**
** Fish and Game Preservation Fund or General Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/09)
California Council of Land Trusts (source)
American Land Conservancy
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Amigos de los Rios
Bay Area Open Space Council
Big Sur Land Trust
Bolsa Chica Land Trust
California Coastal Coalition
California League of Conservation Voters
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California Rangeland Trust
California State Parks Foundation
Catalina Island Conservancy
Central Valley Land Trust Council
Eastern Sierra Land Trust
Feather River Land Trust
Green California
Lake County Land Trust
Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County
Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
Land Trust of Napa County
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Lassen Land and Trails Trust
League of California Cities
Marin Agricultural Land Trust
McCollum Associates
Mendocino Land Trust
Mountains Meadows Conservancy
Muir Heritage Land Trust
P.G. & E.
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Placer Land Trust
Planning and Conservation League
Preserve Calavera
Sacramento Valley Conservancy
San Diego River Park Foundation
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust
Sanctuary Forest
Save Mount Diablo
Sempervirens Fund
Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Shasta Land Trust
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Sierra-Cascade Land Trust Council
Solano Land Trust
Sonoma Land Trust
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The Trust for Public Land
Transportation Agency for Monterey County
Tri-Valley Conservancy
Truckee Donner Land Trust
Westervelt Ecological Services
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
AGB:nl 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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