BILL NUMBER: AB 687 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salas
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
An act to add Division 34 (commencing with Section
83050) to the Water Code, relating to the Tijuana River Valley.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 687, as amended, Salas. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Tijuana River Valley Conservancy.
Existing law establishes various state conservancies for the
protection of natural resources within specified boundaries.
This bill would enact the Tijuana River Valley Conservancy Act.
The bill would establish in the Natural Resources Agency the Tijuana
River Valley Conservancy. The bill would specify the composition of
the board of the conservancy. The conservancy would be required to
oversee the implementation of a comprehensive Tijuana River Valley
cleanup and restoration program. The bill would set forth related
findings and declarations.
The California Bay-Delta Authority Act establishes the California
Bay-Delta Authority in the Natural Resources Agency. The act requires
the authority and the implementing agencies to carry out programs,
projects, and activities necessary to implement the Bay-Delta
Program.
This bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature
with respect to the development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
and the activities of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force and the
Delta Vision Committee and the need to balance the demands of both
the environment and water supplies.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Division 34 (commencing with Section
83050) is added to the Water Code , to read:
DIVISION 34. Tijuana River Valley Conservancy
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS
83050. This division shall be known and may be cited as the
Tijuana River Valley Conservancy Act.
83051. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Tijuana River Valley is a unique and valued area,
warranting recognition from the State of California.
(b) The Tijuana River Valley is known for its regional park and is
located in the most southwestern portion of the City of San Diego.
It is bounded on the east by Dairy Mart Road and the residential
community of San Ysidro. It is located west of Border Field State
Park and the Tijuana Estuary. The southern tip of the valley is on
the United States-Mexico International Border. At the north end are
Sunset Avenue and the residential community of Otay-Nestor.
(c) The Tijuana River which flows east to west from Mexico drains
into the Pacific Ocean through the Tijuana River Estuary. The valley
created by the river is known for its acreage of natural lands and
habitats. The Tijuana River Valley Regional Park is composed of 71
and one-half miles of dirt roads and pathways that have been created
due to recreational use through the highly vegetated area.
(d) Numerous federal, state, and local agencies have overlapping
and sometimes conflicting responsibilities and jurisdictions over the
Tijuana River Valley.
(e) For decades, trash and wastewater originating in Tijuana,
Mexico have ended up along the public recreational hiking, biking,
and equestrian trails within the Tijuana River Valley, posing
environmental and public health threats to the local South Bay San
Diego community.
(f) The establishment of the Tijuana River Valley Conservancy will
facilitate coordinated governmental action, with input from the
scientific community, the environmental community, and affected
stakeholders, to protect the Tijuana River Valley from future
accumulations of trash and sediment, to identify, remove, recycle, or
dispose of existing trash and sediment, and to restore the wetland
ecosystem of the Tijuana River Valley floodplain.
CHAPTER 2. TIJUANA RIVER VALLEY CONSERVANCY
83060. There is hereby established in the Natural Resources
Agency the Tijuana River Valley Conservancy, a state agency, for the
purposes of carrying out this division.
83061. The conservancy shall oversee the implementation of a
comprehensive Tijuana River Valley cleanup and restoration program.
83062. (a) The board of the conservancy shall consist of seven
voting members as follows:
(1) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, or his or her
designee.
(2) Two public members appointed by the Governor.
(3) Two public members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(4) Two public members appointed by the President pro Tempore of
the Senate.
(b) Each public member shall be appointed for a four-year term,
except that one of the public members initially appointed by the
Governor shall be designated to serve a one-year term, one of the
public members initially appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly
shall be designated to serve a two-year term, and one of the public
members initially appointed by the President pro Tempore of the
Senate shall be designated to serve a three-year term. Public members
may be reappointed at the end of their respective terms and any
vacancy during a term of office may be filled by the appointing
entity.
(c) The public members shall reflect the diversity of interests in
the Tijuana River Valley. Each public member shall be compensated
for attendance at regular meetings of the board at the rate of one
hundred dollars ($100) per day and shall be reimbursed for actual
reasonable and necessary expenses for attending meetings and carrying
out the duties of his or her office.
(d) The board members shall elect annually from among the board
members a chairperson and vice chairperson and other officers as
necessary.
(e) A majority of the board members constitutes a quorum for the
transaction of the business of the board, and a majority vote of the
board members present at a meeting where a quorum exists shall be
binding with respect to all matters acted on by the board.
(f) The board shall appoint an executive officer of the
conservancy and employ other staff as necessary to execute the powers
and functions provided for under this division.
(g) The board may rent or otherwise acquire real property and
equipment.
(h) The board may enter into contracts with private entities and
public agencies to procure consulting and other services to achieve
the purposes of this division.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
(a) In September 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger issued Executive
Order S-17-06 to initiate a thorough process in the development of a
durable vision and strategic plan for sustainable management of the
delta that balances the demands of both the environment and water
supplies.
(b) Executive Order S-17-06 established the Delta Vision Blue
Ribbon Task Force, a stakeholder coordination group, and the Delta
Vision Committee, which resulted in implementation recommendations to
both the Governor and Legislature in January 2009.
(c) The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is currently in development,
in observance of the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.) and the Natural Community Conservation
Planning Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3
of the Fish and Game Code), to advance a plan to provide for
environmental restoration and reliable water supplies from the delta
for more than 20 million people.
(d) Acknowledgment of and reference to both the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan and the activities of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon
Task Force and the Delta Vision Committee are essential to resolving
conflicting demands throughout the delta.
(e) Structural improvement to both the form and function of the
delta will allow California to more aggressively achieve the Governor'
s 20 percent by 2020 water conservation goal throughout the state.