BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2092
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2092 (Huffman)
As Amended April 20, 2010
Majority vote
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 8-3
APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Huffman, Arambula, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano, |
| |Blumenfield, Caballero, | |Bradford, Coto, Davis, |
| |Ruskin, | |Hill, Hall, Skinner, |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, Salas, | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| |Fong | |Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Fuller, Bill Berryhill, |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| |Yamada | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) to
develop a long-term financing plan for implementation of a
management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary
(Delta). Specifically, this bill :
1)Directs the DSC, by January 1, 2013, to develop a long-term
financing plan for ongoing administration of the DSC and
implementation of a Delta management plan (Delta Plan).
Specifies the financing plan is to identify and evaluate the
benefits to all groups resulting from the implementation of
the Delta Plan, including, but not limited to, the potential
benefits to all of the following:
a) The public;
b) Urban and agricultural water users diverting water in
the Delta and in the Bay-Delta tributaries and watershed;
c) Delta landowners, recreational users and commercial
fishers;
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d) Dischargers into the Delta or its tributaries, including
wastewater dischargers; and,
e) Other interests with infrastructure or operations in the
Delta.
2)Calls for the financing plan to allocate costs and fees based
on the identified benefits.
3)Prohibits the DSC from adopting a fee unless directed to do so
by law.
4)Directs the DSC, before imposing a fee, to seek early funding
contributions from private groups that may benefit from the
Delta Plan and to credit those contributions against future
fees or funding requirements.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares there are two basic co-equal goals for the Delta: a)
to provide a more reliable water supply for California; and,
b) to protect, restore, and enhance the Delta ecosystem.
2)Requires the co-equal goals to be achieved in a manner that
also protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational,
natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an
evolving place.
3)Establishes the DSC, a seven member body charged with Delta
governance through the development and implementation of a
comprehensive Delta Plan to achieve the co-equal goals while
protecting and enhancing the Delta as an evolving place.
4)Sets out specific requirements for inclusion in the Delta
Plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : Negligible costs to the DSC, which already has
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funding to develop the Delta Plan.
COMMENTS : The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Estuary is the largest estuary on the West Coast supporting over
750 plant and animal species. Since late 2004, scientific and
public attention has focused on the unexpected collapse of
several Delta pelagic (i.e., open-water) fish species, the delta
smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass, and threadfin shad.
These fish are considered indicators of the estuary's health.
From 2007 to 2009 moderate to severe drought conditions and, to
a lesser extent, federal biological opinions necessary to
protect Delta smelt, winter-run Chinook salmon, spring-run
Chinook salmon, steelhead, and green sturgeon, led to reduced
State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project exports
from the Delta. In 2008 and again in 2009, unprecedented
declines in the Chinook salmon populations which migrate through
the Delta led to the complete closure of the commercial and
recreational salmon fisheries.
Last November, the Legislature passed the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta Reform Act [SB 1 (Simitian), Chapter 5, Statutes of the
7th Extraordinary Session, 2009] to address the long-troubled
and deteriorating Delta. Among other things, SBX7 1 established
the DSC, a seven member body charged with developing, adopting,
and commencing implementation of a comprehensive management plan
for the Delta by January 1, 2012.
Supporters of this bill believe it is critical to establish a
funding plan for ongoing administration of the DSC and
implementation of the Delta Plan and conclude it appropriate to
pay for the plan with fees on those who will benefit from its
implementation. Opponents of this bill, including some water
agencies and local Delta organizations, are concerned about fees
and how, and to whom, the "beneficiary pays" principle will be
applied.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
AB 2092
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FN: 0004337