BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2353
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Date of Hearing: May 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2353 (Logue) - As Amended: April 28, 2010
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the state's 10 land conservancies to report
to the Legislature every two years on specified budgetary and
programmatic information.
FISCAL EFFECT
Biennial ongoing costs or an unknown amount, but likely in the
tens of thousands of dollars cumulatively, to each of the 10
conservancies to prepare reports. The conservancies note that
they have very limited staffing and funding, both of which will
be strained by the reporting requirements.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends the Legislature needs
budgetary and programmatic information on each of the
conservancies to make informed decisions about their funding,
missions, and continued existence. However, the author notes
that, with a few exceptions, the conservancies are not
required to provide such information to the Legislature on a
regular basis.
2)Background . In order to conserve California's land resources,
the state has established a number of agencies whose mission
includes acquiring and protecting land as a natural resource
to be held for the broad public benefit. Among these agencies
are the state's 10 conservancies, located within the Resources
Agency and charged with acquiring and protecting undeveloped
land in specified geographical areas in order to advance a mix
of conservation objectives. Typically, these objectives
AB 2353
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include providing open space and recreational opportunities,
as well as preserving land as wildlife habitat. While the
particular statutory goals of each conservancy differ
somewhat, the conservancies generally were created in response
to considerations that certain vital land resources, from a
natural resources perspective, were subject to development and
other pressures.
The state's 10 conservancies and the year each was created
are:
a) State Coastal Conservancy, 1976
b) Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, 1980
c) California Tahoe Conservancy, 1984
d) San Joaquin River Conservancy, 1995
e) Coachella Valley Mountain Conservancy, 1996
f) San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains
Conservancy, 1999
g) Baldwin Hills Conservancy, 2000
h) San Diego River Conservancy, 2002
i) Sierra Nevada Conservancy, 2004
j) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, 2010
Three of the conservancies are required to report regularly to
the Legislature. The State Coastal Conservancy must report
every three years, whereas the Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy submit annual
reports to the Legislature. In the past, the Legislative
Analyst's Office has recommended each state conservancy be
periodically reviewed to determine if their missions continue
to be appropriate, of statewide interest, and a priority in
terms of meeting the state's overall land conservation goals.
3)There is no registered support or opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081