BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2598
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2598 (Brownley) - As Amended: April 15, 2010
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires a trustee of granted public trust lands to
prepare a sea level action plan. Specifically, this bill:
1)Require, by July 1, 2011, a trustee of granted public trust
lands to prepare a sea level action plan that uses information
contained in any related resource, specifically including the
Natural Resources Agency's 2009 California Climate Adaptation
Strategy and the State Lands Commission's (SLC's) Report on
Sea Level Rise Preparedness.
2)Directs each trustee to submit its plan to the Natural
Resources Agency, the Governor's Office of Planning and
Research, and the State Lands Commission.
3)Requires each plan to include specific information, including:
a) Maps of areas potentially affected by sea level rise in
2050 and 2100.
b) An estimate of the financial cost of sea level rise on
granted public trust lands.
c) Strategies to prevent or mitigate damage.
d) Design standards that would avoid impacts to new
development and infrastructure.
4)Allows SLC to exempt a trustee from the requirements of this
bill if:
a) None of the trustee's public trust lands is subject to
sea level rise by 2100, or
b) The cost of the plan substantially outweighs the
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benefits of the plan.
5)Authorizes each trustee to levy fees or assessments to pay for
the cost of developing the plan.
FISCAL EFFECT
Absorbable costs to SLC to oversee preparation of the trustee
plans and review their findings.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The bill's sponsor-the State Controller's
Office-intends this bill as a response to a December 2009 SLC
survey of all of major public trust land grantees and lessees
of major facilities on state lands along the coast and San
Francisco Bay. The report found most trustees have not begun
to comprehensively consider the impacts of sea level rise.
The author and sponsor contend it critical that trustees of
granted public lands begin planning for sea level rise,
considering risks to homes, businesses, and commerce that it
entails.
2)Background .
a) Public Trust Lands . The Public Trust Doctrine holds that
tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes, streams,
and other navigable waterways are "public trust lands" held
by the state for the benefit of the people of California.
These lands are to promote the public's interest in water
or water-dependent activities such as commerce, navigation,
fisheries, environmental preservation and recreation.
SLC is the steward of the state's public trust lands.
Existing law allows SLC to lease public trust lands, enter
into boundary agreements, exchange public trust lands for
non-trust lands, and lift the trust from public trust
lands. SLC must receive equal value in any such exchange,
and those who receive the trust land-"trustees"-generally
must manage the land in keeping with the public trust.
The Legislature retains the authority to modify uses
permitted on public trust lands. The Legislature has
granted public trust lands to 85 cities, counties, and
harbor districts. These lands include all of the state's
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major ports.
b) California Climate Adaptation Strategy . Last year, the
Natural Resources Agency published its Climate Adaptation
Strategy in response to an executive order on adapting to
climate change. The strategy found that sea levels have
risen seven inches in the last century and are projected to
rise between 20-55 inches by the end of this century. Such
sea level rise increases the amount of land at risk for
flood events and threatens ports, airports and other
critical infrastructure, much of it located on public trust
lands.
Among other things, the strategy requires SLC and some
resources departments to prepare agency-specific
sea-level-rise adaptation plans by September 2010. In
preparation of it report, SLC surveyed public trust land
grantees and lessees operating facilities along the coast.
As a result, SLC discovered most respondents-including
major ports-have made little to no progress incorporating
sea level rise considerations into their trust, planning,
or regulatory responsibilities.
3)Support . This bill is supported by the State Controller and
SLC, among others.
4)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081