BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2598
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2598 (Brownley)
As Amended April 15, 2010
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 6-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Brownley, De |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano, |
| |Leon, Hill, Huffman, | |Bradford, |
| |Skinner | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| | | |Davis, |
| | | |De Leon, Hall, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Gilmore, Knight, Logue |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires a trustee of legislatively granted public
trust lands to prepare a sea level action plan (Plan) by July 1,
2011. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, by July 1, 2011, a trustee of granted public trust
lands to prepare a Plan, which must include all of the
following:
a) An assessment of the impact of sea level rise on granted
public trust lands;
b) Maps showing the areas that may be affected by sea level
rise that may occur in 2050 and 2100 and the potential
impacts of a 100-year storm event;
c) An estimate of the financial cost of the impact of sea
level rise on granted public trust lands, including, but
not limited to, both the potential cost of repair of damage
to and value of lost use of improvements and land and the
anticipated cost to prevent or mitigate potential damage;
d) Strategies to prevent or mitigate damage to existing
development and infrastructure;
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e) Design standards that would avoid impacts to new
development and infrastructure; and,
f) Implementation measures and timetables.
2)Directs a trustee to conduct at least one public hearing on
the Plan and consult with its lessees, local, state, and
federal agencies, and other users of the granted public trust
lands.
3)Requires a copy of the Plan to be submitted to the Natural
Resources Agency (NRA), the Governor's Office of Planning and
Research or its successor, and the State Lands Commission
(Commission).
4)Authorizes the Commission to exempt a trustee from the
requirements of this bill if the Commission finds that none of
the trustee's public trust lands is subject to sea level rise
by 2100 or if the financial burden to prepare the Plan
substantially outweighs the benefit the Plan would have in
preventing the potential economic and environmental harms
associated with sea level rise on the trustee's granted public
trust lands.
5)Authorizes a trustee to levy service charges, fees, or
assessments sufficient to pay for the preparation of the Plan.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Vests within the Commission exclusive jurisdiction over all
ungranted tidelands and submerged lands owned by the state,
and of the beds of navigable rivers, streams, lakes, bays,
estuaries, inlets, and straits, including tidelands and
submerged lands or any interest therein.
2)Grants to various local entities the right, title, and
interest of the state in and to certain tidelands and
submerged lands in trust for purposes of commerce, navigation,
and fisheries, or other public trust purposes. The Commission
monitors granted lands to ensure compliance with the terms and
conditions of a statutory grant, the California Constitution,
and the Public Trust Doctrine.
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, absorbable costs to the Commission to oversee
preparation of Plans and review their findings.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office and the State
Controller, sponsor of this bill, this bill responds to a
December 2009 report prepared by Commission staff entitled "A
Report on Seal Level Rise Preparedness" (Report). The Report
included the results of a survey all of major public trust land
grantees and lessees of major facilities on state lands along
the coast and San Francisco Bay. Notably, the Report found that
"the majority of respondents have not yet begun to
comprehensively consider the impacts of sea level rise." Thus,
the author's office believes that "Given the unprecedented risks
to homes, businesses, and commerce identified in the [R]eport,
it is imperative that the state not delay in ensuring affected
trustees of granted public trust lands to immediately begin
planning for that eventuality."
Last year, the NRA published its California Climate Adaptation
Strategy (CAS) in response to Executive Order S-13-08. The CAS
summarizes anticipated climate change impacts and recommends
near and long-term strategies to increase the resilience and
adaptive capacity of the state to respond to these impacts.
Based on a review of the literature, the CAS found that sea
levels have risen 7-inches in the last century and are projected
to rise between 20-55 inches by the end of this century. The
most significant consequence of accelerated sea-level rise is an
increase in the frequency and intensity of coastal flooding and
erosion associated with extreme weather events and storm surges.
A 5-foot rise in the level of San Francisco Bay by 2100, for
example, is projected to increase the amount of land subject to
flood-related risks by 33%.
The CAS also found that the state's infrastructure, including
ports and airports are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of
sea level rise. For example, all three major airports in the
San Francisco Bay Area, which are located near sea level, are at
an enhanced risk of inundation and flooding from higher and more
expansive storm surges. The CAS indicates that docking
facilities at the state's ports are also at risk and estimates
the total value of at-risk air and seaport infrastructure in the
multi-billion dollars. Sea-level rise may also interrupt goods
movement at ports, reduce bridge clearance (reducing the size of
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ships able to pass or restricting their movements to times of
low tide), or force ships to sit higher in the water, possibly
resulting in less efficient port operations.
Among other things, the CAS requires the Commission and certain
resources departments to prepare agency-specific adaptation
plans by September 2010. The individual Plans required by this
bill are intended to inform the development of the Commission's
adaptation plan.
The Legislature has granted public trust lands to 85 cities,
counties, and harbor districts. These lands include all of the
state's major ports. To inform its Report, the Commission
surveyed its major grantees and lessees of facilities along the
coast. The survey inquired about the life expectancy of
existing facilities, whether the respondent has considered the
effect of sea-level rise on its facilities, how its facilities
would be impacted by a rise of 16 and 55 inches, the cost impact
of associated damage, and whether adaptation strategies have
been considered. As indicated above, most respondents have made
little to no progress on incorporating sea level rise
considerations into its planning or regulatory responsibilities.
The Ports of Los Angeles and San Diego reported that they will
be developing adaptation plans or will incorporate sea level
rise in its design guidelines. The Ports of San Francisco and
Oakland, on the other hand, stated that they believe that
adaptation strategies should be considered on a regional or
state level, despite acknowledging that their facilities will be
impacted by sea level rise-induced flooding.
The bill includes a provision that exempts a trustee from the
bill's requirements if the Commission finds that none of the
trustee's public trust lands is subject to sea level rise in
2100 or pursuant to a cost-benefit test. There are some inland
grantees such as Lake County whose lands are not likely to
experience any sea level rise or others where only a small
portion of land may be subject to sea level rise and thus may be
exempt under the bill's cost-benefit test. It should be noted
that while the bill empowers the Commission to implement these
exemption provisions it does not assign it any oversight or
enforcement responsibilities over the preparation or review of
Plans.
AB 2598
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Analysis Prepared by : Dan Chia / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
FN: 0004249