BILL NUMBER: SB 12 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act to add Division 26.6 (commencing with Section 79600) to the
Water Code, relating to financing a water quality, environmental
enhancement, and water supply reliability program, by providing the
funds necessary therefor through an election for the issuance and
sale of bonds of the State of California and for the handling and
disposition of those funds.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 12, as introduced, Simitian. Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta, Clean Drinking Water, Water Supply Security, and Environmental
Improvement Act of 2009.
Under existing law, various bond acts have been approved by the
voters to provide funds for water projects, facilities, and programs.
Under existing law, various state agencies administer programs
relating to water supply, water quality, and flood management in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
This bill would enact the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta,
Clean Drinking Water, Water Supply Security, and Environmental
Improvement Act of 2009, which, if approved by the voters, would
authorize, for the purposes of financing a water quality,
environmental enhancement, and water supply reliability program, the
issuance, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of bonds
in the amount of $6,000,000,000. The bill would require the
Secretary of State to submit the bond act to the voters at the
November __, ____, statewide general election.
The bill would establish in state government the Delta Water and
Land Use Authority, prescribe the composition of its board of
directors, and grant to the authority a broad range of powers
relating to the preservation of the Delta ecosystem and the delivery
of a reliable state water supply. The bill would authorize the
authority to contract to design, construct, and own one or more
facilities to move water from the Sacramento River to federal and
state pumping facilities on behalf of the State Water Project, the
federal Central Valley Project, and local water agencies that can
reasonably be served by those facilities.
The bill would authorize the authority to exercise the powers and
duties of the Department of Water Resources with respect to the
financing, design, construction, ownership, and operation of those
facilities. The authority would succeed to the powers and duties of
the California Bay-Delta Authority, which would cease to exist on the
date on which the authority conducts its first meeting. The bill
would authorize the authority to issue revenue bonds to finance the
design, environmental review, permitting, and construction of those
facilities. The bill would authorize the authority to impose a fee
for the transmission of water through these facilities, and would
continuously appropriate funds generated by that fee to the authority
to repay the revenue bonds and to pay other costs, including costs
associated with the operation and maintenance of the facility and the
expenses of the authority.
The bill would require the authority to impose other fees,
including a fee, not to exceed $50 per acre-foot of water transmitted
through the facilities, or otherwise pumped from the Delta, as
specified, on federal and state contractors and affected local water
agencies. The bill would authorize the authority to impose a fee on
specified water users to mitigate impacts on Delta ecological
functions caused by their diversions. The bill would require the
funds generated by these fees to be deposited in the Clean Drinking
Water, Water Quality Improvement, and Environmental Enhancement Fund,
which the bill would establish. Funds generated by these fees would
be continuously appropriated to the authority for an ecosystem
restoration program. Proceeds generated from the issuance of general
obligations bonds would be deposited in the fund. These proceeds
would be continuously appropriated to the authority for capital
outlay projects in accordance with the bill's provisions.
The bill would establish within the California Coastal Commission
the Delta Watershed Conservancy. The conservancy would be required to
implement projects and programs, within the watershed of the San
Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary and the watershed
of the Trinity River, to restore and enhance the bay-delta ecosystem
and improve water quality. The bill would require the authority to
adopt or reject each decision of the conservancy.
The bill would subject any approval of development by a city or
county in specified zones of the Delta, and certain lands adjacent to
the Delta, to review by the Delta Protection Commission. The
commission would be prohibited from approving that development unless
specified requirements are met. The bill would require the authority
to adopt or reject these land use decisions of the commission.
Public agencies would be required to manage agricultural lands they
own within the Delta in a specified manner.
The bill would provide that its provisions would only become
operative if a specified measure is approved by the voters at the
November __, ____ statewide general election.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Division 26.6 (commencing with Section 79600) is added
to the Water Code, to read:
DIVISION 26.6. SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN RIVER DELTA, CLEAN
DRINKING WATER, WATER SUPPLY SECURITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
ACT OF 2009
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
79600. This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Clean Drinking Water, Water
Supply Security, and Environmental Improvement Act of 2009.
79601. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is a web of channels,
natural habitat, and reclaimed islands at the confluence of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. It forms the eastern portion of
the wider San Francisco Bay Estuary, which also includes the San
Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays. The Delta collects water from
California's largest watershed, which encompasses roughly 45 percent
of the state's surface area and stretches from the eastern slopes of
the coastal ranges to the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and
Cascade mountain ranges.
(b) The Delta supports a unique and irreplaceable combination of
environmental and economic values, including all of the following:
(1) Delta ecosystem. The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta Estuary is a unique ecosystem. The Delta and the adjacent
Suisun Marsh, an integral part of the Delta ecosystem, provide
habitat for 700 species, including 12 species listed under either the
federal or state endangered species laws. Eighty percent of the
state's commercial fishery species live in or migrate through the
Delta. It is a major stopping point for hundreds of thousands of
migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway. The Suisun Marsh alone
contains more than 10 percent of California's remaining wetlands.
(2) Water supply. Two-thirds of the state's residents rely on the
Delta for part or all of their drinking water. One-sixth of all
irrigated lands in the nation are located in this watershed and water
exported from the Delta irrigates 45 percent of the fruits and
vegetables produced in the United States.
(3) Agricultural and other land uses. Delta lands have contributed
significantly to the agricultural economy in California. Supporting
a population of about 470,000, the cities, towns, and settlements
within the Delta are of significant historical, cultural, and
economic value.
(4) Major transportation corridors. Three state highways, three
rail lines, and two deepwater channels cross the Delta and the Delta
serves two inland ports. Most of these transportation corridors serve
other areas of the state.
(5) Utility corridors. Hundreds of gas lines, five high voltage
lines, and critical water supply aqueducts that serve public health
and safety needs cross the Delta, including multiple Delta islands.
The Delta is also home to numerous underground natural gas storage
sites.
(6) Recreation. The Delta's 635 miles of boating waterways are
served by 138 marinas containing 11,700 in water boat slips and dry
storage for 5,500 boats. In 2000, there were an estimated 6.4 million
boating-related visitor days, with 2.13 million boating trips. Other
major recreational activities in the Delta include fishing,
waterfowl, and upland game bird hunting, wildlife viewing, bird
watching, and windsurfing.
(7) Flood management. The Delta is the natural outlet for a 42,500
square mile watershed that includes the central valley and the
western slope of the Sierra Nevada from Fresno to north of Mount
Shasta. As such, it is the main conduit for flood waters to flow out
to the ocean. The Delta itself is protected by extensive, but
fragile, flood management facilities, including about 1,100 miles of
levees in the Delta and about 230 miles of levees in the Suisun
Marsh. These levees protect about 65 islands and tracts in the Delta.
Most of these levee-protected lands are below sea level; some areas
are as much as 25 feet below sea level.
(c) The Delta cannot sustain important environmental and economic
values under current conditions. All of these values either are
already in significant decline or are at risk of sudden failure.
Several factors are intensifying the problems, including all of the
following:
(1) Land subsidence, sea level rise, and changes in climate make
Delta levees increasingly vulnerable to failure from earthquakes,
floods, and other causes. Over the next 50 years, there is a
two-thirds chance of a catastrophic levee failure in the Delta,
leading to flooding of multiple islands and the intrusion of
seawater. The Department of Water Resources estimates that a large
earthquake near the Delta would cause major interruptions in water
supplies for southern California, the San Joaquin Valley, and the San
Francisco Bay area, as well as disruptions of power, road, and
shipping lines, costing the state's economy as much as $40 billion.
These failures also would create major environmental disruptions and
local flooding risks.
(2) Endangered species and fisheries have continued to decline in
the Delta and disruptive nonnative species continue to invade. In the
fall of 2004, routine fish surveys registered sharp declines in the
numbers of several open-water (pelagic) species, including the Delta
smelt, already listed as threatened under the federal and state
endangered species laws. Subsequent surveys have confirmed the trend,
raising concerns that the Delta smelt, which are sometimes seen as
an indicator of ecosystem health in the Delta, risks extinction if a
solution is not found quickly. In the winter of 2008, salmon
populations reliant on the Delta declined precipitously.
(3) Delta water quality remains at risk from salts entering from
the ocean and the central valley's agricultural drainage, as well as
from pesticides and metals coming from agricultural and urban lands.
Chronic toxicants continue to be a problem, and episodic toxic events
from urban and agricultural applications are also a major problem.
(4) Organic soils in the Delta contribute precursors for
trihalomethanes, a known carcinogen. Removing trihalomethanes from
drinking water is very costly.
(5) Regional population and economic growth have increased
pressure to urbanize Delta lands near major transportation routes and
urban centers. This "hardening" of Delta lands simultaneously raises
the costs of flood management and reduces the flexibility of land
management options. Unlike most other activities in the Delta,
urbanization is generally irreversible. Additionally, urbanization is
self-accelerating. Urbanization in one location significantly
increases the value of adjacent lands. This, coupled with declining
profit margins for farming, will increase the pressure to convert
farmlands to subdivisions. This shift will come at the expense of
habitat protection and other services, such as water quality and
water supply.
(d) The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force created by Executive
Order S-17-06 found that new facilities for conveyance and storage,
and better linkage between the two, should be developed to better
manage California's water resources for both the estuary and exports.
(e) It is necessary to implement the recommendations of the Delta
Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force to "develop a durable vision for
sustainable management of the Delta" with the goal of "managing the
Delta over the long term to restore and maintain identified functions
and values that are determined to be important to the environmental
quality of the Delta and the economic and social well being of the
people of the state."
(f) The State Water Project is the single largest power user in
this state. The pumps necessary to move water south are
power-intensive and could be served well by solar or wind electrical
generating facilities, or both, installed along state-owned
rights-of-way in the Delta.
79602. It is the intent of the Legislature to begin implementing
a program for sustainable management of the Delta ecosystem. By
enacting this division, the Legislature intends to accomplish all of
the following:
(a) Establish policies to manage the Delta that balance equally
public trust values and the reasonable use of the state's limited
water resources.
(b) Complete the environmental evaluation of the preferred
alternatives identified by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and
construct the facilities authorized by this division as soon as is
feasible.
(c) Develop strategies to protect endangered species and other
species reliant on the Delta.
(d) Develop actions to protect the drinking, industrial, and farm
agricultural water supplies, including critical water supply
aqueducts that serve public health and safety needs and cross
multiple Delta islands.
(e) Develop a program designed to restore the Delta's environment
and protect the state's water conveyance capabilities and
infrastructure within the Delta.
(f) Develop a program that is guided by the principal that the
land and waterways of the Delta are an integral part of a healthy
estuary. The goal of actions and decisions for the Delta should be to
preserve and enhance native species by creating a more heterogeneous
estuarine environment, including a diverse habitat mosaic, expanded
areas of seasonal and tidal wetlands, effective connections between
the estuary and the larger landscape, and freshwater flows of the
right temperatures at the right times. The physical geography of the
Delta and patterns of food production, nutrient distribution,
subsidence reversal, migration, water flow, and salinity should
support ecosystem functions and processes characteristic of a
productive estuary.
(g) Develop programs recognizing that California's water supply is
limited and should be managed with significantly higher efficiency
to be adequate to meet the needs of future populations, a growing
economy, and a sustainable environment.
(h) Invest limited financial resources in greater conservation,
increased regional self-sufficiency in water supplies, more
conjunctive use of groundwater, integrated water system management
and demand management, and new technologies.
(i) Encourage equitable access to higher quality water sources and
seek to reduce conflict among water users for diversion from the
highest water quality locations.
(j) Make water conservation the first priority underlying
governmental decisions and expenditures regarding water originating
within the Delta watershed and encourage all areas of California to
develop policies relying on increased regional self-sufficiency.
(k) Ensure that investments of public funds pursuant to this
division result in public benefits.
(l) Encourage regulatory agencies to respond expeditiously to
requests for review of project documents and permit applications by
the Delta Water and Land Use Authority established by Section 79604.
(m) Maximize solar or wind electrical generation opportunities, or
both, wherever feasible, along rights-of-way necessary for new
facilities authorized pursuant to this chapter to offset electric
power requirements.
(n) Enter into negotiations with the federal government for
purchase or operational control of the Central Valley Project.
(o) Maximize opportunities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from
the Delta and sequester carbon dioxide within the Delta.
79603. Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions set
forth in this section govern the construction of this division:
(a) "Acquisition" means the acquisition of a fee interest or any
other interest, including easements, leases, and development rights.
(b) "Adaptive management" means a method of constructing and
operating physical facilities in a manner that maximizes operational
flexibility in response to changing physical and biological
conditions.
(c) "Authority" means the Delta Water and Land Use Authority
established by Section 79604.
(d) "Bay area counties" means those counties that are members of
the Association of Bay Area Governments.
(e) "Bay-Delta" means the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta.
(f) "Bay Delta Conservation Plan" means any natural communities
conservation plan or habitat conservation plan being developed by the
Resources Agency through a consortium of public agencies and
nonprofit organizations to protect and restore endangered and
threatened species and their habitat in the Delta.
(g) "Board" or "board of directors" means the board of directors
of the authority.
(h) "CALFED" means the consortium of state and federal agencies
with management and regulatory responsibilities in the bay-Delta.
(i) "CALFED Bay-Delta Program" means the undertaking by CALFED to
develop and implement, by means of the final programmatic
environmental impact statement/environmental impact report, the
preferred programs, actions, projects, and related activities that
will provide solutions to identified problem areas related to the
bay-Delta ecosystem, including, but not limited to, the bay-Delta and
its tributary watersheds.
(j) "California Environmental Quality Act" refers to the
California Environmental Quality Act as set forth in Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(k) "Delta" means the area of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
that is defined in Section 12220.
(l) "Delta Protection Commission" or "commission" means the
commission established pursuant to Section 29735 of the Public
Resources Code.
(m) "Delta Watershed Conservancy" or "conservancy" means the
conservancy established pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 79640).
(n) "Department" means the Department of Water Resources.
(o) "Facility" means one or more facilities described in Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 79609), and includes the intake facilities
and related facilities necessary to implement the facility.
(p) "Fund" means the Clean Drinking Water, Water Quality
Improvement, and Environmental Enhancement Fund established by
Section 79670.
(q) "Nonprofit organization" means any nonprofit corporation
formed pursuant to the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law (Part
2 (commencing with Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the
Corporations Code) and qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the
United States Internal Revenue Code.
(r) "Public water agency" means a public entity, as defined in
Section 514, that provides water service, as defined in Section 515.
CHAPTER 2. DELTA WATER AND LAND USE AUTHORITY
79604. There is hereby established in state government the Delta
Water and Land Use Authority.
79605. (a) (1) The board of directors of the authority shall
consist of seven members, of which five are appointed by the Governor
and confirmed by the Senate, one is appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules, and one is appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
(2) The initial term of office of each member of the board shall
be two, four, or six years, as specified in subdivision (b), and all
subsequent terms shall be eight years. No member of the board shall
serve two consecutive terms, but a member may be reappointed to the
board after a period of two years following the end of his or her
term. Those members of the board that serve an initial term of two or
four years may be immediately appointed to a subsequent full
eight-year term.
(b) At the first meeting of the board, the members shall classify
themselves by lot into three classes. One class shall have three
members and the other two classes shall have two members each. For
the class that has three members, the terms of office shall be two
years. The second class, composed of two members, shall serve four
years. The third class, composed of two members, shall serve six
years. Thereafter, the terms of all succeeding members shall be eight
years.
(c) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority within
60 days. If the term of a board member expires, and no successor is
appointed within the allotted timeframe, the existing member may
serve 180 days beyond the expiration of his or her term.
(d) The Governor shall appoint a chairperson from among the board
members, who shall serve for not more than four years.
(e) The authority shall meet once a month in a public forum. At
least two meetings each year shall take place within the Delta.
(f) The Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation,
the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the
Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Director
of the United States Geological Service, if those federal officials
wish to participate, as well as the director of the department and
the Director of Fish and Game, shall be nonvoting ex officio members
of the board of directors.
79606. The chairperson shall serve full time. Other members shall
serve one-third time. The board of directors may select a vice
chairperson and other officers determined to be necessary.
79607. (a) Each member of the board shall receive the salary
provided for in Section 11564 of the Government Code.
(b) The members of the board of directors shall be reimbursed for
expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of official duties.
(c) The board of directors shall appoint an executive director who
shall serve full time.
(d) The authority shall hire employees necessary to carry out the
functions of the agency.
(e) The number of employees and qualifications of those employees
shall be determined by the authority, subject to the availability of
funds.
(f) The salary of each agency employee shall be determined by the
State Personnel Board, and shall reflect the duties and
responsibilities of the position.
(g) All persons employed by the authority are state employees,
subject to the duties, responsibilities, limitations, and benefits of
the state.
79608. The headquarters of the agency shall be located in
Sacramento.
CHAPTER 3. MISSION, DUTIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DELTA
WATER AND LAND USE AUTHORITY
79609. The authority shall do all of the following:
(a) Have as primary coequal goals, the preservation of the native
species of the Delta ecosystem and the delivery of a reliable water
supply. In adopting programs to achieve these coequal goals, the
authority shall balance the legal concepts of reasonable use of the
waters flowing into the Delta, and maintenance of the public trust
values of the Delta and its waters. For the purposes of this
subdivision, "delivery of a reliable water supply" includes assisting
in meeting Delta water quality standards established by the State
Water Resources Control Board.
(b) Adopt capital investment strategies that strengthen selected
levees, improve floodplain management, and improve water circulation
and quality. The strategies shall address the protection of critical
water supply aqueducts that serve public health and safety needs and
cross multiple Delta islands. In adopting land use decisions in the
Delta, first priority shall be given to strategies that restore the
level of Delta lands to above sea level, and that reduce the emission
of greenhouse gases from the Delta.
(c) (1) The authority shall develop ecological benchmarks for
streams tributary to the Delta consistent with achieving the doubling
of specified fish populations in designated timeframes.
(2) The authority shall consult with the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service and, where applicable, shall adopt stream
restoration guidelines for fisheries developed within the anadromous
fish restoration program.
(3) The authority shall, in addition, utilize as guidelines for
ecosystem restoration those developed by the CALFED Ecosystem
Restoration Program.
(d) (1) The authority and the Delta Watershed Conservancy may
purchase, sell, hold, and transfer water rights for both
environmental and water supply purposes. The water rights shall be
used to meet water supply and fishery restoration goals, and shall be
acquired only from willing sellers with the approval of the State
Water Resources Control Board.
(2) The authority granted by this subdivision is for the express
purpose of setting priorities for water purchases from willing
sellers and meeting fishery restoration goals, and does not
contradict, conflict with, or supersede any existing water rights,
statutes, or adjudications.
(e) Adopt policies discouraging inappropriate urbanization of the
Delta to maximize public safety and protect critical infrastructure
of statewide significance.
(f) Adopt Delta land use policies that minimize the risk of
flooding of vital infrastructure.
(g) (1) Adopt policies for the Delta that are designed for
resiliency and adaptive management of the terrestrial and aquatic
habitat.
(2) These policies shall include specific benchmarks and timelines
for habitat purchase that shall guide decisions by the Delta
Watershed Conservancy, and land use decisions undertaken by the Delta
Protection Commission.
(3) In determining whether to adopt decisions made by the Delta
Watershed Conservancy and the Delta Protection Commission, the
authority shall determine that those decisions are consistent with
and do not conflict with the habitat restoration goals established by
this division.
(h) Adopt policies designed to bring about immediate improvements
to the existing through-Delta export system, while the preferred
long-term option is being designed and is undergoing environmental
review.
(i) (1) Adopt benchmarks for assessing progress toward critical
goals drawing on contributions from scientists, state and federal
agency program managers, and knowledgeable members of the public.
(2) Fishery restoration goals shall include, at a minimum, those
established by the anadromous fish restoration program of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(j) Mitigate, to the extent feasible, adverse impacts to native
fish that may result from actions taken pursuant to this division.
79610. (a) The authority may contract to design, construct, and
own a facility or facilities to move water from the Sacramento River
to the Harvey Banks Pumping Plant of the State Water Resources
Development System, and the Tracy Pumping Plant of the federal
Central Valley Project.
(b) The state board, prior to the operation of a facility, and
periodically thereafter, pursuant to this section and existing law,
shall adopt water quality standards and water rights terms and
conditions that require Delta outflows and water quality sufficient
to protect and restore to sustainable levels fisheries native to the
Delta. To the extent feasible, water quality standards and water
rights shall include the flexibility to include adaptive management.
The state board shall condition any permit for a Delta conveyance
facility on compliance with this division.
(c) The authority shall serve as the lead agency for conducting
environmental studies pursuant to the California Environmental
Quality Act and the state lead agency for purposes of the National
Environmental Protection Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.). The
authority shall serve as the successor lead agency to scoping and
drafting environmental documents contracted for by the department and
the Resources Agency prior to the date on which the authority
becomes operational.
(d) The authority shall conduct an environmental review of the
preferred alternative or alternatives adopted in the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan. Alternatives considered shall include at least all
of the following:
(1) A dual conveyance option that includes an isolated conveyance
facility combined with an improved through-Delta mechanism.
(2) A stand-alone isolated facility, if the authority determines
that moving water from the Sacramento River to the pumps through the
Delta is significantly threatened by seismic activity, flooding,
ocean rise, or other human or natural causes.
(3) A no-project alternative analysis consistent with the
California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental
Protection Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(e) (1) The facility shall be designed to convey water for the
State Water Project, the federal Central Valley Project, and local
water agencies that can reasonably be served by the facility. The
design of the facility shall reflect consideration of the
recommendations of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force
established by Executive Order S-17-06 and the final program
developed pursuant to the October 6, 2006, Planning Agreement for the
Bay Delta Conservation Plan, as well as designs and mitigation
actions identified in the environmental impact report/environmental
impact statement prepared in accordance with subdivision (c).
(2) The authority shall not construct facilities to convey water
for a water agency unless the authority has entered into a contract
with the water agency for repayment of the authority's costs in
accordance with this division.
(3) The authority may contract with any public agency to transport
water through the facility, subject to the requirements of this
division.
(4) The design, construction, and operation of the facility shall
comply with all of the following requirements:
(A) Allow the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley
Project, if the federal Central Valley Project wishes to participate,
to reliably deliver water to export contractors and facilitate water
transfers among willing sellers.
(B) Reduce impacts to native fish caused by the operation of the
export pumps and improve the operational flexibility and ability of
the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project to
provide ecosystem and water supply benefits.
(C) Provide conditions that will allow for habitat improvements
for fish and wildlife in the Delta, the recovery of listed species,
and sustainable ecosystem functions.
(D) Reduce the quantity of bromide, total organic carbon, total
dissolved solids, and other pollutants in the water pumped at state
and federal water pumping facilities and by local agencies to protect
the public health and improve the ability to manage salinity
concentrations in water exported.
(E) Increase flexibility to manage uncertainties associated with
climate change and future fishery needs.
(F) Promote ecosystem restoration of the Delta.
(G) Facilitate wet-year water storage for use in dry years.
(f) The authority shall have all the powers, duties, and
obligations of the department with respect to the financing, design,
construction, ownership, and operation of the facility.
(g) The facility shall be operated consistent with Sections 10505,
10505.5, 11128, 11460 to 11463, inclusive, and this division shall
not affect the application of those sections.
(h) The construction and operation of the facility shall be
subject to, and the authority shall comply with, all applicable state
and federal environmental laws and regulations and the terms and
conditions of any applicable water rights permits and licenses.
(i) (1) The authority shall enter into a contract with a joint
powers agency composed of water agencies using the facility,
including, if willing to participate, the United States or its water
contractors, for the design, construction, operation, maintenance,
and repair of the facility. The authority shall approve or reject
proposed actions of the joint powers agency in advance and make
written findings with regard to those actions.
(2) The contract shall comply with all of the following
requirements:
(A) Provide for an appropriate allocation of costs attributable to
the use of the facility to deliver water to the State Water
Resources Development System, the federal Central Valley Project, and
other water users, including a pro rata share of capital, operation,
maintenance, and replacement regulatory and environmental costs.
(B) Allocate capacity in and priority to use the facility. The
allocation shall be consistent with the contracts for delivery of
water by the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley
Project.
(C) Include other terms and conditions that the authority
determines necessary or appropriate.
(D) Provide for the replacement of components of the facility as
necessary and shall otherwise be performed in a manner ensuring that
the facility is maintained in good condition and protected to ensure
its long-term operation.
(3) The authority shall be fully responsible for all work carried
out pursuant to contract, including the quality and timeliness of
that work. The authority shall provide those taking water from the
facility with documentation that demonstrates substantial compliance
with those contract provisions.
79612. (a) The authority shall take all necessary or appropriate
actions to expeditiously obtain permits and other approvals for, and
commence operation of, the facility, including coordinating and
cooperating with all state or federal regulatory agencies.
(b) Any state agency with regulatory or approval authority with
respect to the construction, implementation, or operation of the
facility shall take all actions necessary or appropriate to process
and make any required determinations on permits or approvals as
expeditiously as possible.
79614. (a) All of the costs of the authority that are associated
with the ordinary operations, maintenance, and replacement of the
facility shall be paid for from funds generated pursuant to Section
79622. The portion of the costs so paid attributable to deliveries to
State Water Project contractors shall be considered a transportation
cost billable to the State Water Project contractors pursuant to the
applicable provision of each contractor's long-term water supply
contract.
(b) Capital outlay costs associated with the replacement and new
construction associated with the facility shall be paid for from
funds generated pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 79622.
(c) The costs paid pursuant to this section attributable to
deliveries to the State Water Project contractors shall be considered
a transportation cost billable to the State Water Project
contractors pursuant to the applicable provision of each contractor's
long-term water supply contract.
(d) The water delivery contracts allowing for use of the facility
shall include a requirement that sufficient funds are paid each year
to maintain the facility in good condition regardless of the amount
of water delivered.
79616. (a) The facilities constructed pursuant to Section 79610
shall not adversely impact the intake facility jointly operated by
the County of Sacramento and the East Bay Municipal Utility District.
(b) If changes are required to be made to the Elk Grove plant of
the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District because of the
operation of the facility constructed pursuant to this division, the
costs shall be included as costs of the facility and shall not be the
responsibility of that district. This division does not prohibit a
regulatory agency from requiring changes to that plant or any other
facility of the district that are required by law.
79618. The authority shall take all necessary or appropriate
actions to design, if feasible, solar and wind electrical generation
capacity into the final plans of an approved facility for the purpose
of mitigating energy needs and costs of the facility and the State
Water Project. These renewable energy facilities shall be constructed
through the issuance of revenue bonds.
79619. (a) This division does not impact existing area of origin
or county of origin protections.
(b) Section 5937 of the Fish and Game Code applies to all waters
tributary to the Delta.
(c) The public trust doctrine applies to all waters tributary to
the Delta.
(d) This division does not amend the California Endangered Species
Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the
Fish and Game Code) or the California Environmental Quality Act.
79620. In addition to the powers and duties granted by this
division, the authority succeeds to, and is vested with, all the
powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, and
jurisdiction of the California Bay-Delta Authority, which shall cease
to exist as of the date on which the board conducts its first
meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 79605. The authority
may continue the existence of the Bay Delta Public Advisory
Committee.
79622. (a) The authority may issue revenue bonds to finance the
design, environmental review, permitting, and construction of the
facility.
(b) The revenue bonds shall be repaid by charges, imposed pursuant
to subdivision (d), on water contractors and other beneficiaries
that contract for the use of the facilities constructed pursuant to
this division, commensurate with the benefits received. Charges shall
not be applied to repay the revenue bonds that are not directly
related to the construction, operation, maintenance, and replacement
of the facility.
(c) Except for the fee imposed by Chapter 8 (commencing with
Section 79670), as required by Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
11900) of Part 3 of Division 6, any costs incurred in developing,
constructing, or operating the facility for the enhancement of fish
and wildlife or the development of public recreation shall not be
charged to the contractors and shall be nonreimbursable costs. For
purposes of this section, "enhancement" does not include actions
necessary to mitigate the impacts of the State Water Resources
Development System or the federal Central Valley Project.
(d) The authority shall impose a fee for the transmission of water
through the facility sufficient to pay for all of the following:
(1) The repayment of the revenue bond issues pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(2) The operation and maintenance of the facility.
(3) The salaries and other ongoing expenses of the joint powers
authority described in subdivision (i) of Section 79610 and the
authority.
(4) The annual audits required by Section 79630.
(5) The costs imposed on the authority by local, state and federal
agencies, and the courts, including, but not limited to, costs
imposed by the Department of Justice or the Department of General
Services.
(6) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys generated pursuant to this section are hereby continuously
appropriated to the authority, without regard to fiscal years, for
purposes of this section.
79623. (a) The authority may contract to construct, own, and
operate a facility to relocate the intake of the North Bay Aqueduct
to the Sacramento River. That facility may also convey water for
local water agencies that can reasonably be served from the facility,
including, but not limited to, the City of Davis. The North Bay
Aqueduct replacement shall be considered part of the facility.
(b) The authority shall serve as the lead agency for conducting
environmental studies for the North Bay Relocation Facility pursuant
to the California Environmental Quality Act.
(c) The authority shall contract to construct the North Bay
Relocation Facility, subject to contracts with participating agencies
to repay the authority's costs.
79624. (a) The authority shall adopt or reject, by majority vote,
each decision regarding ____ made by the Delta Watershed Conservancy
within 60 days of that decision.
(b) The authority shall adopt or reject, by majority vote, each
land use decision made by the Delta Protection Commission that is
made pursuant to the authority granted to that commission pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 79650), within 60 days of that
decision. The authority shall not review decisions that are made by
the Delta Protection Commission pursuant to authority granted by
other than that chapter.
(c) The authority shall adopt or reject, by majority vote, all
design, construction, and operational decisions made by the joint
powers authority described in subdivision (i) of Section 79610.
79626. The authority may receive grants or gifts from public
agencies, private entities, or individuals for the purposes of this
division.
79628. The authority shall be represented by the Attorney General
in any litigation, and shall reimburse the Attorney General for any
costs incurred.
79630. (a) The Auditor General shall audit the authority
annually. The Auditor General shall report the findings of the audit
to the Legislature and the Governor, and shall make the results of
the audit available to the public by posting that information on its
Internet Web site.
(b) The Legislature may appropriate funds from sources other than
those provided by this division for an independent audit of the
authority.
79632. Venue for any litigation brought concerning the
construction or operation of the facility implemented pursuant to
this division shall be the Superior Court of Sacramento County.
79634. (a) The authority shall prepare plans and take actions to
address near-term water supply reliability needs in the Delta. Those
actions shall include actions to ensure that urban and agricultural
water supplies derived from or crossing the Delta, including water
supplies within the Delta to support beneficial uses, are not
disrupted because of catastrophic failures of the Delta levees
resulting from earthquakes, floods, land sinking, rising ocean
levels, or other forces. The actions shall include projects to
improve the reliability and emergency preparedness of water supplies
for public health and safety by interconnecting existing critical
water supply aqueducts that serve public health and safety needs and
cross multiple Delta islands.
(b) The authority shall enter into a memorandum of understanding
with the department to enhance the department's ability to respond to
levee breaches and to reduce the potential for levee failure. The
memorandum shall address all of the following:
(1) The acquisition and positioning of emergency construction
materials and equipment.
(2) Emergency projects to prevent levee failure or repair levees
or other flood control facilities to restore conveyance and flood
protection.
(3) The preparation and implementation of a Delta emergency
operations plan.
(4) Emergency contracts for activities relating to a flood fight
or levee failure to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life,
health, property, or essential public services.
(c) For the purposes of implementing this section, priority shall
be given to the improvement of flood protection for vital public
water supplies by protecting critical water supply aqueducts that
serve public health and safety needs and cross multiple Delta
islands. To achieve improvements expeditiously, the authority may
make advance funding commitments for this work under agreements with
an agency that is capable of carrying out the work to protect water
supply infrastructure.
(d) Actions required by this section shall be financed from funds
generated by the issuance of general obligation bonds pursuant to
this division.
CHAPTER 4. DELTA WATERSHED CONSERVANCY
79640. (a) There is hereby established within the California
Coastal Conservancy the Delta Watershed Conservancy.
(b) The Delta Watershed Conservancy shall serve as the land and
water acquisition and restoration agent for the authority for
environmental and restoration purposes.
79642. (a) The Delta Water Conservancy may expend funds, as
allocated in accordance with this chapter to the conservancy by the
authority from the fund established pursuant to Section 79670 for
that purpose, to implement projects and programs, within the
watershed of the bay-delta and the watershed of the Trinity River, to
restore and enhance the bay-delta ecosystem and improve water
quality.
(b) The Delta Watershed Conservancy shall establish bay-Delta
ecosystem restoration goals and prepare a plan to achieve those
goals. The goals and plan shall be updated at least every 10 years.
The goals shall include all of the following:
(1) Restoration of listed and candidate species pursuant to the
California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with
Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code), and the
federal Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), with
the goal of allowing populations of listed and candidate species to
become large and stable enough so that they no longer need be listed,
or be considered for listing.
(2) Restoration and expansion of wetlands.
(3) Restoration of anadromous and other native fish species, by
providing improved and expanded spawning, rearing, and migration
route habitat.
(4) Restoration of riparian habitat.
(5) Restoration of islands in the Delta by growing vegetation,
thereby reducing the production of greenhouse gas emissions.
(6) Creation of carbon mitigation programs in the primary zone, as
defined in Section 29728 of the Public Resources Code, to reduce or
eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from Delta islands and farms in
accordance with Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the
Health and Safety Code.
(7) Other biological restoration programs.
79643. (a) Funds generated for capital outlay projects by the
issuance of general obligation bonds pursuant to this division, and
fees generated pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 79670),
shall be expended for ecosystem restoration activities identified in
the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, December 14, 2007, report,
"Foundation Concepts and Initial Activities for Restoring the Delta
Ecosystem," to be prioritized by the Delta Watershed Conservancy, as
follows:
(1) Restore the tidal marsh in Cache Slough complex.
(2) Restore the tidal marsh in Suisun.
(3) Conserve the Cache Slough-Suisun ecological corridor.
(4) Enhance the Yolo Bypass.
(5) Enhance the Mokelumne and Consumnes floodplains linked to
tidal restoration.
(6) Restore the tidal marsh at Dutch Slough.
(7) Evaluate and implement, if appropriate, a project to reconnect
Elk Slough to the Sacramento River.
(8) Manage the Elk, Sutter, and Steamboat Sloughs for salmon
passage and fish habitats.
(9) Provide matching funds to improve wildlife-friendly
agriculture.
(10) Evaluate the potential for a lower San Joaquin River
floodplain and, if viable, implement.
(11) Establish a passage route for migratory fish, particularly
salmonids, from Vernalis to Chipps Island.
(12) Conserve lowland grasslands.
(13) Increase late winter and early spring San Joaquin flows for
fish.
(14) Restore the tidal marsh in Fabian-Union-Middle Roberts
complex.
(b) Other actions that may be financed from the funds described in
subdivision (a) include actions to accomplish all of the following:
(1) The control of invasive species.
(2) Increase spring Delta outflows.
(3) Increase fall Delta outflows.
(4) Implement short-term conveyance enhancements to reduce Delta
ecology problems such as entrainment.
(5) Provide funds for cost sharing for subsidence reversal and
carbon sequestration wetlands at Sherman, Twitchell, and Jersey
Islands.
(6) Reduce contaminant loadings.
(7) Experiment with targeted salinity intrusions to control
invasive species and promote fish populations.
(8) Install screened diversions where determined beneficial by
fish biologists.
(9) Replace earthen portions of railroad with a causeway across
the Yolo Pass.
79644. (a) The Delta Watershed Conservancy shall consult with any
successor to the California Bay-Delta Authority, and the agencies
that participated in that authority, to avoid duplication, and
increase the effectiveness of expenditures under this division.
(b) The Delta Watershed Conservancy shall consider the objectives
and functions of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program in developing its
expenditure plan under this division.
79646. The Delta Watershed Conservancy shall not, by itself,
carry out construction or ecosystem restoration programs financed by
this division, but shall award grants and contracts to public
agencies and nonprofit organizations, including local conservation
corps, to carry out these programs.
79648. Only funds reserved for capital outlay projects may be
expended to purchase water rights for the environment and other
beneficial uses for the purpose of this chapter.
79649. Any lands or water retained in ownership by the State of
California shall be owned and managed by the Department of Fish and
Game.
CHAPTER 5. DELTA PROTECTION COMMISSION
79650. Any approval of development by a city or county in the
primary and secondary zones of the Delta shall not be effective
unless approved by the Delta Protection Commission. For the purposes
of this chapter and except as otherwise provided, the "primary and
secondary zones" refers to the zones described in Sections 29728 and
29731 of the Public Resources Code.
79651. The Delta Protection Commission shall not approve any
development that is not necessary to maintain agricultural or habitat
protection land uses in the primary and secondary zones of the Delta
below three feet above mean sea level. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the secondary zone includes lands within one mile
of the Delta if the commission determines that any of the following
applies:
(a) The proposed development would result in a threat to the
safety of those living or working in the development.
(b) The proposed development would result in damage or destruction
in the case of flooding or seismic activity.
(c) The proposed development would make flood control or
management in the Delta more difficult.
CHAPTER 6. DELTA LAND MANAGEMENT
79655. A public agency, including a state agency, shall not
manage agricultural lands that the public agency owns within the
Delta in a way that results in a reduction in the elevation of those
islands. All public agencies owning land in the Delta shall manage
those lands to improve habitat values, and to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
CHAPTER 7. DELTA SCIENCE ADVISORY PANEL
79660. (a) There is in the authority a Delta Science Advisory
Panel consisting of scientists selected by the board in accordance
with this section. The scientists shall have knowledge of hydrology,
geomorphology, biology, climatology, economics, soils and civil
engineering, seismology, geology, or other disciplines relevant to
the management of the bay-delta watershed, as determined by the
board.
(b) The Delta Science Advisory Panel shall have no more than 11
members, and shall include, but not be limited to, employed or
retired scientists from federal and state agencies not having major
project or regulatory authority over the Delta, the University of
California, the California State University, and nongovernmental
organizations.
(c) (1) The board shall select the panel members from a list of
nominees provided by the Director of the University of California
Center for Water Resources and the Director of the United States
Geologic Survey office in Sacramento.
(2) Panel members shall serve three-year terms. Panel members may
be appointed to subsequent terms. The panel members shall select the
chairperson of the panel.
(d) (1) The Delta Science Advisory Panel shall hold public
meetings and prepare an annual report for submission to the authority
on scientific issues related to the Delta.
(2) The Delta Science Advisory Panel shall include in the report
scientific and technical findings regarding the management of the
Delta and recommended actions of the authority, an identification of
short-term and long-term matters for research, and a description of
the relevance of these matters to the design, management, and
operations of the facility.
(3) The report shall include a discussion relating to the design,
construction, and operation of the facility given scientific
knowledge regarding possible ways to improve water quality, ecosystem
restoration, and methods to improve efficiency of water deliveries
to water users.
(4) The authority shall consider, and adopt where feasible and
practical, changes in the design, construction, and operation that,
in its judgment, would better utilize the scientific information
provided by the Delta Science Advisory Panel.
(e) For the first 10 years of operation, up to 10 percent of the
authority's budget shall be devoted to the implementation of a Delta
solutions program devoted to scientific and technical work, up to a
limit of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) per year. The program
shall be designed in consultation with the Delta Science Advisory
Panel.
CHAPTER 8. CLEAN DRINKING WATER, WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT,
ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT, AND WATER SUPPLY DISASTER PREVENTION FUND
79670. (a) (1) There is hereby established the Clean Drinking
Water, Water Quality Improvement, and Environmental Enhancement Fund.
(2) The authority shall impose a fee, not to exceed fifty dollars
($50) per acre-foot of water transmitted through the facility, on all
affected federal and state contractors, and any affected local water
agency. The fee shall be increased annually in accordance with the
California Consumer Price Index. Upon commencement of operation of
the facility, the fee shall be imposed on water pumped from the Delta
by the State Water Resources Development System and the federal
Central Valley Project without regard to whether the water is
conveyed through the facility.
(3) The authority may impose a fee of five dollars ($5) per
acre-foot on water agencies that divert water upstream of the Delta
that does not otherwise return to the Delta, and that, under existing
state or federal laws, are not otherwise required to pay mitigation
fees for impacts on ecological functions of the Delta that are caused
by their diversions.
(b) Funds generated by the imposition of fees pursuant to this
chapter shall be deposited in the fund.
(c) The proceeds of bonds issued and sold pursuant to Chapter 9
(commencing with Section 79685) shall be deposited in the fund. These
proceeds may only be expended for capital outlay projects in
accordance with this division. No more than 10 percent of these
proceeds may be expended in any fiscal year for the purposes of
Section 79634.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
moneys in the fund are hereby continuously appropriated, without
regard to fiscal years, to the authority for expenditure in
accordance with this division.
(e) Funds generated from the fee imposed by this section shall not
be expended to pay for any action authorized by this division unless
the authority finds that the action mitigates impacts caused by the
use of water by water users subject to the fee.
CHAPTER 9. FISCAL PROVISIONS
79685. (a) Bonds in the total amount of six billion dollars
($6,000,000,000), not including the amount of any refunding bonds
issued in accordance with Section 79697, or so much thereof as is
necessary, may be issued and sold to provide a fund to be used for
carrying out the purposes expressed in this division and to reimburse
the General Obligation Bond Expense Revolving Fund pursuant to
Section 16724.5 of the Government Code. The bonds, when sold, shall
be and constitute valid and binding obligations of the State of
California, and the full faith and credit of the State of California
is hereby pledged for the punctual payment of both the principal of,
and interest on, the bonds as the principal and interest become due
and payable.
(b) The Treasurer shall sell the bonds authorized by the committee
pursuant to this section. The bonds shall be sold upon the terms and
conditions specified in a resolution to be adopted by the committee
pursuant to Section 16731 of the Government Code.
79686. The bonds authorized by this division shall be prepared,
executed, issued, sold, paid, and redeemed as provided in the State
General Obligation Bond Law, and all of the provisions of that law
apply to the bonds and to this division and are hereby incorporated
in this division as though set forth in full in this division.
79687. (a) Solely for the purpose of authorizing the issuance and
sale, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of the
bonds authorized by this division, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta Finance Committee is hereby created. For the purposes of this
division, the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta Finance Committee is
"the committee" as that term is used in the State General Obligation
Bond Law.
(b) The committee consists of the Director of Finance, the
Treasurer, and the Controller. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, any member may designate a deputy to act as that member in his
or her place for all purposes, as though the member were personally
present.
(c) The Treasurer shall serve as chairperson of the committee.
(d) A majority of the members of the committee shall constitute a
quorum of the committee, and may act for the committee.
79688. The committee shall determine whether or not it is
necessary or desirable to issue bonds authorized pursuant to this
division to carry out the actions specified in this division and, if
so, the amount of bonds to be issued and sold. Successive issues of
bonds may be authorized and sold to carry out those actions
progressively, and it is not necessary that all of the bonds
authorized to be issued be sold at any one time.
79689. "Board," as defined in Section 16722 of the
Government Code for the purposes of compliance with the State General
Obligation Bond Law, means the department.
79690. There shall be collected each year and in the same manner
and at the same time as other state revenue is collected, in addition
to the ordinary revenues of the state, a sum in an amount required
to pay the principal of, and interest on, the bonds each year, and it
is the duty of all officers charged by law with any duty in regard
to the collection of the revenue to do and perform each and every act
which is necessary to collect that additional sum.
79691. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code,
there is hereby appropriated from the General Fund in the State
Treasury, for the purposes of this division, an amount that will
equal the total of the following:
(a) The sum annually necessary to pay the principal of, and
interest on, bonds issued and sold pursuant to this division, as the
principal and interest become due and payable.
(b) The sum that is necessary to carry out the provisions of
Section 79694, appropriated without regard to fiscal years.
79692. The board may request the Pooled Money Investment Board to
make a loan from the Pooled Money Investment Account in accordance
with Section 16312 of the Government Code for the purpose of carrying
out this division. The amount of the request shall not exceed the
amount of the unsold bonds that the committee has, by resolution,
authorized to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this division.
The board shall execute those documents required by the Pooled Money
Investment Board to obtain and repay the loan. Any amounts loaned
shall be deposited in the fund to be allocated in accordance with
this division.
79693. Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, or
of the State General Obligation Bond Law, if the Treasurer sells
bonds that include a bond counsel opinion to the effect that the
interest on the bonds is excluded from gross income for federal tax
purposes under designated conditions, the Treasurer may maintain
separate accounts for the bond proceeds invested and for the
investment earnings on those proceeds, and may use or direct the use
of those proceeds or earnings to pay any rebate, penalty, or other
payment required under federal law or take any other action with
respect to the investment and use of those bond proceeds, as may be
required or desirable under federal law in order to maintain the
tax-exempt status of those bonds and to obtain any other advantage
under federal law on behalf of the funds of this state.
79694. For the purposes of carrying out this division, the
Director of Finance may authorize the withdrawal from the General
Fund of an amount or amounts not to exceed the amount of the unsold
bonds that have been authorized by the committee to be sold for the
purpose of carrying out this division. Any amounts withdrawn shall be
deposited in the fund. Any money made available under this section
shall be returned to the General Fund, with interest at the rate
earned by the money in the Pooled Money Investment Account, from
proceeds received from the sale of bonds for the purpose of carrying
out this division.
79695. All money deposited in the fund that is derived from
premiums and accrued interest on bonds sold pursuant to this division
shall be reserved in the fund and shall be available for transfer to
the General Fund as a credit to expenditures for bond interest.
79696. Pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of
Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the cost of
bond issuance shall be paid out of the bond proceeds. These costs
shall be shared proportionately by each program funded through this
division.
79697. The bonds issued and sold pursuant to this division may be
refunded in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with Section
16780) of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, which is a part of the State General Obligation Bond
Law. Approval by the electors of the state for the issuance of the
bonds under this division shall include approval of the issuance of
any bonds issued to refund any bonds originally issued under this
division or any previously issued refunding bonds.
79698. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that, inasmuch
as the proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized by this division
are not "proceeds of taxes" as that term is used in Article XIII B of
the California Constitution, the disbursement of these proceeds is
not subject to the limitations imposed by that article.
SEC. 2. Section 1 of this act shall be submitted to the voters at
the November __, ____, statewide general election in accordance with
provisions of the Government Code and the Elections Code governing
the submission of a statewide measure to the voters.
SEC. 3. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all
ballots of the election shall have printed thereon and in a square
thereof, the words: "Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Clean
Drinking Water, Water Supply Security, and Environmental Improvement
Act of 2009" and in the same square under those words, the following
in 8-point type: "This act provides for a bond issue of six billion
dollars ($6,000,000,000) to provide funds to substantially improve
drinking water quality, enhance the environment, and prevent
disasters from interrupting California's major water supply."
(b) Opposite the square, there shall be left spaces in which the
voters may mark the ballot in the manner required by law to indicate
whether they vote for or against the act.
(c) Where voting in the election is done by means of voting
machines used pursuant to law in a manner that carries out the intent
of this section, the use of the voting machines and the expression
of the voters' choice by means thereof are in compliance with this
section.
SEC. 4. Notwithstanding Sections 13247 and 13281 of the Elections
Code, the language in Section 3 shall be the only language included
in the ballot label for the condensed statement of the ballot title,
and the Attorney General shall not supplement, subtract from, or
revise that language, except that the Attorney General may include
the financial impact summary prepared pursuant to Section 9087 of the
Elections Code and Section 88003 of the Government Code. The ballot
label is the condensed statement of the ballot title and the
financial impact summary.
SEC. 5. Section 1 of this act shall become operative only if both
of the following occur:
(a) Senate Constitutional Amendment ___ of the 2009-10 Regular
Session is submitted to and approved by the voters at the November
__, ____, statewide general election.
(b) The voters approve the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Clean Drinking Water, Water Supply Security, and Environmental
Improvement Act of 2009, as set forth in Section 1 of this act.