BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: SB 262 HEARING DATE: May 12, 2009
AUTHOR: Lowenthal URGENCY: No
VERSION: May 11, 2009 CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Coastal resources: California Coastal Commission:
meeting.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Section 30315.2 of the Coastal Act requires the California
Coastal Commission (CCC) to meet monthly.
The CCC is subject to various statutes that impose deadlines for
the review and approval of pending permit applications that are
filed with the commission.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would delete the requirement of the CCC to meet
monthly and instead would require that it meet at least 10 times
each year. The bill would also add a provision that extends any
applicable statutory deadlines to the subsequent meeting of the
CCC.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, the bill is needed to give the CCC some
flexibility for legally canceling a meeting, should that be
necessary for fiscal reasons, and to do so in a manner that
would not cause the CCC to lose jurisdiction over pending items,
which may otherwise be resolved by operation of law. These items
typically include coastal development permits and amendments to
local coastal plans, and the review of other local government
decisions, among other items.
The fiscal circumstances of the CCC are often dicey. In recent
years, those circumstances have further deteriorated, and the
future, as with many agencies relying to some extent on General
Fund revenues, is even bleaker. Last year, for example, the
Governor line-item vetoed 5% of the CCC general fund budget, and
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reduced overall personnel years from 145 to 139. In recent
years, the CCC has lost 26 general fund positions and $2.7
million in funding from FY 01-02 through the most recently
completed fiscal year. In 2008 it notified 46 employees that
they are at risk of layoffs. The CCC has a total workforce of
136 permanent and part-time employees. It has also instituted
voluntary unpaid leave days, eliminated training, and reduced
hearings to a maximum of 3 days. In 2008, the CCC increased
filing fees which is projected to generate $524,000. A
significant part of the CCC budget is dependent on
reimbursements and contracts from other agencies which are
themselves facing budget pressures. The Commission has reduced
its workload on several key Coastal Act provisions as well.
The author also noted that the CCC has had internal discussions
about the possibility of canceling meetings in recent years.
Meetings are a significant budget issue for the CCC which
involves staff and member travel, hotel rooms, per diems, and
other costs. The CCC now meets only in public meeting rooms,
eliminated all but essential staff travel, and commissioners
have tried to reduce their own travel costs. The issue facing
the CCC is how to maintain a reduced workforce while complying,
at least minimally, with the most important of its statutory
mandates, in the face of its shrinking budget. The author
believes that the CCC should have the flexibility, if necessary,
to reduce its monthly meeting requirement while preserving its
right to consider pending business matters at its next hearings.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
Opposition from a coalition of business interests argues first
that the CCC should not be allowed to decrease its meeting
schedule "under the guise of" budgetary savings. The opposition
memo, representing the views of the California Chamber of
Commerce, the Business Properties Association, the CBIA, and
others, also argue that the CCC could streamline the review of
many agenda items in order to reduce meeting times. Lastly, the
coalition argues that the term "regularly" is not defined. This
correspondence was received prior to the amendments.
COMMENTS
Because of the budget situation facing the CCC, the amended
version of the bill creates the possibility that up to two
monthly meetings could be eliminated, although such a result
would not be required. Regular monthly meetings would continue
to occur unless it became necessary to eliminate one or two
meetings.
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AUTHOR'S AMENDMENT. The author will amend the bill in committee
to delete the reference to "ten times per year" and will restore
the reference to "regularly." The recent amendment on May 11
keyed the bill as fiscal rather than non-fiscal. The author's
amendment will allow this Committee to hear the bill and report
it to the floor. The author will then adopt the "ten times per
year" amendment in the Assembly.
SUPPORT
None Received
OPPOSITION
American Council of Engineering Companies of California
California Business Properties Association
California Building Industry Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
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