BILL ANALYSIS
SB 833
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Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
SB 833 (Natural Resources and Water Committee) - As Amended:
June 26, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Mining; conservation lands; Native American historical
sites; tidelands and submerged lands; fire protection; certified
port master plan.
SUMMARY : Makes technical and non-substantive changes to the
Public Resources Code, Government Code, and uncodified statutes
relating to the above subject areas. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Specifies the information that must be included in a "Notice
of Reclamation Plan Approval," including the name of the owner
of the mine, the name of the lead agency, and the signature of
the lead agency representative.
2)Makes technical changes to the requirements governing the
submittal of a land appraisal for charitable contribution
purposes.
3)Specifies the information a property owner must record with a
county recorder in order to protect sites of Native American
remains. This information includes a description of the
property, the property owner's name and the property owner's
signature.
4)Requires a finding that sufficient building height limitations
are in place to ensure that development on Yerba Buena Island
will not significantly obstruct certain views, as of January
1, 2010, from the proposed trust lands on the eastern and
western hilltop public park areas on Yerba Buena Island.
5)Revises the diagram in the Treasure Island Public Trust
Exchange Act depicting the trust exchange to reflect a change
in the location of the proposed Treasure Island ferry terminal
and other clarifications and corrections.
6)Further specifies the location of "paper streets" in the City
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and County of San Francisco (City) to be freed of public trust
restrictions.
7)Adds a diagram to Chapter 660, the Statutes of 2007, depicting
the location of designated seawall lots that the City is
authorized to lease free of public trust use restrictions.
8)Clarifies that a person who owns, leases, operates or
maintains an occupied structure in an area covered with
flammable materials must maintain defensible space of 100 feet
from each side, including the front and rear, of the
structure. Adds a definition of "fuel" contained in existing
statute.
9)Corrects a reference in the Coastal Commission's statute
regarding amendments to certified port master plans.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975,
prohibits a person from conducting surface mining operations
without a permit from a lead agency and an approved
reclamation plan. Upon approval of a reclamation plan, a lead
agency is required to record a "Notice of Reclamation Plan
Approval" with a county recorder.
2)Requires an owner of real property who claims as a charitable
contribution lands acquired using state funds valued above
$5,000 to submit an appraisal of the land with the owner's
income tax return.
3)Requires a landowner to record the location of Native American
human remains with a county recorder under certain
circumstances and to protect the site of the remains.
4)Pursuant to the Treasure Island Public Trust Exchange Act,
authorizes the State Lands Commission to approve an exchange
of public trust lands on Treasure Island deemed not useful for
public trust purposes for non-public trust lands deemed useful
for the public trust.
5)Authorizes the City to lease, sell, or otherwise transfer
certain tidelands and submerged lands known as "paper streets"
in the City and County to any person free of the public trust.
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6)Requires a person who owns, leases, operates or maintains an
occupied structure in an area covered with flammable materials
to maintain defensible space no greater than 100 feet from
each side of the structure.
7)Provides that an amendment to a certified port master plan
must not take effect until certified by the California Coastal
Commission. The Executive Director of the Coastal Commission
may determine that an amendment is de minimis but three
members of the Coastal Commission may object to this
determination.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS :
1)This bill makes technical, clarifying or non-substantive
changes to existing law requested by the California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), the County Recorders
Association of California, the Franchise Tax Board, California
Coastal Commission, and the City. These changes deal with the
following issues:
a) SB 1595 (Kehoe), Chapter 366, Statutes of 2008, revised
the defensible space requirement by mandating an owner of a
structure to maintain such space no greater than (emphasis
added) 100 feet from each side of the structure. This
italicized language was added in response to concerns that
some insurance companies were requiring policyholders to
maintain defensible space greater than 100 feet, which in
some instances extended beyond property lines. According
to fire scientists, there is little evidence that supports
the efficacy of defensible space beyond a 100-foot
perimeter though more
research in this area is necessary. CDF has reported that
this language has caused some confusion regarding the exact
amount of defensible space required. This bill clarifies
the 100 foot requirement, which was the original intent of
SB 1595.
b) Pursuant to SB 1873 (Burton), Chapter 543, Statutes of
2004, the Legislature authorized the State Lands Commission
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to approve an exchange of public trust lands on Treasure
Island that are no longer useful for public trust purposes
for non-trust lands useful for public trust purposes on
Yerba Buena Island in order to facilitate economic
redevelopment, primarily residential units, on the former.
State law generally authorizes exchanges of public trust
and non-trust lands of equal value whenever it is in the
best interest of the state in furtherance of the public
trust.
SB 1873 required State Lands Commission to make other
findings including that "[s]ufficient building height
limitations are in place to ensure that views from public
areas at Yerba Buena Island are not obstructed." This bill
requires a finding that sufficient building height
limitations are in place to ensure that development on
Yerba Buena Island will not existing significantly obstruct
certain views, as of January 1, 2010, from the proposed
trust lands on the eastern and western hilltop public park
areas on Yerba Buena Island.
c) The bill contains revisions to a map of Treasure Island
and Yerba Buena Island that reflects the exchange of public
trust lands discussed above. The most significant change
is the addition of approximately 40 acres to lands that are
proposed to be removed from the public trust. The City
proposes to develop this area as a sport complex, including
recreational fields. The State Lands Commission has
consistently held such facilities are not an allowable use
of public trust lands since they principally serve local
communities, will not appeal to broader constituents, and
are not visitor-serving. In order to avoid a potential
legal conflict, State Lands Commission staff agreed to
instead remove these lands from the public trust altogether
since it believes that on balance the lands proposed to be
added to the trust continue to have greater value than the
lands to be taken out.
2)This bill is double-referred to the Committees on Natural
Resources, where it passed with a 9-0 vote on June 22, 2009,
and to Local Government.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SB 833
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None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958