BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           959 (Ducheny)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/03/2010           Amended: 04/26/2010
          Consultant:  Brendan McCarthy   Policy Vote: LG 5-0, EQ 7-0
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          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: SB 959, an urgency measure, requires cities and  
          counties to provide a single coordinating entity for all  
          permitting associated with proposed residential, commercial, and  
          industrial development. The bill requires the Office of Planning  
          and Research to develop guidelines to assist local governments  
          in complying with the requirements of the bill.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
           
          OPR guideline development         $125                  General

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          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.

          Under current law, local governments are generally responsible  
          for permitting proposed development projects. In addition, local  
          governments often act as lead agencies for implementing state  
          regulatory laws, such as the California Environmental Quality  
          Act.

          SB 959 requires cities and counties to establish a single  
          administrative entity that would be responsible for coordinating  
          the review and decision making associated with any proposed  
          residential, commercial, or industrial development within its  
          jurisdiction. In addition, the bill authorizes the  
          administrative entity to also coordinate with special districts  
          or other local governments that may be involved in permitting a  
          proposed development. The bill authorizes cities and counties to  
          charge fees to a project developer to pay for those costs that  
          are directly attributable to coordination of decision making  
          related to the specific proposal.











          This bill requires the Office of Planning and Research to  
          develop guidelines to provide technical assistance to cities and  
          counties in implementing the requirements of the bill. The bill  
          specifies a series of issues that the guidelines must cover. The  
          bill states that the guidelines are advisory only, and do not  
          mandate any additional duties by local governments.

          This bill creates a mandate on cities and counties by requiring  
          them to establish a coordinating administrative entity. However,  
          because cities and counties are authorized to charge fees to  
          project applicants (both under existing law and this bill) this  
          mandate is not reimbursable to the state. Based on discussions  
          with representatives of cities and counties, staff estimates  
          that the total statewide cost to cities and counties to provide  
          coordinated decision making could be between $8 million and $15  
          million per year.