BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1070
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Date of Hearing: June 30, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
SB 1070 (Cogdill) - As Amended: April 20, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 31-0
SUBJECT : Land use: Tulare Lake basin.
SUMMARY : Defines, for the purposes of Planning and Zoning Laws,
the "Tulare Lake basin" as the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region as
defined in the California Water Plan Update 2009, prepared by
the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines the following under the Planning and Zoning Laws:
a) "Central Valley Flood Protection Plan" as defined in the
Water Code;
b) "Flood hazard zone" means an area subject to flooding
that is delineated as either a special hazard area or an
area of moderate hazard on an official flood insurance rate
map issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The
identification of flood hazard zones does not imply that
areas outside the flood hazard zones, or uses permitted
within flood hazard zones, will be free from flooding or
flood damage;
c) "Project levee" means any levee that is part of the
facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control; and,
d) "Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley" means any lands in the
bed or along or near the banks of the Sacramento River or
San Joaquin River, or any of their tributaries or connected
therewith, or upon any land adjacent thereto, or within any
of the overflow basins thereof, or upon any land
susceptible to overflow therefrom. The Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley does not include lands lying within the
Tulare Lake basin, including the Kings River.
SB 1070
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2)Requires DWR and the Reclamation Board to prepare and adopt a
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Flood Management System Plan, and
requires local agencies to address certain flood management
issues consistent with such plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)In 2007 the Legislature approved SB 5 (Machado), Chapter 364,
Statues of 2007, which mandated the preparation and adoption
of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP) by 2012.
SB 5 also required the establishment of certain flood
protection requirements for specific local land-use decisions
and established the Central Valley Flood Protection Board
(Board) as the agency tasked with overseeing the
implementation of the plan.
To ensure that areas that are not threatened by flooding were
not burdened with unnecessary regulations, SB 5 exempted areas
"lying within the Tulare Lake basin, including the Kings
River". However, despite this explicit exemption, DWR, upon
their implementation of SB 5, referred to a federal map of the
area which excludes the City of Fresno from the Tulare Lake
Basin. As a result Fresno was determined to be subject to the
flood control mandates of the Board.
According to the author, after working with officials from the
City of Fresno, DWR ultimately agreed that the intent of the
legislative language was to exempt the entire Tulare Lake
Basin, including the City of Fresno from the mandates of the
CVFPP and the mandates of the Board.
Although all parties agree that the City of Fresno should be
exempt from the requirements
of SB 5, the differing definitions of Tulare Lake Basin could
lead to confusion. Therefore, the City of Fresno has
requested legislation that would clarify that the DWR map,
which defines the Tulare Lake Basin Hydrologic Region, should
be used for the purpose of implementing CVFPP.
2)Support Arguments : This measure will provide clarity
regarding the boundaries of the Tulare Lake Basin, as it
SB 1070
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applies to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan.
Opposition Arguments : None at this time.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City of Fresno [SPONSOR]
Association of CA Water Agencies
Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District
Kings River Water Association
Kings River Conservation District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958