BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1141
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2010
REVISED
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
SB 1141 (Negrete McLeod) - As Amended: June 22, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 25-10
SUBJECT : Airports: airport land use commissions.
SUMMARY : Makes various changes to the general statutory
requirement that each county form an airport land use commission
(ALUC); authorizes the Division of Aeronautics (Division) at
Caltrans to provide startup funds to counties for the
establishment of an ALUC; and, prohibits airports in counties
that have not established an ALUC from receiving an annual
credit of $10,000 from the state Aeronautics Account fund if an
ALUC has not been established in that county, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals the provisions that allow an elected official of a
local agency that owns an airport to qualify as a person with
expertise in aviation.
2)Requires that when local officials designate another body to
assume the planning duties instead of an ALUC, this body must
be a countywide body.
3)Allows a city to assume an ALUC's duties for an airport
located within its boundaries
if, before January 1, 2011, the county board of supervisors and
the city council agree that the city can provide proper land
use planning, and the airport:
a) Is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for
meeting specified standards;
b) Has a noise compatibility program approved by the
Federal Aviation Administration; and,
c) Is owned and operated by an agency that is headquartered
in another county.
4)Requires a city council who meets the criteria listed above in
#3, subject to the review and approval by the Division, to do
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all of the following:
a) Adopt processes for the preparation, adoption, and
amendment of the airport land use compatibility plan for
each airport that is served by a scheduled airline or
operated for the benefit of the general public;
b) Adopt processes for the notification of the general
public, landowners, interested groups, and other public
agencies regarding the preparation, adoption, and amendment
of the airport land use compatibility plans;
c) Adopt processes for the mediation of disputes arising
from the preparation, adoption, and amendment of the
airport land use compatibility plans;
d) Adopt processes for the amendment of general and
specific plans to be consistent with the airport land use
compatibility plans; and,
e) Designate the agency that shall be responsible for the
preparation, adoption, and amendment of each airport land
use compatibility plan.
5)Requires the Division to review and approve those alternative
planning processes.
6)Provides that if the city does not comply with the above
requirements by January 1, 2011, then the affected airport is
subject to the ALUC within 90 days of the Division's
determination of noncompliance.
7)Repeals Marin County's special override provision which allows
a city council or the county supervisors in Marin County to
override the Marin County ALUC by majority vote, if the ALUC
determines that a local general or specific plan is not
consistent the ALUC's plan.
8)Extends the existing liability immunity that applies to
publicly-owned airports to privately-owned public use
airports.
9)Adds a general or specific plan amendment that directly
affects the use of land within one mile of the boundary of a
public airport within the county to the list of items an
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interested party, in any county in which there is no ALUC or
other body designated to assume the responsibilities of an
ALUC, or in which the ALUC or other designated body has not
adopted an airport land use compatibility plan, may initiate
proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to postpone
the effective date of.
10)Defines "authorized alternative planning body" as an entity
that is authorized to adopt an airport land use compatibility
plan that is not an airport land use commission, and includes
each of the following:
a) An appropriately designated body, so designated by the
board of supervisors and the city selection committee of
mayors in the county;
b) The Division if the Division has contracted for the
preparation of an airport land use compatibility plan;
c) The county regional planning commission of the County of
Los Angeles as applicable; and,
d) The San Diego Regional Airport Authority as applicable.
11)Specifies that an "authorized alternative planning body" does
not include a county or city that makes a determination that
proper airport land use compatibility planning can be
accomplished without the formation of an ALUC.
12)Requires, when the Division determines that funding is
sufficient, it must inform counties that do not have an
operating ALUC or authorized alternative planning body of the
availability of funds for ALUC startup costs, and may grant
fund moneys for that purpose to counties that apply for
funding.
13)Provides that, upon the second anniversary of the Division
providing notice of the availability of startup funds, a
county owned or operated airport in a county that does not
have an operating ALUC or authorized alternative planning body
shall not be eligible for the $10,000 funding credit from the
Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund until
that county establishes an operating ALUC or authorized
alternative planning body.
14)Provides that, if an operating ALUC or authorized alternative
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planning body is thereafter established in that county, each
county owned or operated airport in that county shall be
eligible for prospective funding from the Aeronautics Account
in the State Transportation Fund and for not more than twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000) of credited funds.
15)States that upon the second anniversary of the Division
providing notice of the availability
of startup funds, the Division shall not credit more than twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000) to the individual revolving fund
subaccount of a county owned or operated airport in a county
that does not have an operating ALUC or authorized alternative
planning body.
16)States that, if an operating ALUC or authorized alternative
planning body is thereafter established in that county, the
Division shall prospectively resume crediting of funds to the
individual revolving fund subaccount of each county owned or
operated airport in that county.
17)Deletes obsolete provisions and make conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each county in which there is an airport served by a
scheduled airline, with certain exceptions, to establish an
ALUC to carry out various requirements, including the
formulation of a comprehensive land use compatibility plan to
provide for the orderly growth of airports and the area
surrounding airports within the jurisdiction of the
commission, and to safeguard the general welfare of the
inhabitants within the vicinity of an airport and the public
in general.
2)Requires each county in which there is an airport operated for
the benefit of the public to establish an ALUC, but authorizes
the board of supervisors of a county in which an airport is
located that is operated for the benefit of the general public
that is not served by a scheduled airline, after consultation
with the appropriate airport operators and affected local
entities and after public hearing, to adopt a resolution
finding that there are no noise, public safety, or land use
issues affecting any airport in the county that require the
creation of an ALUC and declaring that the county is exempt
from establishing an ALUC.
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3)Provides that, notwithstanding the above-described
requirements, if the board of supervisors and the city
selection committee of mayors in the county responsible for
appointing an ALUC each makes a determination by a majority
vote that proper land use planning can be accomplished through
the actions of an appropriately designated body, then the body
so designated shall assume those planning responsibilities and
an ALUC need not be formed in that county.
4)States that an ALUC need not be formed in a county that has
contracted for the preparation of airport land use
compatibility plans with the Division.
5)States that an ALUC need not be formed in a county if the
county has only one public use airport that is owned by a city
and specified conditions are met.
6)Requires each local agency whose general plan or plans
includes areas covered by an airport land use compatibility
plan to submit a copy of its plan, any amendment, any zoning
ordinance, and any building regulation, to the ALUC, unless
exempted, or to the designated body performing planning as an
alternative to the ALUC.
7)Requires that, if the plan, amendment, zoning ordinance, or
building regulation is inconsistent with the airport land use
compatibility plan, the ALUC or designated body is to notify
the local agency, and requires the local agency to have a
hearing to reconsider its plan or action.
8)Permits a public agency owning any airport within the
boundaries of an airport land use compatibility plan to
overrule an ALUC's action or recommendation affecting an
airport within the jurisdiction of that public agency, after a
hearing, by a two-thirds vote of its governing body.
9)Provides that that an airport operator is immune from
liability for property damages or personal injury resulting
from a city or county's decision to overrule the ALUC.
10)Permits public agencies in Marin County to overrule an ALUC's
action or recommendation affecting an airport within the
jurisdiction of that public agency by a majority vote of its
governing body, if it makes specific findings.
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11)Requires the Division to administers three state aid programs
for airports. The sole funding source for these grants is
excise tax revenues on general aviation gasoline and jet fuel
that are annually deposited into the Aeronautics Account. The
programs are as follows:
a) The Airport Improvement Program (AIP) provides funds to
assist general aviation airports in meeting the local match
for federal AIP grants related to capital projects;
b) The Annual Credit Program (ACP) provides a $10,000 per
year entitlement to eligible publicly-owned, public-use
airports for discretionary expenditures; and,
c) Acquisition and Development (A&D) grants are for
eligible projects subject to programming and allocation by
the CTC. An ALUC can receive A&D funding to either prepare
or update a comprehensive land use plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)The Legislature required counties with airports with scheduled
air carrier service to set up ALUCs to plan for the areas
around airports in 1967. It later extended that mandate to
counties with airports operated for the benefit of the general
public.
ALUCs have seven members representing cities, counties,
aviation experts, and the general public. ALUCs must adopt
"airport compatibility land use plans" (ACLUPs) for areas
around public use airports. Further, ALUCs can determine
whether city and county general plans and particular land use
decisions are consistent with those ACLUPs. A city council or
county board of supervisors can overrule an ALUC's consistency
determination on a two-thirds vote (except in the case of
Marin County, where a simple majority vote is required).
However, if a city or county overrules the ALUC, state law
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says that the airport operator is immune from liability for
property damages or personal injury from the city or county's
decision.
In 1993, to save money by repealing state mandated local
programs, the Legislature repealed the mandate for counties to
have ALUCs. In 1994, the Legislature restored the ALUC
mandate, but allowed local officials to avoid forming an ALUC
if they find that there are no noise, public safety, or land
use issues affecting airports. The result was that several
counties stopped using a countywide body to plan for land use
around public use airports.
2)ALUCs cannot guarantee airports full protection from
encroaching development. Even in counties with ALUCs, local
officials can still approve incompatible land uses around
airports. Encroachment is possible because local officials
can override ALUC decisions. The Committee may wish to
consider if it is prudent to make public entities ineligible
for some State Aeronautics Account money just because they
have not set up a countywide land use bureaucracy?
Withholding state funds may not be fair when local officials
think that they can make good land use choices without
countywide ALUCs.
3)The author and proponents of this bill have made efforts to
recognize and accommodate the fact that the current patchwork
of regulation is, at least in part, a response to the wide
range of specific conditions of specific airports and
municipalities throughout the state. While the bill's intent
is to close the existing statutory loopholes and restore
countywide ALUCs, two exceptions will remain in the law and
one will be added after this bill is enacted. The Los Angeles
County Regional Planning Commission will continue to have the
responsibility of coordinating airport planning in Los Angeles
County. The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority will
continue to handle ALUC duties in San Diego County. This bill
also implicitly permits the City of Ontario to retain its
current responsibility for planning land uses around the
Ontario LA International Airport, which is owned and operated
by the City of Los Angeles.
4)SB 1141 does not explicitly require the nine counties without
an ALUC or authorized alternative planning body to establish
one, but would instead prohibit the county owned or operated
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airports within those counties from annually receiving the
$10,000 funding credit from the Aeronautics Account if the
Division of Aeronautics notified the counties that funds were
available to pay for their ALUC or alternative planning body
startup costs, and those counties failed to establish an ALUC
or alternative planning body.
5)SB 1141 is the third attempt in three years to restore
countywide ALUCs. SB 737 (Negrete McLeod, 2009) which is
similar to this measure died in the Senate Appropriations
Committee. SB 737 was similar to SB 1118 (Negrete McLeod,
2008), which the Committee passed 7-0; that bill failed on the
Assembly Floor.
6)Support Arguments : Supporters argue that existing law allows
ALUC functions to be administered inconsistently throughout
the state and in some counties not at all. Supporters believe
that SB 1141 is an important step in precluding and preventing
incompatible land uses around airports. SB 1141 is seen as a
tool that will help reduce costly litigation between parties
who disagree on compatible land use designations.
Opposition Arguments : Opposition, including the County of San
Bernardino, believes that "SB 1141 is unnecessary, duplicative
and seeks to modify an extremely effective and proficient
planning process which is allowed under existing law?cities,
counties, constituents and airports have expended a great deal
of time and resources to ensure the current process represents
the interest of all the stakeholders. SB 1141 would negate
these efforts."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association [SPONSOR]
American Association of Airport Executives, Southwest Chapter
Association of CA Airports
CA Pilots Association
CA Transportation Commission
Watsonville Pilots Association
Opposition
Cities of Chino, Highland, San Bernardino, Upland and
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Watsonville
County of San Bernardino
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958