BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1205 (Corbett)
Hearing Date: 05/03/2010 Amended: 04/13/2010
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: L.Gov. 3-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1205 would establish the San Francisco Bay
Area Disaster Recovery Authority until January 1, 2030 to create
a long-term regional recovery plan to be implemented following
an earthquake or other disaster in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
CalEMA interim staff $50 $100 $100 General
Planning and disaster potential cost pressures to fund
regionalGeneral
mitigation grants plan and provide funds for grant
programFederal/
Bond
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is a voluntary
council of governments created by the Bay Area's nine counties
and 101 cities through a joint-powers agreement. Although ABAG
has developed a comprehensive regional plan that includes an
earthquake hazards and planning component, most regional
disaster planning efforts have focused on response rather than
long-term recovery.
SB 1205 would establish the Authority and specify its governing
structure, including a requirement to convene a Bay Area
Disaster Recovery Administrative Committee to assist and advise
the board. Among other things, the Authority would be
authorized to receive grants from federal and state agencies;
solicit and accept gifts, fees, grants, and allocations from
public and private entities; receive and manage an unspecified
dedicated revenue source; and use interim and temporary staff
provided by an appropriate state agency or ABAG. In addition,
the Authority would be funded through gifts, donations, grants,
state or local bonds, assessments, other appropriate funding
sources, and other types of financial assistance from public and
private sources.
It is likely that this bill would require at least 1 PY of staff
time from an "appropriate state agency" to serve as interim
staff to the Authority for several years. The most appropriate
state agency related to emergency planning and preparedness is
the California Emergency Management Agency.
SB 1205 would also establish a grant program and authorize the
Authority to raise funds and award grants to public and private
entities for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing the
region's resiliency following a disaster, as specified.
Priority would be given to projects that would address the
highest priority mitigation strategies identified in
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SB 1205 (Corbett)
ABAG's Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, and other projects that
would address additional needs identified in the long-term
regional recovery plan. Staff notes that the bill does not
identify a dedicated source of revenues to fund the activities
of the Authority, in general, or the grant program, in
particular. Rather, the bill specifies that the Authority may
solicit and spend funds from numerous potential sources. In
addition, one of the stated purposes of creating the recovery
planning council is to raise the level of awareness of the need
for long term disaster recovery planning and increase the amount
of available resources for disaster planning and preparedness
work in the region without eliminating funding from any ongoing
effort. Absent a dedicated source of funds, this bill would
create unknown, but potentially significant cost pressures to
provide state funds for the activities of the Authority and the
grant program to the extent other revenues fail to materialize.
SB 1205 would place additional duties on ABAG and its member
agencies related to the membership and activities of the
governing board of the Authority. Since the local agencies have
the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments
sufficient to pay for its participation on the Authority, SB
1205's mandate would not be reimbursable.