BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: SB 1334 HEARING DATE: April 13, 2010
AUTHOR: Wolk URGENCY: No
VERSION: As Introduced CONSULTANT: Marie Liu
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Natural community conservation plans.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Chapter 10 of Division 3 (commencing with 2800) of the Fish and
Game Code, also known as the Natural Community Conservation
Planning Act, establishes the guidelines for the creation of a
Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP) that takes a
multispecies approach at conservation that incorporates adaptive
management, the development of reserve systems, and appropriate
monitoring. A NCCP must address the needs of at least any
threatened or listed species in the plan area.
The first step in developing of a NCCP is the development of a
planning agreement between the Department of Fish and Game (DFG)
and any person or public entity, in cooperation with a local
agency that has land use permit authority. The planning
agreement shall include information such as the geographic scope
of the plan, a preliminary list of species affected, and the
preliminary conservation objectives.
DFG must approve a NCCP for implementation if it can make a
number of findings, including that the plan: was developed in
accordance with the planning agreement, was developed with
public comment, includes adaptive management strategies,
identifies activities and restrictions on those activities that
are appropriate in reserve areas, and contains a monitoring
program. If a NCCP is approved, DFG may permit the taking of any
threatened or endangered species whose conservation and
management is provided for in the NCCP.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is a long-term,
multi-species conservation strategy that aims to promote the
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recovery of endangered, threatened, and sensitive fish and
wildlife species and their habitats in the Delta in a manner
that also will protect and restore water supplies. As required
by SBx7 1 (Section 85320(b)(1) of the Water Code), the BDCP must
be developed in compliance with the California Natural
Communities Conservation Planning Act. The completed BDCP is
intended to support the issuance of State Water Project take
authorizations under the California Endangered Species Act and
Section 10 of the Federal Endangered Species Act. The BDCP is
being developed by a steering committee that includes state and
federal agencies, state and federal water contractors,
environmental organizations, and others. No local governments
are members of the BDCP steering committee.
According to an April 7, 2010 press release from Interior Deputy
Secretary David J. Hayes and California Natural Resources
Secretary Lester Snow, the federal and state agencies are
committed to completing a draft BDCP in November 2010.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would require that a NCCP be developed in cooperation
with all local agencies that have land use authority over
activities proposed in the plan, not just one. Furthermore, DFG
must find that the plan was developed in cooperation with all
affected local agencies in order to approve a NCCP.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The author states that, "While current law establishes the need
to involve local land use agencies in the planning phase of NCCP
development, current law does not provide a specific check point
to ensure that cooperation has taken place.
In the case of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the Department
of Fish & Game and the Resources Agency have not yet made
efforts to cooperate with the local land use authorities, as
required by existing law. Yet, the BDCP has been in the planning
phase since 2007.
Because the proposed BDCP includes large-scale land use changes
in the Delta, it is imperative that the local land use agencies,
in this case the counties, be involved as early in the process
as possible. Without the participation of the local land use
entities, DFG will have no mechanism to ensure that the
conservation measures included in the proposed BDCP permit are
achievable.
This bill simply provides a check point in the NCCP process to
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ensure that the Department of Fish and Game has initiated
efforts to cooperate with the local land-use entities in order
to ensure the successful implementation of a proposed NCCP, such
as the BDCP."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received.
COMMENTS
Should all local agencies with land use authority be involved in
the development of a NCCP, and if so, how? Earlier NCCPs
typically only encompassed one county, which often meant that
there was only one local agency with land use authority
involved. However, the BDCP as well as the Desert Renewable
Energy Conservation Plan, two of the more recent NCCPs in
development, spans multiple counties, raising the issue of how
to include multiple local agencies.
In the case of the BDCP, according to the author, the five Delta
counties (Yolo, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, and
Solano) do not necessarily want to be part of the steering
committee (i.e. signatories to the planning agreement).
Furthermore, the BDCP planning agreement was established in
October 2006 and it is not the author's intent to reopen this
agreement. However, it is the author's desire for the five Delta
counties to have a greater level of involvement with the
planning process given that the conservation and restoration
efforts in the BDCP need to be linked with the terrestrial
conservation and restoration efforts taking place in each of the
counties. Currently, according to the Resources Agency, BDCP is
involving the counties through the public participation process.
The committee may find that given the counties' key role in
determining the success of BDCP implementation, a more formal
and substantial process is appropriate than simply opening the
public participation process to the counties.
Because it is not the author's intent to have the five Delta
counties as actual signatories to the planning agreement and it
is not the author's intent to reopen the existing BDCP planning
agreement, the committee may wish to recommend that this bill's
first requirement that all local governments be involved in the
planning agreement be struck. [See amendment 1]
Also the committee may wish to clarify in the bill language the
author's intent to improve cooperation between the BDCP steering
committee and the Delta counties, without necessarily requiring
the counties be signatories. [See amendment 2]
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SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1
On page 2, line 5-6, delete "all local agencies that have"
and insert "a local agency that has"
AMENDMENT 2
Amend 2820 to read:
2820. (a) The department shall approve a natural community
conservation plan for implementation after making the following
findings, based upon substantial evidence in the record:
(1) The plan has been developed consistent with the process
identified in the planning agreement entered into pursuant to
Section 2810, including cooperation with all local agencies that
have land use permit authority over the activities proposed to
be addressed in the plan..
(2) The plan has been developed with an opportunity for
significant input from, cooperation with, and meaningful
consideration of responsibilities imposed on all local agencies
that have land use permit authority over the activities proposed
to be addressed in the plan.
?
SUPPORT
None Received
OPPOSITION
None Received
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