BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 20|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 20
Author: Huffman (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMM. : 5-1, 7/3/12
AYES: Pavley, Evans, Kehoe, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Fuller
NO VOTE RECORDED: La Malfa, Cannella, Padilla
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 44-27, 6/21/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank
National Marine
Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and
Protection Act
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution calls upon the Congress of the
United States to quickly pass the federal Gulf of the
Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries
Boundary Modification and Protection Act and the President
of the United States to expeditiously sign it into law.
ANALYSIS : Federal law establishes the National Marine
Sanctuary System and within that system, the Gulf of
Farallones National Marine Sanctuary was established in
1981 and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary was
established in 1989. The two sanctuaries are both located
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AJR 20
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north of San Francisco offshore of Sonoma and Mendocino
counties.
This resolution urges Congress to adjust the boundaries of
these two sanctuaries as proposed in pending federal
legislation. Under H.R. 192 (Woolsey) and S. 179 (Boxer)
the Gulf of the Farallones sanctuary would be expanded from
966 square nautical miles to 1,521 square nautical miles.
The Cordell Bank sanctuary would be expanded from 399
square nautical miles to 962 square nautical miles and
would thus extend offshore for the entire Sonoma County
coast. Existing federal law would be maintained thus
expressly not affecting fishing activities, shipping,
boating, or diving. Existing federal law does prohibit new
oil and gas exploration, although present activities, if
any, would not be affected.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/5/12)
Environmental Action Committee
Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Town of Fairfax
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
these two sanctuaries contain some of the most important
marine habitat in the world. They are home to some of the
largest concentrations of white sharks and blue whales on
Earth, along with one-fifth of California's breeding harbor
seals and hundreds of thousands of breeding seabirds. Gulf
of the Farallones sanctuary includes numerous estuaries,
bays, and beaches for the public to enjoy. At Cordell
Bank, an underwater mountain rises to within 115 feet of
the ocean's surface off Point Reyes which contributes to
the upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water. This ocean
upwelling is one of only four in the world which, when
combined, produce 20% of the world's fish. This area is an
extremely productive feeding destination for many ocean
species including whales, dolphins, sea lions, seabirds,
rockfish, and salmon.
The pending federal legislation would include the remainder
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of the Sonoma coast, and part of southern Mendocino County.
A congressional and executive moratorium on offshore oil
exploration was removed in 2008 leaving these waters of
special biological significance unprotected.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 44-27, 6/21/12
AYES: Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Carter,
Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Hill, Huber,
Hueso, Huffman, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth,
Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Furutani, Galgiani, Roger Hern�ndez, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Wieckowski
CTW:m 7/5/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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