BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 511
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 511 (Yamada)
As Amended June 4, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 19, 2011) |SENATE: |36-0 |(July 6, 2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: B.,P. & C.P.
SUMMARY : Requires meteorological towers (MTs) between 50 and
200 feet in height located on or within one mile of prime
agricultural land and erected after January 1, 2013, to be
marked as specified.
The Senate amendments :
1)Define "prime agricultural land" to mean land that satisfies
any of the following:
a) All land that qualifies for rating as class I or class
II in the Natural Resource Conservation Service land use
capability classifications;
b) Land which qualifies for rating 80 through 100 in the
Storie Index Rating; or,
c) Land planted with fruit- or nut-bearing trees, vines,
bushes, or crops which have a nonbearing period of less
than five years and which will normally return during the
commercial bearing period on an annual basis from the
production of unprocessed agricultural plant production not
less than $200 per acre.
2)Specify that the MT marking requirements shall apply to MTs
located on or within one mile of prime agricultural land and
erected after January 1, 2013.
3)Delete requirements related to the anchoring of guy wires and
marker balls connected to a MT, and instead require two or
more high visibility spherical marker balls that are aviation
orange, to be attached to each outside guy wire connected to a
MT.
AB 511
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4)Authorize, instead of require, a light to be affixed to the
highest point on the MT.
5)Authorize local agencies to incorporate any of this bill's
requirements into local land use permits and specify that
nothing shall be construed to allow a local agency to require
a new permit that applies to MTs.
6)Sunset the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2018.
7)Specify that if this bill conflicts with local permitting
requirements, this bill supersedes.
8)Make technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING STATE LAW establishes the State Aeronautics Act and the
California Division of Aeronautics under the California
Department of Transportation.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW establishes the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) under the United States Department of
Transportation to make and amend general or special rules,
regulations, procedures, and minimum standards consistent with
federal legislation governing aeronautics.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required MTs to be marked,
as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The FAA has jurisdiction over the use of air space
and regulates structures over 200 feet in height. The FAA has
issued Advisory Circulars (ACs) on obstruction marking and
lighting to promote aviation safety. In particular, a Notice of
Proposed Rule Making (Docket No: FAA 2010-1326) revised an AC on
Obstruction Marking and Lighting to include guidance for MTs.
The majority of MTs are usually 195 feet high and fall
underneath the height limit that triggers FAA notification
requirements, regulations, and their impact on navigable
airspace.
The increased presence of MTs is due to the growing interest in
renewable energy and wind turbines. The towers are portable,
AB 511
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temporary, and often set up within hours, installed with guy
wires and constructed from galvanized material that makes it
difficult to see. The unmarked, unlit MTs are erected on short
notice can pose a safety hazard to low-flying pilots. While the
AC specifically referred to the safety impact on low-level
agricultural pilots, low-flying aircraft pilots flying below 200
feet also include: law enforcement, military, emergency and
medical, and firefighting. Law enforcement and emergency pilots
fly during the day and night, and rely on MT lighting markers at
night. The FAA does not track or count MTs below 200 feet,
although FAA has received complaints about safety impacts that
those MTs present. Since compliance with the AC is voluntary,
states must pass legislation relating to marking MTs under 200
feet. Currently, local municipalities and zoning administrators
issue common land use permits for MTs.
This bill proposes marking MTs similar to the FAA guidelines
issued in the AC.
This bill was amended in the Senate and is consistent with
Assembly actions.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0004368