BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1309|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1309
Author: Miller (R), et al.
Amended: 6/27/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 9-0, 7/5/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Rubio, Simitian
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public roads: fire suppression
SOURCE : Orange County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill grants, until January 1, 2017, a
county board of supervisors authority to improve or repair
a public road that is not a county highway and is not in
the county-maintained system, if the improvements or
repairs are necessary for the purpose of fire suppression.
ANALYSIS : Existing law allows, if a state of local
emergency due to heavy rainfall or flood is declared, a
county board of supervisors to authorize the expenditure of
road funds for the purpose of emergency repairs to public
roads that are not county highways and not in the
county-maintained system. A board may take such action
without obtaining a grant or lease of right-of-way, if the
repairs are necessary to provide minimum public access for
the protection or preservation of the health or safety of
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residents. Existing law deems the county shall not be
responsible for the maintenance of these roads after they
are repaired and relieves the county of liability for the
condition of the road after the emergency repairs are made.
Existing law also allows county boards of supervisors to
improve or repair a privately-owned road of general county
interest, after adopting a resolution by a four-fifths vote
of their membership and if the owner grants or leases the
right-of-way for the purpose of improvements or repairs.
Such improvements or repairs must be made and paid for in
the same manner as improvements to or repairs of county
highways.
This bill:
1. Allows a county board of supervisors, by adopting a
resolution with four-fifths vote of its membership, to
improve or repair a public road that is not a county
highway and is not in the county-maintained system, if
the improvements or repairs are necessary for the
purpose of fire suppression.
2. Requires that the improvements or repairs be made and
paid for in the same manner as improvements or repairs
of county highways, but does not require that the road
become a county highway.
3. Repeals the authority on January 1, 2017.
Comments
Purpose . This bill will authorize county boards of
supervisors to vote to appropriate funds to make necessary,
preventative improvements or repairs to public,
non-county-maintained roads for the purposes of fire
suppression, in advance of a declaration of a local state
of emergency due to fire. The author states that current
law only enables a board of supervisors to authorize such
funds when there is a declared local emergency due to heavy
rainfall or flooding and when the repairs are necessary to
provide minimum public access for the protection or
preservation of the health and safety of its residents.
The sponsor of this bill, the Orange County Board of
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Supervisors, provides an example of Black Star Canyon Road.
On August 12, 2010, county counsel discussed the
possibility for the road to become a county highway through
common law dedication. The matter remains unresolved,
however, because in 1987, the county declared the roadway a
non-maintained county highway and closed the road to public
motor vehicles. During the 2007 Santiago Fire,
fire-fighting equipment could not traverse Black Star
Canyon Road because the road includes three bridges that
would not have supported the equipment. This bill allows
for preventative improvements to be made on a public road
for the purpose of fire suppression, prior to a declaration
of a fire emergency, by allowing the county to use public
road funds.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/6/11)
Orange County Board of Supervisors (source)
Regional Council of Rural Counties
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/19/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell, Yamada
JJA:kc 7/6/11 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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