BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2421
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2421 (Bill Berryhill) - As Amended: April 12, 2012
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 10-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires an independent third party to complete, by
June 30, 2013, a cost and benefit analysis of the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan (BDCP), to be submitted to the Legislature
before BDCP's inclusion in the Delta Plan. The bill requires the
third party analyst to be chosen by a representative from the
Legislative Analyst's Office, the Delta Protection Commission
and the State Water Contractors. The bill limits the funding
for completion of the analysis to $1 million.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Cost of an unknown amount, but not to exceed $1 million. The
bill does not identify a funding source to pay for the work of
the third-party analyst and will create cost pressure of an
amount equal to the cost of the third-party analysis, (General
Fund, special funds and bond funds).
(The Department of Water Resources (DWR) pays for development
of the BDCP, the costs of which DWR passes through to State
Water Project accounts under an agreement with the State Water
Contractors. Presumably, the costs of the third-party
analysis could be financed the same way.)
2)Minor absorbable costs to the Legislative Analyst's Office and
the Delta Protection Commission to participate in selection of
the third-party analyst.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author intends this bill to ensure that a
AB 2421
Page 2
fair, comprehensive consideration of costs and benefits is
applied to the BDCP, which plans for projects that together,
if implemented, might be one of the largest public works
projects in the state's history.
2)Background. Senate Bill 1 (Chapter 5, Statutes of 2009,
Simitian) codified the coequal goals of providing a more
reliable water supply for California while protecting,
restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. SB 1 calls for
the Delta Stewardship Council, created by SB 1, to adopt a
"Delta Plan," a comprehensive, long-term management plan for
the Delta.
SB 1 also called for the council to consider a plan for Delta
water conveyance developed by the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan-a stakeholder-driven process to develop a conservation
plan upon which an official state Delta plan could be built.
SB 1 specifies the council is to adopt the BDCP only if BDCP
has considered, among other things, "a reasonable range of
Delta conveyance alternatives, including through-Delta, dual
conveyance, and isolated conveyance alternatives and including
further capacity and design options of a lined canal, an
unlined canal, and pipelines."
3)Support. This bill is supported by conservation,
agricultural, industrial and civic groups representing,
primarily, Delta interests. These supporters assert it
appropriate that BDCP, which could have substantial economic,
environmental and social effects, undergo an independent
cost/benefit analysis.
4)Opposition. This bill is opposed by a long list of
organizations representing, mainly, water importers who would
benefit from a Delta plan that provided for Delta water
exports. These opponents contend this bill is contrary to the
process established by legislative agreements and threatens
achievement of the coequal goals of ecosystem restoration and
water supply reliability.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081