BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2620|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2620
Author: Achadjian (R)
Amended: 5/14/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMM. : 9-0, 6/26/12
AYES: Pavley, La Malfa, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Kehoe,
Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/25/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Granted public trust lands
SOURCE : Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
DIGEST : This bill adds reporting requirements for local
trustees of granted public trust lands, requires the State
Lands Commission (SLC) to increase its oversight of public
trust lands, and requires the SLC to evaluate its current
staffing needs through a workload analysis.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes that California received title to the
tidelands, submerged lands, and beds of navigable lakes
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and rivers within its borders, to be held subject to the
public trust for statewide public purposes, including
commerce, navigation, fisheries, and other recognized
uses, and for preservation in their natural state
(Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 6009(a)).
2. Establishes that tidelands and submerged lands granted
by the Legislature to local entities remain subject to
the public trust, and remain subject to the oversight
authority of the state through the SLC. Grantees are
required to manage the state's tidelands and submerged
lands consistent with the terms and obligations of their
grants and the public trust (PRC Section 6009(c)).
3. Establishes that the SLC has exclusive jurisdiction over
all ungranted tidelands and submerged lands owned by the
State. The SLC shall exclusively administer and control
all such lands, and may lease or otherwise dispose of
such lands, as provided by law (PRC Section 6301).
4. Confers upon the counties and cities to which public
trust lands have been granted, the powers of the SLC to
lease or grant the rights or privileges of such lands
(PRC Section 6305).
5. Requires that local trustees of granted lands provide
accurate records of all revenues received from trust
lands and assets, and all expenditures of those
revenues. All revenues from trust lands and assets can
only be used for purposes consistent with the public
trust for commerce, navigation, and fisheries, and the
applicable statutory grant or grants. On or before
October 1st of each year, each grantee must file a
detailed statement with the SLC of all revenues and
expenditures relating to its trust lands and assets (PRC
Section 6306).
This bill:
1. Adds several legislative declarations and findings
regarding granted public trust lands, the duties of a
trustee of state lands, the use and evaluation of
revenues from granted public trust lands, monitoring and
oversight needs, and the prohibition against common
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public trust principles nullifying an act of the
Legislature or modifying its duty under the California
Constitution to do all things necessary to administer
the public trust.
2. Confers certain powers upon the local trustee (instead
of the county or city) of the granted public trust land
that were previously granted to the SLC with regard to
leasing or granting of rights or privileges of trust
lands.
3. Defines a "local trustee of granted public trust lands"
as a county, city, or district, including a water,
sanitary, regional park, port, or harbor district, or
any other local, political, or corporate subdivision
that has been granted, conveyed, or transferred by
statute, public trust lands through a legislative grant.
4. Requires all funds received or generated from trust
lands or trust assets to be segregated in separate
accounts from nontrust received or generated funds.
5. Requires that the October 1 statement filed with the SLC
be accompanied by a standardized reporting form
developed by the SLC; the SLC may also use an existing
reporting form. The form will include the following
information: a summary of all funds received or
generated from trust lands or assets, a summary of all
spending of funds received or generated from trust lands
or assets, a summary of any other disposition of funds
received or generated from trust lands or assets, a
description of how the statement accompanying the
standardized reporting form is organized, and any other
information the SLC deems to be appropriate in an
accounting of granted public trust lands. The
information provided in the statement and form will be a
public record and posted on the SLC's Internet Web site.
6. Requires that all costs incurred by a local trustee to
implement this bill be paid from the revenues derived
from its granted public trust lands and assets. If the
revenues are insufficient to pay for those costs, the
SLC will be required to exempt a local trustee from the
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duties for which funds are not sufficient, or extend the
deadline until sufficient funds are available.
7. Requires the SLC to prepare a workload analysis and
implementation plan by September 1, 2013. The analysis
will be submitted to specified committees of the
Legislature and the Department of Finance. This section
would become inoperative on September 1, 2017 and be
repealed January 1, 2018.
Background
The SLC has jurisdiction and management control over
sovereign lands of the State that were received from the
United States in 1850. Sovereign lands include the beds of
California's navigable rivers, lakes and streams, as well
as the state's tide and submerged lands along the coastline
and offshore islands from the mean high tide line to three
nautical miles offshore. Sovereign lands are subject to
the public trust for water related commerce, navigation,
fisheries, recreation, open space and other recognized
public trust uses. The SLC maintains a multiple use
management policy to assure the greatest possible public
benefit is derived from these lands.
Since 1851, the California Legislature has periodically
"granted" tide and submerged lands in trust to local or
specific governmental entities for management purposes.
These granted lands are monitored by the SLC to ensure uses
are consistent with the public trust. All uses, including
those specifically authorized by the Legislature, must take
into account the overarching principle of the public trust
doctrine that trust lands belong to the public and are to
be used to promote public rather than exclusively private
purposes. The major ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, San
Diego, San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond are all located
on "granted lands," as are many marinas, aquatic parks,
fishing piers and environmentally sensitive habitats, among
others. These grants encourage development of tidelands
consistent with the public trust, while requiring grantees
to reinvest revenues produced from the lands back into the
lands where they are generated. For example, the grant to
the City of Long Beach provides for revenue sharing between
the city and the state for the oil royalties generated from
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the lands granted to the city. There are currently more
than 300 statutes granting public trust lands to
approximately 85 local governments throughout the state.
According to the SLC staff, there is one current staff
position assigned to overseeing the management of granted
lands and revenues by local entities.
The SLC also leases some of its ungranted lands for
agricultural, commercial, industrial, right-of-way, and
recreational purposes, as well as for revenue-generating
purposes (oil, gas, mineral, and geothermal energy
extraction). Generally, the revenue from ungranted lands
is deposited into the State's General Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/7/12)
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
a report released by the State Auditor in August 2011
concluded that SLC is neglecting its responsibility to
protect the public trust and risks having to address
additional ongoing abuses of funds dedicated for public
trust uses. This is a critical component of the SLR's
role, because it is the state agency responsible for
overseeing these granted lands and ensuring they are
properly managed such that the State's interests are
protected and the granted lands are used in ways that are
consistent with the public trust and with any other
conditions the Legislature imposes.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/25/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng,
Feuer, Fong, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey,
Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
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Jeffries, Jones, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Bill Berryhill, Fletcher,
Fuentes, Grove, Hall, Knight, Ma, Perea, Silva
CTW:k 8/7/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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