BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 551
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 551 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended:  May 31, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                             Natural 
          ResourcesVote:6-1
                       Local Government                       7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill repeals the grant of public trust land made in 2006 by 
          the state to the City of Pittsburg and makes a new grant of 
          public trust land that includes land in the 2006 grant plus land 
          annexed to the city in 2009. The bill requires the city to 
          submit to the State Lands Commission (SLC) a trust land use plan 
          by January 1, 2017, and specifies information the city is to 
          include in the plan.  The bill also requires the city, at the 
          end of every fiscal year, to transmit 20% of all gross revenue 
          generated from the trust lands to SLC, of which 80% will go to 
          the General Fund and 20% will go to the Land Bank Fund.   

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Annual revenue reduction of approximately $330,000 for forgone 
            rents on the trust lands granted to the city.  (Land Bank 
            Fund.)

          2)Potential revenues of an unknown amount, but likely greater 
            than the amount of lost annual revenue, resulting from 
            development by the city of the granted trust lands.  (General 
            Fund, Land Bank Fund.)

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author intends the grant of trust lands to the 
            city to allow the lands to be included in the city's shoreline 
            redevelopment plan.

           2)Background.   The Public Trust Doctrine holds that tide and 








                                                                  SB 551
                                                                  Page  2

            submerged lands and the beds of lakes, streams, and other 
            navigable waterways are "public trust lands" held by the state 
            for the benefit of the people of California.  These lands are 
            to promote the public's interest in water or water-dependent 
            activities such as commerce, navigation, fisheries, 
            environmental preservation and recreation.  SLC is the steward 
            of the state's public trust lands. Existing law allows SLC to 
            lease public trust lands, enter into boundary agreements, 
            exchange public trust lands for non-trust lands, and lift the 
            trust from public trust lands. 

            In 2006, the Legislature passed AB 2324 (Canciamilla, Chapter 
            275) so that Pittsburg would control its shoreline for the 
            purposes of waterfront economic development.  In 2009, the 
            city annexed an additional 1,467 acres of public trust lands, 
            lands not part of the 2006 grant.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081