BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 833
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Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 833 (Vargas) - As Amended: April 25, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits the construction and operation of Gregory
Canyon Landfill, in San Diego County. Specifically, this bill
prohibits a person from constructing or operating a solid waste
landfill in the County of San Diego that is both:
1)Partially or wholly located within 1,000 feet of the San Luis
Rey River or an aquifer connected to the river.
2)On or within 1,000 feet of a site that is considered sacred or
of spiritual or cultural importance to a listed California
Native American tribe.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Negligible state costs, if any.
2)Onetime loss of $1 million in revenue to the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans).
According to Caltrans, project developers committed $1 million
to fund improvements to State Route 76 to address preexisting
safety issues on that roadway. According to Caltrans, and
consistent with the findings of the final environmental impact
report for the project, the safety improvements will address a
particularly dangerous section of the exiting road, the
perilousness of which would not be affected by the development
of the landfill or its operation. In other words, State Route
76 will need at least $1 million in safety improvement whether
or not the landfill is in operation, improvements Caltrans
will undertake as its budget permits. Therefore, cancellation
SB 833
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of the Gregory Canyon Landfill project will result in no
savings to Caltrans; but it will result in a $1 million loss
to the department.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . Proponents contend the site of the proposed
Gregory Canyon Landfill is inappropriate for such a facility
because (a) it abuts the San Luis Rey River and sits atop an
aquifer used by the City of Oceanside for drinking water and
(b) it is adjacent to Gregory Mountain, which proponents
describe as a significant sacred site for the area's Native
American tribes. Proponents argue it is appropriate for the
state to dictate this local land use decision because project
developers bypassed local elected officials by placing the
issue directly before San Diego voters.
2)Background . The Gregory Canyon Landfill is the only project
that meets the criteria specified by this bill. The project
has been disputed for decades.
County officials in the 1980s and 1990s rejected the
project.
In 1994, project proponents sponsored county Proposition
C, which permitted the landfill provided it receive all
necessary permitting. The measure received support from
68% of voters. The measure also prevented locally elected
officials from deciding whether the project site is
appropriate for a landfill.
In 2000, Assembly Member Cardoza introduced AB 2752,
which would have prohibited the California Integrated Waste
Management Board from concurring in a permit for a proposed
solid waste landfill for which a petition has been received
by the board from an Indian tribe. The bill was vetoed by
Governor Davis, who called the issue one of local, and
local voter, control over land use decisions.
Opponents have filed numerous lawsuits challenging the
permitting process, including the adequacy of the
assessment of the project's effect on water quality.
In 2004, opponents of the landfill sponsored county
Proposition B, which sought to repeal 1994's Proposition C.
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The measure was rejected by 64% of voters.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisor has never voted to
approve Gregory Canyon Landfill.
1)Support. This bill is supported by opponents of the Gregory
Canyon Landfill, including the Natural Resources Defense
Council, the City of Oceanside and numerous bands of
California Native American tribes, who contend the project
will endanger drinking water supplies and the San Luis Rey
River and desecrate a site sacred to many of the area's
tribes. Bill proponents also describe the process by which
the landfill has been permitted as inappropriately
sidestepping local elected officials.
2)Opposition. This bill is opposed by project supporters,
including the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (though at
least one board member supports the bill and opposes the
project), the California State Association of Counties, the
Regional Council of Rural Counties and numerous industry
groups, who argue the bill inappropriately supersedes local
control of land use decision making, will prevent the creation
of jobs needed to develop, construct and operate the landfill,
and will cost the state money as solid waste is shipped over
greater distances, with associated harm to roadways, and
possibly out of state, where the state will not collect
tipping fees.
Bill opponents note the landfill will only be developed if it
receives all necessary environmental and operating permits.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081