BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 878|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 878
Author: DeSaulnier (D)
Amended: 6/9/11
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-1, 1/10/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio,
Simitian
NOES: Harman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 1/19/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Emmerson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SUBJECT : San Francisco Bay Area regional planning
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Joint Policy Committee of
the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area
Air Quality Management District, the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission, and the
Association of Bay Area Governments, to submit a report to
the Legislature on January 31, 2013 describing, among other
things, policies and strategies for a regional sustainable
communities program, for the development of a regional
economic development strategy, and for public participation
in regional programs.
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ANALYSIS : The San Francisco Bay Area is comprised of
nine counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San
Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. It
has four major regional institutions: the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District (AQMD), the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), and the
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). SB 849
(Torlakson), Chapter 791, Statutes of 2004 established the
Joint Policy Committee (JPC). Each of the four member
agencies has five appointments from their respective
governing boards to the JPC. The appointees must be
representatives of local agencies. The purpose of the JPC
is to coordinate various regional planning documents,
including the regional transportation plan prepared by MTC,
AQMD's ozone attainment plan and clean air plan, ABAG's
housing needs plan, and BCDC's San Francisco Bay Plan.
SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, requires
a regional transportation plan to include a Sustainable
Communities' Strategy (SCS) designed to achieve the targets
for greenhouse gas emission reduction. The successful
implementation of the SCS requires close cooperation
between regional and local agencies. Because of the number
of regional and local agencies in the Bay Area, there is no
coordinating mechanism among the agencies necessary to
achieve the goals of SB 375.
This bill:
1.Requires the JPC to report to Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee and the Assembly Transportation
Committee by January 31, 2013 on the methods and
strategies for the following:
A. Developing and implementing a multiagency set of
policies and guidelines for implementing the Bay
Area's sustainable communities' strategies.
B. Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of
policy setting and managerial coordination among the
regional agencies that constitute the JPC.
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C. Ensuring that the public in the nine county region
has an opportunity to comment on the proposed
policies and standards that the JPC will promulgate
for implementing the sustainable communities
strategies.
D. Recommend organizational reform to implement the
proposed methods and strategies, including creating a
regional organization by legislation, a joint powers
agreement or some other institutional arrangement
specifying the terms of interagency collaboration.
2.Requires the JPC to prepare a work plan for a nine-county
economic development strategy and submit this plan to the
Senate Transportation and Housing Committee and the
Assembly Transportation Committee by January 31, 2013.
The economic development strategies must address:
A. The coordination of the regional sustainable
communities' strategy with local goals for the
recruitment and retention of manufacturing, production
facilities, business services, and other businesses
providing high quality jobs that will provide incomes
sufficient to allow families to live within the Bay
Area.
B. The coordination of infrastructure, including
transportation, for planned employment centers.
C. A common regulatory system for locating and
permitting energy conservation facilities.
D. The preparation of a plan for the adaption to
climate change.
3.With respect to the reports discussed above, requires the
JPC to hold public meetings in each of the nine counties,
use of social media, and form advisory committees that
include the regional business community, labor, and other
interests.
4.Requires the member agencies of the JPC to identify the
outreach efforts that they pursued either individually or
jointly and report to the Senate Transportation and
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Housing Committee and the Assembly Transportation
Committee by January 31, 2013.
Comments
Between 1955 and 1970, State statute created AQMD, BCDC,
and MTC, and the nine Bay Area counties and the many of the
region's cities created ABAG as a joint power authority.
Each agency has a unique responsibility. MTC is
responsible for regional transportation planning, the
programming and funding of major transportation projects,
and through a subsidiary, the Bay Area Toll Authority,
managing and establishing the tolls for the seven
state-owned bay bridges. BCDC regulates the land uses of
the bay shoreline. AQMD implements certain federal and
state air quality laws. ABAG analyzes and forecasts the
region's population, provides advisory services on regional
land use planning to MTC and other agencies, and allocates
shares of the regional housing need to each city and
county.
The region has changed substantially since the last
regional institution was established forty years ago. For
example, the region's population has increased 63 percent
(from 4.6 to 7.5 million people). The region accommodated
this population growth by creating a network of suburbs.
This certainly met the housing needs for the new
population. Some would argue, however, that the growth
resulted in overcrowding of highways, increasingly longer
commutes, and greater pressure on natural resources. In
addition, the structure of the regional economy has
changed. Traditional manufacturing -- auto, government
shipyards (Hunters Point and Mare Island), food processing,
and other similar businesses -- are no longer found in the
region. High-tech industries in electronics,
pharmaceuticals, and medicine and service industries have
replaced these basic industries.
What does SB 878 do ? The underlying assumption of SB 878
is that there is a need to change the regional structure of
governance to address the issues of regional growth and
development better. To this end, this bill places the
burden of addressing the matter of regional governance on
the Bay Area regional agencies that manage important
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components of regional policymaking. The JPC is an obvious
forum because all four agencies are members. This is an
alternative to the Legislature mandating a particular
regional structure.
Since the introduction of SB 878, some steps have been
taken to respond to the studies called for in the bill.
The JPC and the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a
regional business organization, are undertaking a study
called the Bay Area Economic Strategy Framework. Among the
anticipated results of the study are policy recommendations
that address regulation, public-private collaboration, and
regional governance issues related to economic development
and regional competitive challenges. In addition, it is
expected that the report will include strategies for
integrating regional/JPC energy and climate priorities with
regional economic strategies. In addition, SPUR, a private
non-profit regional planning and development organization,
is examining regional economic development issues as well.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2012-13 2013-14
2014-15 Fund
Local mandate Unknown
reimbursable mandate General
costs, likely in the range of
$100-$300 (one-time costs)
JJA:do 1/23/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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