BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1278
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1278 (Wolk) - As Amended: June 12, 2012
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:9-0
Water, Parks and Wildlife 12-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
issue flood maps to be used by local governments to update their
general plans and determine whether areas have met urban levels
of flood protection before they can be developed. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires DWR to issue maps indicating the areas protected by
the State Plan of Flood Control by July 2, 2013, and specifies
that within 24 months of this deadline (i.e. July 2, 2015)
local governments will need to update their general plans to
reflect the Flood Plan.
2)Offers financial assistance, to the extent funds are
available, to assist local governments in updating their
general plans to reflect the soon to be released Central
Valley Flood Protection Plan (Flood Plan).
3)Extends existing deadlines for the general plan updates.
4)Requires a local government to determine, based on substantial
evidence, that property in an undetermined risk area has met
the urban level of flood protection before it may be
developed.
FISCAL EFFECT
1) Costs in the millions of dollars to the Department of Water
Resources to develop the detailed maps required in this bill
(GF, special fund, bond funds).
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2) Unknown cost pressures, likely in the millions of dollars,
beginning in 2013-14 through 2015-16, for financial
assistance to cities and counties to update their General
Plans pursuant to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, cities and counties within
the Central Valley currently do not have access to reliable
information on flood risks to their communities. The author
argues SB 1278 will help ensure these communities are able to
work with the state to develop the flood risk information
necessary to make informed and responsible land use decisions.
2)Support . The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
writes that this bill provides cities and counties within the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley with the necessary tools so that
they may effectively implement the Central Valley Flood
Protection Plan, and will allow for a more comprehensive
execution of the plan.
3)Concerns . In their joint support if amended letter, the
California State Association of Counties (CSAC), Regional
Council of Rural Counties (RCRC), League of California Cities
(League) and the California Chapter of the American Planning
Association (APA) note that significant implementation
challenges for cities and counties within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley have been identified since the enactment of SB
5. They are concerned that the law could apply to development
other than new construction and the requirements for 200-year
protection would discourage, if not prohibit, infill
development.
4)Background . The State Plan of Flood Control is a document of
existing state and federal flood control works, protection
systems, lands, programs, plans, conditions, modes of
operations, and maintenance of the Sacramento River Flood
Control Project, Sacramento River, and San Joaquin River
watersheds.
SB 5 (Machado), Chapter 364, Statutes of 2007, required DWR
and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board to prepare and
adopt a Central Valley Flood Protection Plan by 2012, and
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established certain flood protection requirements for certain
local land-use decisions consistent with the Central Valley
Protection Plan. In June, the Central Valley Flood Protection
Board adopted the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, an
integrated flood management plan for the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Flood Management System
Under SB 5, each city and county within the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Valley is required to amend its general plan within
two years of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board's
adopting the Flood Plan. A city or county within the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley must amend its zoning ordinance
to make it consistent with its general plan within 36 months
of the Board's adopting the Flood Plan. Once a city or county
completes the update to its general plan and amendment to the
zoning ordinance, it is prohibited from entering into a
development agreement for property located within a flood
hazard zone, unless a city or county makes specific findings.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081