BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1495
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1495 (Wolk)
As Amended August 14, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :35-0
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 10-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Huffman, Bill Berryhill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Blumenfield, Campos, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Fong, Gatto, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, Hueso, | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| |Lara, Yamada | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Specifies that certain Port of Sacramento and the
Port of Stockton harbor-related leases and routine dredging
activities are not subject to Delta Stewardship Council (DSC)
review for consistency with the long-term management plan for
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta Plan).
Specifically, this bill exempts the Ports of Sacramento and
Stockton from DSC Delta Plan consistency review with respect to:
1)Leases, with certain exceptions, where the lease has already
undergone California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review,
if applicable, and are consistent with existing local zoning
and permissible uses.
2)Dredging to maintain the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel at a
depth of 40 feet in the sediment trap at the confluence of the
San Joaquin River, between river mile 39.3 to river mile 40.2,
and to maintain the remaining Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel
at a depth of 35 feet from river mile 35 to river mile 43.
3)Dredging to maintain the Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel at
a depth of 30 feet plus two feet of overdredge from river mile
SB 1495
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0.0 to river mile 30, and at a depth of 35 feet from river
mile 35 to river mile 43.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Adopts coequal goals for the Delta of providing a more
reliable water supply for California and protecting,
restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem and requires the
DSC adopt and implement a Delta Plan that furthers the coequal
goals.
2)Defines covered actions as those that will occur, in whole or
in part, within the Delta or Suisun Marsh and are:
a) Carried out, approved, or funded by the state or a local
public agency;
b) Covered by one or more provisions of the Delta Plan;
and,
c) Will have a significant impact on achievement of one or
both of the coequal goals or the implementation of
government-sponsored Delta flood control programs.
3)Sets forth specific exemptions from being considered a covered
action including, but not limited to, state agency regulatory
actions, routine State Water Project and federal Central
Valley Project maintenance, regional transportation plans, and
some existing approved activities in the Delta secondary zone.
4)Requires, once the Delta Plan is adopted, that a state or
local agency that proposes to undertake a covered action
prepare a written finding as to whether the action is
consistent with the Delta Plan. Allows any party to appeal
that finding of consistency to the DSC for a determination.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009
(Delta Reform Act) creates the DSC and sets forth the
requirements for the Delta Plan. On May 14, 2012, the DSC staff
released the sixth and final staff draft of the Delta Plan
(Final Draft). Chapter 2 of the Final Draft, entitled The Delta
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Plan, proposes a number of administrative exemptions that are
not considered covered actions based on a finding by the DSC
that they will not have a significant impact on the achievement
of the coequal goals. The language of this bill is identical to
two of those administrative exemptions. However, the DSC has
not yet adopted the Delta Plan and could conceivably change it.
Also, once the Delta Plan is adopted, it is anticipated the DSC
could add or remove exemptions in the future while this bill
would make the exemptions statutory. So, while this bill would
provide greater economic and legal certainty to the Ports of
Sacramento and Stockton, it would limit DSC's authority on the
narrow issue of their harbor leases and routine dredging.
According to the author, the Sacramento and Stockton ports
provide important hubs for goods movement within our region but
the Delta Plan covered actions review process could add a new
level of review and uncertainty for some port activities within
the Delta. The author adds that this bill would narrowly exempt
lease approvals and routine dredging of ship channels from the
Delta Plan definition of covered actions in order to ensure that
these time-sensitive port activities proceed without unnecessary
delays.
This bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee as a
consent item once it was amended to clarify that the exemptions
only apply to the Ports of Sacramento and Stockton and to
technically define what levels of dredging for those Ports would
be routine.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0004930