Amended in Assembly April 18, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 18, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 71

Introduced by Assembly Members V. Manuel Pérez and Hueso

January 10, 2013

An act to add Article 2 (commencing with Section 2940) to Chapter 13 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to the Salton Sea.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 71, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Salton Sea restoration.

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(1) Existing

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begin insert Existing end insert law, until January 1, 2013, established the Salton Sea Restoration Council as a state agency in the Natural Resources Agency to oversee the restoration of the Salton Sea.

This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea Authority, to lead Salton Sea restoration efforts. This bill would require the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the authority, to form a technical advisory group, as prescribed, to provide guidance about evaluating, developing, or proposing future restoration or economic development activities. begin insert This bill would authorize the authority to lead a restoration funding and feasibility study, in consultation with the agency and the technical advisory group, as prescribed. end insert This bill would also require the secretary to seek input from the authority with regard to specified components of restoration of the Salton Sea. By imposing duties on a local joint powers authority, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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(2) Existing law establishes the Salton Sea Restoration Fund and requires the fund to be administered by the Director of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law requires the money deposited in the fund to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for various purposes relating to the restoration of the Salton Sea.

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This bill would authorize the authority to lead a restoration funding and feasibility study, in consultation with the agency and the technical advisory group, as prescribed. If the authority undertakes the study, this bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to enter into a funding agreement for an amount of no less than $2,000,000 from the Salton Sea Restoration Fund for the purposes of this study.

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(3) The

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begin insert The end insert California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Article 2 (commencing with Section 2940) is
added to Chapter 13 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to
read:

 

Article 2.  Salton Sea Restoration

 

2940.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The Salton Sea is California’s largest inland water body with
beneficial uses that include fisheries and wildlife habitat and
preservation of endangered species, and is a repository for
agricultural drainage.

(b) The Salton Sea ecosystem is a critical link on the
international Pacific Flyway and supports over 400 species of
birds.

(c) The Salton Sea is threatened by increasing salinity and
reduced inflows. These changes increasingly threaten the
unparalleled wildlife resources at the sea, as well as air quality in
the region.

(d) In cooperation with local governments, nonprofit
organizations, private businesses, and the public, the Salton Sea
Authority can help protect wildlife habitats and endangered species,
improve water and air quality, and enhance recreational
opportunities in the region.

(e) In restoring the Salton Sea, it is the intent of the Legislature
to do all of the following:

(1) Permanently protect fish and wildlife that are dependent on
the Salton Sea ecosystem.

(2) Restore the long-term stable aquatic and shoreline habitat
for fish and wildlife that depend on the Salton Sea.

(3) Mitigate air quality impacts from restoration projects using
the best available technology or best available control measures,
as determined by the South Coast Air Quality Management District
and the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District.

(4) Protect water quality.

(5) Maintain the Salton Sea as a vital link along the Pacific
Flyway.

(6) Preserve local tribal heritage and cultural values associated
with the Salton Sea.

(7) Minimize noxious odors and other water and air quality
problems.

(8) Coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies that are
responsible for air quality, endangered species, and other
environmental mitigation implementation requirements of the
Quantification Settlement Agreement.

(9) Enhance economic development opportunities that will
provide sustainable financial improvements benefiting the local
environment and the economic quality of life for communities
around the Salton Sea.

2941.  

Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions
set forth in this section govern the construction of this article.

(a) “Agency” means the Natural Resources Agency.

(b) “Habitat mosaics” means two or more proximate habitat
types, such as saltwater shoreline abutting riverine deltas and
irrigated farmland.

(c) “Quantification Settlement Agreement” has the same
meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1 of Chapter 617
of the Statutes of 2002.

(d) “Salton Sea Authority” or “authority” means the joint powers
authority comprised of the County of Imperial, the County of
Riverside, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley
Water District, and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian
Tribe.

(e) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency.

(f) “Technical advisory group” means the technical advisory
group formed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2942.

(g) “Vector management” means services that eliminate or
reduce the risk of illness caused by any organism transporting a
pathogen.

2942.  

(a) (1) The secretary, in consultation and coordination
with the authority, shall lead the Salton Sea restoration efforts that
shall include all of the following:

(A) Early start habitat demonstration projects.

(B) Biological investigations relating to the restoration of the
Salton Sea.

(C) Investigations of water quality, sedimentation, and inflows
relating to the restoration of the Salton Sea.

(D) Air quality investigations, in consultation and coordination
with local and regional air quality agencies, relating to the
restoration of the Salton Sea.

(E) Geotechnical investigations relating to the restoration of the
Salton Sea.

(F) Financial assistance grant programs to support restoration
activities of local stakeholders.

(2) The secretary and the Legislature shall maintain full authority
and responsibility for any state obligation under the Quantification
Settlement Agreement. The secretary and the Legislature shall
have final approval for any proposed restoration plan.

(3) (A) To the extent that funding is appropriated to the
department for Salton Sea restoration activities, the Department
of Water Resources, in coordination and under agreement with the
department, may undertake restoration efforts identified in this
subdivision.

(B) The department and the Department of Water Resources
shall do all of the following for the Salton Sea Species
Conservation Habitat Project:

(i) Immediately make available relevant information relating to
the factors that influence the cost and size of the alternatives
discussed in the environmental impact report or environmental
impact statement for the species habitat conservation program.

(ii) Release all available detail on a final project design
immediately, or upon final determination of a least environmentally
damaging preferred alternative by the United States Army Corps
of Engineers. Details of a final project design shall include location,
configuration, size, and cost.

(iii) Immediately make available project evaluation protocols
that include the following principles of adaptive management:

(I) Goals and objectives of the project.

(II) The project design and an operations plan.

(III) A monitoring plan that will include metrics that identify
benefits to the species.

(IV) A performance evaluation based on species population
identified through monitoring.

(V) A decisionmaking framework to evaluate project
performance and guide operations and management changes.

(b) (1) The secretary, in consultation and coordination with the
authority, shall form a technical advisory group composed pursuant
to paragraph (2) to provide guidance to the secretary and the
authority in evaluating, developing, or proposing future restoration
of or economic development activities restoring the, Salton Sea.

(2) The technical advisory group shall be composed as follows:

(A) The secretary, or his or her designee.

(B) The secretary may include a representative from any of the
following:

(i) The department.

(ii) The Department of Water Resources.

(iii) The State Air Resources Board.

(iv) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission.

(C) The secretary shall invite the following entities to
participate:

(i) Local government agencies and tribal governments with
geographic, economic, environmental health, or cultural interest
in the Salton Sea.

(ii) Nongovernmental organizations with environmental interests
relating to the Salton Sea.

(iii) The United States Geological Survey Salton Sea Science
Office.

(iv) Research institutions focused on research and development
projects in the Salton Sea region.

(c) (1) The authority may lead a restoration funding and
feasibility study, in consultation with the agency and the technical
advisory group, to do the following:

(A) Investigate access and utility agreements that may contribute
to the future funding of restoration activities at the Salton Sea.

(B) Analyze all feasible funding sources for restoration program
components and activities.

(C) Analyze economic development opportunities, including,
but not limited to, renewable energy, biofuels, mineral
development, and algae production for the purposes of identifying
new revenue sources for the Salton Sea restoration efforts.

(D) Identify state procurement and royalty sharing opportunities.

(E) Review existing long-term plans for restoration of the Salton
Sea and recommend to the technical advisory group and the
secretary changes to existing restoration plans. In any review
pursuant to this subparagraph, the authority shall consider the
impacts of the restoration plan on air quality, fish and wildlife
habitat, water quality, and the technical and financial feasibility
of the restoration plan and shall consider the impacts on other
agencies responsible for air quality, endangered species, and other
environmental mitigation requirements for implementation of the
Quantification Settlement Agreement.

(2) No evaluation, study, review, or other activity pursuant to
this article shall delay the planning and implementation of ongoing
and planned mitigation projects, including, but not limited to, the
Salton Sea Species Conservation Habitat Project or other mitigation
measures pursuant to existing state and federal programs and
agreements, including, but not limited to, those programs and
agreements undertaken pursuant to the Quantification Settlement
Agreement.

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(3) (A) If the authority undertakes a study pursuant to paragraph
(1), the department shall enter into a funding agreement with the
authority for an amount of no less than two million dollars
($2,000,000) from the Salton Sea Restoration Fund for the purposes
of producing the restoration funding and feasibility review study.
Provided that funding is available to the authority on or before
July 1, 2014, the authority shall complete the study undertaken
pursuant to this subdivision and present the study to the Governor
and the Legislature on or before June 30, 2015.

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(B) A report required to be submitted pursuant to this paragraph
shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.

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2943.  

For the purposes of considering local, publicly derived
input concerning habitat objectives and actions, types and levels
of public access, and integration of air quality management and
habitat restoration, the secretary shall seek input from the authority
with regard to the following components of restoration of the Salton
Sea:

(a) Design opportunities and constraints, including the
integration of the habitat, public access, and air quality
management objectives.

(b) Public access and recreational components.

(c) Opportunities for economic development.

(d) Habitat mosaics and location.

(e) Vector management and predator control.

(f) Feasible financial resources to fund all recommended
restoration program components.

2945.  

(a) Nothing in this article interferes with or prevents the
exercise of authority by a public agency to carry out its programs,
projects, or responsibilities.

(b) Nothing in this article affects requirements imposed under
any other provision of law.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district are the result of a program for which legislative authority
was requested by that local agency or school district, within the
meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code and Section
6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.