BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 71
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Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
AB 71 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: March 18, 2013
SUBJECT : Salton Sea
SUMMARY : Requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency, in consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea
Authority, to lead Salton Sea restoration efforts.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in
consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea Authority,
to lead Salton Sea restoration efforts, and provides that such
restoration efforts shall include: a) early start habitat
demonstration projects; b) biological investigations; c)
investigations of water quality, sedimentation and inflows; d)
air quality investigations in consultation and coordination
with air quality agencies; e) geotechnical investigations; and
f) local financial assistance grant programs.
2)Provides that the Secretary and the Legislature shall maintain
full authority and responsibility for any state obligation
under the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), and shall
have final approval for any proposed restoration plan.
3)Authorizes the Department of Water Resources (DWR), to the
extent funding is available for this purpose, to undertake
Salton Sea restoration efforts, and requires DWR to disclose
specified information relating to the Salton Sea Species
Conservation Habitat Project.
4)Requires the Secretary, in consultation and coordination with
the Salton Sea Authority, to form a technical advisory group
including the Secretary and representatives of specified state
departments, local agencies, tribal governments, nonprofit
environmental organizations, the U.S. Geological Survey, and
research institutions.
5)Authorizes the Salton Sea Authority to undertake a restoration
funding and feasibility study, in consultation with the
Natural Resources Agency and the technical advisory group, and
requires the study to include specified elements.
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6)Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to enter
into a funding agreement with the Salton Sea Authority for an
amount of no less than $2,000,000 from the Salton Sea
Restoration Fund to fund the study.
7)Requires the Secretary to seek input from the Salton Sea
Authority with regard to specific restoration components,
including design options and and integration of habitat,
public access and air quality objectives, public access and
recreation, economic development opportunities, habitat
locations, vector and predator control, and feasible financial
resources to fund restoration.
8)States legislative findings and declarations regarding the
Salton Sea and its benefits and threats. States the intent of
the Legislature to permanently protect fish and wildlife
dependent on the Sea, restore habitat, mitigate air quality
impacts, protect water quality, maintain the Sea as a vital
link in the Pacific Flyway, preserve local tribal heritage and
cultural values, minimize noxious odors, coordinate with other
agencies with responsibilities under the QSA, and enhance
economic development opportunities.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Established the Salton Sea Restoration Act which states
legislative intent that: a) the state undertake the
restoration of the Salton Sea ecosystem and the permanent
protection of the wildlife dependent on that ecosystem; b)
that restoration be based on the preferred alternative
developed as a result of a restoration study and alternative
selection process; and, c) that the preferred alternative
provide the maximum feasible attainment of specified
environmental objectives, including restoration of long-term
stable aquatic and shoreline habitat to historic levels and
diversity of fish and wildlife dependent on the Salton Sea,
elimination of air quality impacts from restoration projects,
and protection of water quality. Provides that for purposes
of the restoration plan the Salton Sea ecosystem includes the
Salton Sea, agricultural lands surrounding the Sea, and the
tributaries and drains within Imperial and Coachella Valleys
that deliver water to the Sea.
2)Required the Secretary of the Resources Agency (now the
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Natural Resources Agency), in consultation with the Department
of Fish and Game (now DFW), DWR, the Salton Sea Authority, air
quality districts, and the Salton Sea Advisory Committee to
undertake a restoration study to determine a preferred
alternative for restoration of the Salton Sea, to prepare a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) analyzing the
alternatives, and to submit a preferred alternative to the
Legislature on or before December 31, 2006. The Resources
Agency published a Final PEIR and submitted a preferred
alternative, with an estimated cost of nearly $9 billion, to
the Legislature in May 2007. The Legislature has not acted on
the preferred alternative proposed by the Resources Agency in
2007 but has appropriated funding for the Species Conservation
Habitat (SCH) Project, which is similar to the early start
habitat projects described as Phase 1 in the 2007 PEIR.
3)In 2010 the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 51
(Ducheny) which, among other things, established the Salton
Sea Restoration Council to serve as the state agency
responsible for overseeing restoration of the Salton Sea. SB
51 required the Council to evaluate Salton Sea restoration
plans, including the $9 billion 2007 preferred alternative,
and to report to the Governor and the Legislature by June 30,
2013 with a recommended restoration plan. The Governor's 2012
Reorganization Plan, as modified by budget trailer bill SB
1018 (Leno) of 2012, eliminated the Council, effective
December 31, 2012, before the Council ever actually met.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. Authorizes no less than $2,000,000 in
the Salton Sea Restoration Fund to be used to fund a restoration
funding and feasibility study.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill seeks to fill the
void created by elimination of the Salton Sea Restoration
Council, while ensuring that local stakeholders have a voice in
restoration decision making. It does so by providing that the
Natural Resources Agency shall be the lead agency for
restoration efforts at the Sea, but shall do so in consultation
and coordination with the Salton Sea Authority. The Salton Sea
Authority is a local Joint Powers Authority made up of the
following five entities: Riverside County, Imperial County,
Imperial Irrigation District (IID), Coachella Valley Water
District (CVWD), and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians
Tribe. This bill also calls for formation of a technical
advisory group to assist the Natural Resources Agency and help
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guide restoration activities at the Sea. Prior to enactment of
SB 51 (Ducheny), the law provided that the Natural Resources
Agency would serve as lead agency for Salton Sea restoration and
work cooperatively with DWR, the State Air Resources Board, the
State Water Resources Control Board, and DFW. The Natural
Resources Agency was designated to serve as lead agency for
implementation, in partnership with one or more of its
departments, unless and until legislation was enacted
establishing a new governing structure for restoration of the
Sea. SB 51, enacted in 2010, created a new governing structure
with the establishment of the Salton Sea Restoration Council.
However, as noted above, the Council was repealed last year
before it ever actually met.
The Salton Sea, California's largest lake, is located in a
low-lying trough or desert sink in Southern California, much of
which is below sea level. The current sea was formed in 1905
when the Colorado River flooded its banks at a faulty irrigation
diversion site. However, the sea bed has periodically filled
and receded numerous times, from prehistoric times through the
1800s. The present sea is fed primarily by agricultural runoff.
Since it has no natural outlet, it is becoming increasingly
saline and today is considerably saltier than the ocean. In
2003, the Legislature approved a package of implementing
legislation related to the QSA and calling for restoration of
the Salton Sea. The QSA is a collection of agreements between
the IID, Metropolitan Water District, San Diego County Water
Authority, the CVWD, and the state, that included approval of
water transfers from IID, settled a number of claims to the
Colorado River, and provided a transition period for the state
to reduce its consumption of Colorado River water to its 4.4
million acre feet entitlement. Under the QSA, the amount of
water flowing into the Salton Sea will be significantly reduced
after 2017.
The Salton Sea is one of the most important wetland areas in
California for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds, since over
95% of California's historical wetlands have been converted to
other land uses. The Salton Sea supports over 400 species of
birds, and is an internationally significant stopover site for
hundreds of thousands of birds migrating along the Pacific
Flyway. Recently, fishery resources in the sea have declined
significantly due to increasing salinity, evaporation and
declining water quality. It is generally recognized that
without restoration efforts the ecosystem of the Salton Sea will
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collapse over the next decade or two.
Funding for a Restoration Funding and Feasibility Study
This bill also authorizes no less than $2,000,000 from the
Salton Sea Restoration Fund to go to the Salton Sea Authority to
fund a restoration funding and feasibility study, though this
bill does not actually appropriate those funds. Last year's
budget bill, AB 1464, included language directing DFW to provide
up to $2,000,000 to the Salton Sea Authority for such a study.
The Governor used his line-item veto authority to delete that
provision from the budget bill. The Governor in his veto
message stated, "I am also deleting Provision 4 because it would
require up to $2 million to be appropriated from the Salton Sea
Restoration Fund to the Salton Sea Authority to update previous
analyses of restoration planning efforts for the Salton Sea. I
am vetoing the provision because the Salton Sea Restoration Fund
has a reserve of $675,000 for the 2012-13 fiscal year, and using
other departmental funds would result in an unallocated
reduction to other Fish and Game programs. I will be directing
the Department of Fish and Game to continue conversations with
the Salton Sea Authority and environmental stakeholders in an
effort to identify other options for conducting the proposed
feasibility study and enhancing restoration efforts." Last
year's Governor's budget also proposed to appropriate funding
from the Salton Sea Restoration Fund for habitat restoration
work, but that appropriation was deleted from the Budget by the
Legislature.
This year, the Governor's proposed Budget includes an increase
of $12.1 million from Proposition 84 funds dedicated to Salton
Sea Restoration for the restoration of between 800 and 1,200
acres of habitat. The proposal will implement a pilot project to
create habitat through the construction of ponds at sites where
the sea bed is exposed because of evaporation. The proposal also
requests re-appropriation of funds to provide additional funding
for the restoration project, which is estimated to cost
approximately $28 million to complete. The Governor's budget
makes no mention though of funding for the restoration funding
and feasibility study. It should be noted that while the QSA
legislation directed the State Natural Resources Agency to
develop a restoration strategy and funding plan, to date no
funding plan has been proposed.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
Coachella Valley Water District
County of Imperial
County of Riverside
Defenders of Wildlife
Imperial Irrigation District
Indio Chamber of Commerce
Salton Sea Authority
Sierra Club California
Wilson Johnson Commercial Real Estate
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096