BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 71
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 71 (V. Manuel Pérez)
As Amended March 18, 2013
Majority vote
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 15-0 APPROPRIATIONS
17-0
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|Ayes:|Rendon, Bigelow, Allen, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Blumenfield, Bocanegra, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Dahle, Fong, Frazier, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Beth Gaines, Gatto, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Gomez, Gray, Patterson, | |Hall, Holden, Linder, |
| |Yamada, Bloom | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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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
(Secretary), in consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea
Authority (SSA), 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
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SSA, to form a technical advisory group including the Secretary
and representatives of specified state departments, local
agencies, tribal governments, nonprofit environmental
organizations, the United States Geological Survey, and research
institutions.
5)Authorizes the SSA 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.
6)Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to enter into a
funding agreement with the SSA for an amount of no less than $2
million from the Salton Sea Restoration Fund to fund the study.
7)Requires the Secretary to seek input from the SSA with regard to
specific restoration components, including design options 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 (Sea) and its benefits and threats. States legislative intent
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)Establishes 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,
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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)Requires the Secretary of the Resources Agency (now the Natural
Resources Agency), in consultation with the Department of Fish and
Game (now DFW), DWR, the SSA, 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.
3)Establishes the Salton Sea Restoration Council (Council) to serve
as the state agency responsible for overseeing restoration of the
Salton Sea. In 2010 the Legislature passed and the Governor
signed SB 51 (Ducheny), Chapter 303, Statutes of 2010, which,
among other things, established the Council. SB 51 required the
Council to evaluate Salton Sea restoration plans 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), Chapter
39, Statutes of 2012, eliminated the Council, effective December
31, 2012, before the Council ever actually met.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
minor, absorbable costs to the Natural Resources Agency for
overseeing the restoration effort. This bill also authorizes no
less than $2 million 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 SSA. The
SSA 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
AB 71
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for formation of a technical advisory group to assist the Natural
Resources Agency and help 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.
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 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 collapse over the next decade or two.
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This bill authorizes no less than $2 million from the Salton Sea
Restoration Fund to go to the SSA 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 similar
language directing DFW to provide up to $2 million to the SSA 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."
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096 FN: 0000160