BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 71 (Perez, V. M.) - Salton Sea restoration.
Amended: April 18, 2013 Policy Vote: NR&W 8-1
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes (see staff
comments)
Hearing Date: June 24, 2013 Consultant:
Marie Liu
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 71 would require the Natural Resources Agency
(agency) to lead Salton Sea restoration efforts in coordination
with the Salton Sea Authority (authority), require the
establishment of a technical advisory group to advise the agency
on these efforts, and would authorize the authority to lead a
restoration funding and feasibility study.
Fiscal Impact: Up to $600,000 in ongoing costs from the Salton
Sea Restoration Fund (SSRF) (special) for the agency to lead
restoration efforts and to create a technical advisory group
regarding the restoration of the Salton Sea.
Background: Water inflows to the Salton Sea are decreasing for a
variety of reasons, including water transfers. Reduced inflows
to the Salton Sea will cause the sea level to drop, exposing
previously flooded areas and releasing significant amounts of
dust into the air, impairing air quality in the region. Also, as
the Sea shrinks, existing wildlife habitat will be lost. Under
statute and existing legal obligations, the state has financial
responsibility for mitigating the environmental impacts of water
transfers that will reduce inflows into the Sea.
The Salton Sea Restoration Act requires the Secretary of the
agency, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife
(DFW), the Department of Water Resources (DWR), the 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
AB 71 (V. Manuel Perez)
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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.
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.
Proposed Law: This bill would require the agency to lead Salton
Sea restoration efforts in coordination with the authority.
Restoration efforts must include habitat demonstration projects,
biological investigations, water quality investigations, air
quality investigations, geotechnical investigations, and
financial assistance grant programs. The agency and authority
would also be required to form a technical advisory group to
provide guidance in future restoration efforts or economic
development activities.
This bill would require DFW and DWR to release specific
information regarding the SCH Project such as the cost and size
of the final restoration project design and alternatives.
This bill would also authorize the Salton Sea Authority to lead
a restoration funding and feasibility study in consultation with
the agency and technical advisory group.
Staff Comments: The agency has an existing leading role in the
restoration of the Salton Sea through the activities of DFW and
DWR. However, to the extent this bill would require the agency
to lead activities outside the expertise of its departments
(such as air quality investigations) or require additional staff
workload, this bill may result in the need for additional PYs.
AB 71 (V. Manuel Perez)
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Additional workload may also be incurred to organize and staff
the technical advisory group. Staff and operations costs for
these activities are unknown, but could be up to $600,000 per
year from the SSRF. Some of these costs may be offset by work or
funds provided by the affected local agencies.
The 2013-14 budget, as passed by the Legislature, appropriates
$2 million from the SSRF for the restoration funding and
feasibility study that the authority is authorized to conduct
under this bill. The appropriation was intended to cover the
costs of such a study, and therefore this provision does not
have an additional fiscal impact.
This bill would require DFW and DWR to release specific
information regarding the SCH Project. This information already
exists and so this bill would simply require disclosure of this
information at a minor and absorbable cost to DFW and DWR.
This bill creates a mandate by requiring the authority to work
in coordination with the agency. However, this is not a
reimbursable mandate as the Legislature is granting an authority
that was requested by the local agency.