BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 288
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 16, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 288 (Levine) - As Amended: January 9, 2014
SUBJECT : Coastal resources
SUMMARY : Requires the California Coastal Commission
(Commission) to make the notice of any public meeting or hearing
of the Commission available in both English and Spanish.
Authorizes the Commission to make the notice available in any
other language.
EXISTING LAW
1)Creates the Commission, which makes permit decisions regarding
development in the coastal zone, reviews local coastal
programs prepared by local governments and submitted for
Commission approval, and reviews federal activities that
affect the coastal zone.
2)Prior to a Commission hearing at which a permit application
will be heard, requires the Commission's executive director to
provide at least 10 days' notice a) to all affected cities and
counties; b) to all public agencies which have jurisdiction,
by law, with respect to a proposed development; c) to all
persons who have requested notice; and d) to all persons known
by the executive director to have a particular interest in the
application.
3)Requires the Commission hearing notice to contain the
following elements: a) the number assigned to the permit
application; b) a description of the application's proposed
development and location; c) the date, time and place at which
the application will be heard by the Commission; d) the
general procedure of the Commission concerning hearings and
action on applications; e) the direction to persons wishing to
participate in the public hearing that testimony should be
related to the regional and statewide issues addressed by the
Coastal Act; and f) a statement regarding the distribution of
staff reports.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 288
Page 2
COMMENTS : The purpose of this bill is to provide Spanish
speakers with access to information pertaining to Commission
meetings and help ensure greater participation by non-English
speaking communities.
According to the author, "[i]n the interest of environmental
justice, active participation by all affected Californians (not
just English speakers) should be solicited in decision-making on
coastal issues. Therefore, it is important that the Legislature
craft policies and take steps to reach out to the
Spanish-speaking community."
The state's diverse population has already given rise to several
statutory requirements for translating important consumer and
government services documents to popular foreign languages, like
Spanish. One recent example is SB 965 (Wright), Chapter 551,
Statutes of 2012, which this bill is modeled on. SB 965
requires the State Water Resources Control Board and the
California regional water quality control boards (water boards)
to make their agenda notices available in both English and
Spanish. SB 965 also authorizes these water boards to make the
agenda notices available in other languages.
Making public meeting information available in other languages
seems logical given the demographics of the state. Based on the
recent census, cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego have
large numbers of residents who speak a language other than
English at home. In Los Angeles, 2,118,000 residents speak a
language other than English at home, with 1,541,000 who speak
Spanish, and 1,083,000 who "speak English less than 'very
well.'" In San Diego, 452,000 residents speak a language other
than English at home, with 255,000 who speak Spanish, and
190,000 who "speak English less than 'very well.'"
It should be noted that this bill will only require the
translation of a hearing notice and not the staff report that
typically accompanies the notice. In general, an item on the
Commission's hearing notice contains a brief description, which
is usually a sentence or two. This brief description may not
provide enough information to ascertain the details of an issue.
The staff report, which can be hundreds of pages long, is where
most of the details can be found. Therefore, it may make better
public policy to translate both the notice and the staff report
into Spanish. Additionally, there may be issues before the
Commission that affect communities that have a significant
AB 288
Page 3
number of residents who speak a language other than English or
Spanish. This bill will authorize the Commission to make its
notice available in any other language; however, it may make
better public policy to require translation in another language
when the affected community contains a substantial number of
non-English and non-Spanish speaking people.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Green Promotoras of Marin County California
Steve Kinsley, Marin County Supervisor
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092