BILL ANALYSIS �
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 288 HEARING DATE: June 10, 2014
AUTHOR: Levine URGENCY: No
VERSION: January 9, 2014 CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: California Coastal Commission: meeting notices.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1. The major purpose of the California Coastal Commission
(CCC)is to make permit decisions regarding development in the
coastal zone. To that end, it reviews local coastal programs
prepared by local governments and submitted for CCC approval,
and reviews federal activities that affect the coastal zone.
2. Prior to a CCC hearing at which a permit application will be
heard, existing law 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 the proposed project; 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. Hearing notices of the CCC are required to contain: 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 CCC and other provisions.
4. The State Water Resources Control Board is required to post
its notices in Spanish and may post its notices in other
languages.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill requires the CCC to make the notice of any public
meeting or hearing available in both English and Spanish. It
further authorizes but does not require the CCC to make the
notice available in any other language.
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, because of the importance of the
California coast, "it is important that the Legislature craft
policies and take steps to reach out to the Spanish-speaking
community." He notes that Spanish is the second most used
language in the U.S. Many cities in California have very large
Spanish-speaking communities. The Spanish speaking population of
the state is estimated to be 10 million, according the support
letter from Supervisor Steve Kinsey.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
The fiscal analysis of this bill from the Assembly indicates the
costs to the CCC are minor and absorbable.
Staff's first comment may be more appropriate for the Senate
Appropriations Committee:
1. The bill is limited to translations of agendas. However,
agendas often contain little or no substantive information, most
of which is contained in staff reports that describe the
background and recommended disposition of each agenda item. A
non-English speaker is not going to learn much about his or her
item of interest from a translated agenda.
Obviously, the costs of translating staff reports would be much
higher. If the bill were also to cover staff reports, the costs
could be in the neighborhood of $400,000 annually, based on a
rough estimate from the CCC.
2. Assuming this bill becomes law, the translation requirement
would apply only to the state water board and the CCC. At some
point, the translation requirement ideally should be uniformly
applied so that new legislation imposing the translation
requirement on a patchwork, random basis to more and more state
agencies does not occur. This is a matter that should be
considered for all agencies by the administration.
SUPPORT
Steve Kinsey, Marin County Board of Supervisors and Coastal
Commission Member
2
Promotoras Verdes (Green Promoters)
OPPOSITION
None Received
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