BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1102 (Allen) - Beach fire rings: coastal development permit.
Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: EQ 4-2, NR&W 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes (see staff
comments)
Hearing Date: August 11, 2014 Consultant:
Marie Liu
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1102 would specify that the removal or
restriction of the use of a beach fire ring is subject to the
Coastal Act and that an application for a coastal development
permit (CDP) regarding the removal or use restriction of a beach
fire ring must include an analysis of alternatives and
mitigation measures that would avoid or minimize the need to
remove or restrict the use of those rings.
Fiscal Impact: Minor state costs, if any, to the General Fund to
the Coastal Commission for the review of a CDP regarding the
removal or restriction of use of beach fire rings.
Background: The Coastal Act requires any person (including a
local agency) wishing to perform a development in the coastal
zone to first obtain a CDP from the Coastal Commission
(commission) or from the local government, if that local
government has a commission-certified local coastal program.
What constitutes a "development" in the coastal zone is broadly
defined under the Coastal Act and includes activities that
change the intensity of use of land or public access to coastal
waters.
Section 30005 of the Public Resources Code states that the
Coastal Act does not limit a local government's ability to
declare, prohibit, and abate nuisances.
The Coastal Act also states that Air Resources Board and the air
pollution control districts are the principal public agencies
responsible for the establishment of ambient air quality and
emission standards and air pollution control programs. The
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Coastal Act does not authorize the commission or any local
government to establish or modify any air quality standard,
emission standard, or air pollution control program that has
been established by the ARB or an air pollution control
district. (PRC �30414)
Proposed Law: This bill would specify that the removal or
restriction of use of a beach fire ring is subject to the
Coastal Act even if the city or county is attempting to remove
or restrict the use under nuisance ordinances.
This bill would specify that the application include an analysis
of alternatives that would avoid or minimize the need for
changing the use of fire rings.
Staff Comments: The Coastal Commission contends that the Coastal
Act currently applies to the removal or restriction of use of a
beach fire ring. Under this assertion, there are no costs to the
bill as this bill would only specify that the CDP include an
analysis of alternatives, which would minimally change the staff
time necessary to review the application, if at all. Other costs
associated with the submission of the permit would be existing
and would occur irrespective of this bill.
However, if it is found that the Coastal Act does not currently
require a CDP for the removal or restriction of use of a beach
fire ring, than the permit obligation of this bill is new, and
the commission's costs to consider such a permit would be
attributable to this bill. Staff believes that this bill will
only likely trigger one permit. Changes to fire ring use are
being currently being sought in Southern California as a result
of South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD's) Rule
444, which imposes various conditions on beach burning. No other
air district has taken actions indicating interest in enacting a
similar rule. Within in SCAQMD's jurisdiction, there are several
municipalities who have fire rings, but all of them have
approved local coastal development plans except the City of
Newport Beach. Thus, the only permit that would come to the
commission, and therefore have state costs to review, would be a
permit from Newport Beach. Much of the staff work necessary to
review an application from Newport Beach has already been
completed as a result of a local debate on this issue that has
spanned over two years and included a CDP application that was
later withdrawn. As such, the Coastal Commission estimates that
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the staff time to review a new CDP application for the removal
or use restriction of a beach fire ring from Newport Beach would
be between $25,000 and $35,000 in one-time costs. Again, these
costs are only attributable to this bill under the assumption
that the Coastal Act does not currently require a CDP for fire
rings.
Staff notes that Newport Beach applied for a CDP application in
late July for its pilot program which prohibits the burning of
wood in the fire rings and instead requires the use of charcoal.
If this application is approved before this bill's effective
date (January 1, 2015), should it be signed into law, there will
be no additional state costs associated with the bill.
This bill is tagged as a state mandated local-program; however,
staff believes that there is no mandate because there is nothing
in this bill that would require a local agency to remove or
restrict the use of a fire ring. Thus, if a local agency incurs
costs with submitting a CDP application regarding fire rings, it
is a result of a discretionary action. In the case of Newport
Beach and SCAQMD, Newport Beach is being required to modify the
use of the fire rings, but this requirement is the result of the
SCAQMD's action, not this bill. Therefore, staff believes that
there are no state mandate costs associated with this bill.