BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1415
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Date of Hearing: June 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
SB 1415 (Hill) - As Amended: April 29, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Bay Area Air Quality Management District: advisory
council.
SUMMARY : Revises the membership of the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District's advisory council. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Sunsets the existing membership of the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District's (District) advisory council on July 1,
2015, and repeals the section of law that outlines the
membership of the District's advisory council on January 1,
2016.
2)Adds a new section to revise the membership of the District's
advisory council, to take effect July 1, 2015, that makes the
following changes:
a) Reduces the number of members of the advisory council
from 20 to seven;
b) Repeals the existing member categories, and instead,
requires each member to be skilled and experienced in air
pollution, climate change, or health impacts of air
pollution; and,
c) Requires the members to be selected to include a
diversity of perspectives, experience, and backgrounds.
3)Requires the term appointments of the members of the
District's advisory council as it exists on June 30, 2015, to
terminate as of July 1, 2015, in spite of existing law that
requires each council member to hold office for a term of two
years and until the appointment and qualification of his
successor.
4)Provides that if the Commission on State Mandates determines
that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
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reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those
costs shall be made pursuant to existing law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the District within the boundaries of the Counties
of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San
Mateo, and Santa Clara, and those portions of the Counties of
Solano and Sonoma within the boundaries of the Bay Area Air
Pollution Control District as it existed on January 1, 1976.
2)Creates the advisory council to advise and consult with the
District's board, and the District's air pollution control
officer.
3)Provides that the advisory council shall be appointed by the
District's board, and shall consist of the chairman of the
District's board, who shall serve as an ex officio member, and
20 members who preferably are skilled and experienced in the
field of air pollution, including at least three
representatives of public health agencies, at least four
representatives of private organizations active in
conservation or protection of the environment within the bay
district, and at least one representative of colleges or
universities in the state and at least one representative of
each of the following groups within the bay district:
regional park district, park and recreation commissions or
equivalent agencies of any city, public mass transportation
system, agriculture, industry, community planning,
transportation, registered professional engineers, general
contractors, architects, and organized labor.
4)Specifies, to the extent that suitable persons cannot be found
for each of the specified categories, that advisory council
members may be appointed from the general public.
5)Requires each advisory council member to hold office for a
term of two years and until the appointment and qualification
of his successor.
6)Allows any member of the advisory council to be removed at any
time by the majority vote of the bay district board.
7)Requires any vacancy on the advisory council to be filled by
appointment in the same manner as the vacating member was
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appointed, except that the member appointed to fill the
vacancy shall only serve the unexpired term of the vacating
member.
8)Specifies that advisory council members shall serve without
compensation, but may be allowed actual expenses incurred in
the discharge of their duties.
9)Requires the advisory council to select a chairman and vice
chairman and such other officers as it deems necessary.
10)Requires the advisory council to meet as frequently as the
District's board or the council deem necessary, but not less
than four times a year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill revises the membership of the
District's advisory council by sunsetting the existing
membership as of July 1, 2015, and replacing the membership in
that same section of statute. Current membership of the
council includes the chairman of the District's board as an ex
officio member, and then 20 members "who preferably are
skilled and experienced in the field of air pollution,
including at least three representatives of public health
agencies, at least four representatives of private
organizations active in conservation or protection of the
environment with the District, and at least one representative
of colleges or universities in the state and at least one
representative of each of the following groups within the
District: regional park district, park and recreation
commissions or equivalent agencies of any city, public mass
transportation system, agriculture, industry, community
planning, transportation, registered professional engineers,
general contractors, architects, and organized labor."
The bill's provisions, operative on July 1, 2015, revise the
membership of the advisory council to be the chair of the
District board, as an ex officio member, and then seven
members who shall be skilled and experienced in the fields of
air pollution, climate change, or the health impacts of air
pollution. The bill specifies that members shall be selected
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to include a diversity of perspectives, expertise, and
backgrounds.
This bill is author-sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "In 1955, the
Legislature established the first regional air pollution
control agency in the Bay Area, and tasked it with addressing
air pollution caused by stationary sources such as large
industrial sources and open burning at dumps. The Legislature
also established an advisory council to the District, and that
language has been virtually unchanged since 1955. The
existing statute reads that the advisory council members
"preferably are skilled and experienced in the field of air
pollution." Today, the [District] is required by state and
federal law to address a far more diverse set of issues than
it handled in 1955. The agency works to reduce emissions from
a much wider range of sources, addresses the public health
impacts of air pollution, and works to address climate change
issues under state and federal requirements. The council's
experience should also match the evolving and complex needs of
the Board."
3)Arguments in support . According to the District, they want to
receive "the best advice possible on the technically
challenging issues our agency is required to address. This
benefits not only our Board of Directors, but ultimately the
public we are charged to serve. These changes will improve
both the Advisory Council and help us accomplish our mission
of providing a healthy breathing environment to Bay Area
residents."
4)Arguments in opposition . None on file.
5)Double-referral . This bill was heard by the Natural Resources
Committee on June 16, 2014, where it passed with a 9-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Opposition
SB 1415
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958