Bill Text: CA AB147 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Economic development projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-07 - From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on RLS. [AB147 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB147-Amended.html
Bill Title: Economic development projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-07 - From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on RLS. [AB147 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB147-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 147 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez ( Principal coauthor: Senator Hueso ) JANUARY 18, 2013 An act add to Article 3 (commencing with Section2950)2951) to Chapter 13 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to the environment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 147, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Environment: Salton Sea: dust mitigation. Existing law establishes the Salton Sea Restoration Fund that is administered by the Director of Fish and Game and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, used for the restoration of the Salton Sea. Existing law implements the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), which was entered into by various parties to budget their portions of California's apportionment of Colorado River water and to provide a framework for conservation measures and water transfers for a period of up to 75 years. Existing law provides for a framework to mitigate the environmental impacts on the Salton Sea caused by the QSA water transfer. This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, upon the execution of an agreement with specified air quality management districts, to develop, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and the Salton Sea Authority, a strategic plan, containing specified elements, to guide the implementation of a project to monitor and mitigate dust pollution created at the Salton Sea as a result of the implementation of the QSA. This bill would establish the Salton Sea Dust Mitigation Project Account in the Salton Sea Restoration Fund for the purposes of receiving moneys to fund the implementation of the project, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the account would be used to mitigate dust pollution arising from the implementation of the QSA. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The Salton Sea is California's largest lake, covering 365 square miles, and it serves as an important stop on the annual Pacific Flyway migratory route, supporting over 400 species of birds and representing over two-thirds of all birds in the continental United States. (2) The Salton Sea is located in the Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley of southern California and rests in close proximity to thousands of residents. (3) In 2003, the Legislature enacted statutes (Chapters 611, 612, and 613 of the Statutes of 2003) to facilitate the execution and implementation of the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) and related agreements, including a transfer of conserved water from the Imperial Irrigation District to the San Diego Water Authority. As part of those statutes, the Legislature declared its intent that the State of California undertake the restoration of the Salton Sea ecosystem and the permanent protection of wildlife dependent on the ecosystem. (4) Implementation of the water transfer from the Imperial Irrigation District to the San Diego Water Authority will reduce agricultural drainage inflow to the Salton Sea, reducing the sea's depth and result in the exposure of currently submerged sea lakebed. (5) The exposure of previously submerged sea lakebed has the potential to significantly increase fugitive dust emissions for particulate matter of 10 or less microns in diameter (PM10) as winds blow across exposed lakebed eroded fine-grained sediments and salts, lofting them into the air. (6) At Owens Lake, a lake drained by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the cost of mitigation fugitive dust emissions arising from the exposed lakebed has reached $1,200,000,000. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to develop a strategic plan for dealing with air pollution resulting from the QSA, including quantifying the extent of dust pollution, cataloging the chemicals likely to be present in the dust pollution, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethan from decades of agricultural runoff draining into the Salton Sea, and identifying additional funding mechanisms to pay for mitigation costs, including, but not limited to, harvesting the renewable energy generating potential of the Salton Sea.SECTION 1.SEC. 2. Article 3 (commencing with Section2950)2951) is added to Chapter 13 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to read: Article 3. Dust Mitigation2950. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The Salton Sea is California's largest lake, covering 365 square miles, and it serves as an important stop on the annual Pacific Flyway migratory route, supporting over 400 species of birds and representing over two-thirds of all birds in the continental United States. (b) The Salton Sea is located in the Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley of southern California, and rests in close proximity to over 400,000 residents. (c) In 2003, the Legislature enacted legislation implementing the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), a water transfer agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego Metropolitan Water District, that represented the largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer in the history of the United States. (d) According to an analysis by the Pacific Institute, by 2018, reduced water inflows to the sea will reduce the sea's depth by five feet, resulting in the exposure of 26.5 square miles of currently submerged lake bed. By 2037, the sea's depth will drop by up to 27 feet, resulting in the exposure of 134 square miles of lake bed. (e) From 1913 to 1924, inclusive, a similar rural-to-urban water transfer occurred when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began exporting water from Owens Lake to Los Angeles. After only 11 years, LADWP had successfully drained all but a fraction of Owens Lake, exposing over 100 square miles of lake bed. (f) For decades, the winds blowing across the exposed lake bed of Owens Lake eroded fine-grained sediments and salts, lofting them into the air, creating the single largest source of fugitive dust in the United States. (g) In 1987, the United States Environmental Protection Agency classified the southern Owens Valley as being in violation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10) and, in 1993, reclassified the region as a "serious non-attainment" area for PM10 standards. (h) After years of continued noncompliance with the PM10 standards, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ordered California to produce a plan for achieving compliance in the Owens Valley. (i) In 1997, the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District, which has oversight of the Owens Valley, exercised its authority under Section 42316 of the Health and Safety Code to require the LADWP to undertake reasonable measures to mitigate the air quality problems caused by the draining of Owens Lake, which was adopted as part of the 1998 State Implementation Plan. (j) Since 1998, LADWP has spent one billion two hundred million dollars ($1,200,000,000) to stem dust pollution in Owens Valley mainly by flooding a 40-square-mile area of exposed lake bed at a cost of 30 billion gallons of water a year. (k) In 2012, the State Air Resources Board upheld an additional order by the Great Basin Air District that required LADWP to flood an additional three square miles of exposed lake bed at an estimated cost of four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000). LADWP has appealed the state's order in federal court. (l) Under the QSA, the state agreed to cover the cost of mitigating the effects of the water transfer on the Salton Sea beyond the first one hundred thirty-three million dollars ($133,000,000) in costs. (m) The Third District Court of Appeal, in In Re Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 758 (QSA decision), ruled that while the state was liable for covering mitigation costs above the first one hundred thirty-three million dollars ($133,000,000), it was entirely up to the Legislature to appropriate the money to pay for those costs pursuant to Article 16 of Section 7 of the California Constitution. (n) Given that LADWP will likely spend up to one billion six hundred million dollars ($1,600,000,000) to mitigate dust pollution resulting from its draining of Owens Lake, and the likelihood that mitigating dust pollution created by the Salton Sea will be substantially more expensive because up to 135 square miles of lake bed will be exposed as compared to only 100 square miles at Owens Lake, and the uncertainty of whether the state can be held liable for covering mitigation costs given the QSA decision, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this part to develop a strategic plan for dealing with air pollution resulting from the QSA, including quantifying the extent of dust pollution, cataloging the chemicals likely to be present in the dust pollution including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethan or "DDT" from decades of agricultural runoff draining in the sea, and identifying additional funding mechanisms to pay for mitigation costs, including harvesting the renewable energy generating potential of the Salton Sea.2951. Unless the context requires otherwise, as used in this part, the following terms mean the following: (a) "Authority" means the Salton Sea Authority, a joint powers authority comprised of the County of Imperial, the County of Riverside, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District, and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe. (b) "County" means either of the following: (1) The County of Riverside. (2) The County of Imperial. (c) "Quantification Settlement Agreement" has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1 of Chapter 617 of the Statutes of 2002. (d) "Salton Sea Dust Mitigation Project" or "project" means a project to monitor and mitigate dust pollution created at the Salton Sea as a result of the Quantification Settlement Agreement. (e) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Natural Resources Agency. (f) "State board" means the State Air Resources Board. (g) "Valley" means either of the following: (1) The Imperial Valley. (2) The Coachella Valley. 2952. (a) Upon the execution of an agreement with the Imperial Air Quality Management District and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and for purposes of providing the necessary funding, the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the state board and the authority, shall develop a strategic plan to guide the implementation of the Salton Sea Dust Mitigation Project. The strategic plan shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following elements: (1) Quantification of current and projected exposed sea lake bed arising from the Quantification Settlement Agreement. (2) Quantification of current and projected exposed sea lake bed arising from factors other than the Quantification Settlement Agreement. (3) Profile of Salton Sea lake bed aerosols, given chemicals that have historically drained into the sea from both agricultural runoff and water coming from Mexico over the New River, including Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethan or "DDT." (4) Prioritization of mitigation measures that can be instituted at the sea to enable both valleys to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter. (5) Identification and prioritization of funding streams that can be accessed or developed for purposes of paying for dust mitigation measures at the sea, including an analysis of how to best monetize the renewable energy generating potential of the Salton Sea. (b) To the extent permitted by law, the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the state board and the authority, may work with appropriate binational, federal, state, local, and nongovernmental organizations on both sides of the California-Mexico border to develop the strategic plan. (c) (1) To further the objectives of this part, the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the state board and the authority, may convene and oversee a technical advisory committee. The advisory committee shall advise the council regarding the necessary studies and activities to carry out the project, and shall serve at the pleasure of the council. The advisory committee shall include representatives from the following: (A) Impacted cities and counties. (B) Relevant local, regional, and state agencies and departments. (C) Nongovernmental organizations. (D) Other stakeholders deemed necessary by the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the state board and the authority. (2) The secretary, in consultation and coordination with the state board and the authority, shall appoint the chair of the committee and may expand the membership and expertise of the committee as it deems necessary. (d) The secretary, in consultation and coordination with the state board and the authority, may enter into an agreement, including an interagency agreement and memorandum of understanding, with public agencies, including the county, to accept, manage, and expend funds for the implementation of this section. (e) This section does not modify existing roles, responsibilities, or liabilities of the State of California, the County of Imperial, the County of Riverside, or any other governmental agency, under the Quantification Settlement Agreement. (f) The Salton Sea Dust Mitigation Project Account is hereby created in the Salton Sea Restoration Fund to receive moneys for activities related to the Salton Sea Dust Mitigation Project from sources identified in paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) and other sources. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the account shall be expended to mitigate dust pollution arising from the implementation of the Quantification Settlement Agreement.