Bill Text: CA AB2658 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: California Coastal Commission: ex parte communications.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2658 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2658-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2658 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Maienschein
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Sections 30322, 30324, and
Section 30325 of of, and to add
Section 30324.1 to, the Public Resources Code,
relating to the California Coastal Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2658, as amended, Maienschein. California Coastal Commission:
ex parte communications: meetings.
communications.
The California Coastal Act of 1976, for purposes of the act,
defines an "ex parte communication" as any oral or written
communication between a member of the California Coastal Commission
and an interested person about a matter within the commission's
jurisdiction, which does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or
other official proceeding, or on the official record of the
proceeding on the matter, but excludes from that definition any
communication between a staff member acting in his or her official
capacity and any commission member or interested person. The act
prohibits a member of the commission and an interested person from
conducting an ex parte communication, unless the member fully
discloses and makes public the ex parte communication, as specified.
This bill would also make provisions prohibiting ex parte
communications applicable to communications between a commission
staff member and an interested party.
This bill would require commission staff members to maintain
records and disclose any communication with an interested person
pertaining to a matter before the commission by including specified
information about the communication in staff reports provided to
commission members.
Existing law authorizes any person to testify at a hearing or
other official proceeding of the commission and to submit written
comments for the record on a matter before the commission.
This bill would require transcripts video
or audio recordings of those proceedings to be
promptly posted on the commission's Internet Web site
to allow for public comment, as specified.
within 72 hours after the proceeding and would require
written and electronic communications submitted to the commission as
part of those proceedings to be posted on the commission's Internet
Web site within 7 days of receipt .
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. Section 30322 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
30322. (a) For purposes of this article, except as provided in
subdivision (b), an "ex parte communication" is any oral or written
communication between a member of the commission or a member of the
commission staff and an interested person, about a matter within the
commission's jurisdiction, which does not occur in a public hearing,
workshop, or other official proceeding, or on the official record of
the proceeding on the matter.
(b) The following communications are not ex parte communications:
(1) Any communication between a staff member acting in his or her
official capacity and any commission member.
(2) Any communication limited entirely to procedural issues,
including, but not limited to, the hearing schedule, location,
format, or filing date.
(3) Any communication which takes place on the record during an
official proceeding of a state, regional, or local agency that
involves a member of the commission who also serves as an official of
that agency.
(4) Any communication between a member of the commission, with
regard to any action of another state agency or of a regional or
local agency of which the member is an official, and any other
official or employee of that agency, including any person who is
acting as an attorney for the agency.
(5) Any communication between a nonvoting commission member and a
staff member of a state agency where both the commission member and
the staff member are acting in an official capacity.
(6) Any communication to a nonvoting commission member relating to
an action pending before the commission, where the nonvoting
commission member does not participate in that action, either through
written or verbal communication, on or off the record, with other
members of the commission.
SEC. 2. Section 30324 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
30324. (a) No commission member or commission staff member, nor
any interested person, shall conduct an ex parte communication unless
the commission member or commission staff member fully discloses and
makes public the ex parte communication by providing a full report
of the communication to the executive director within seven days
after the communication or, if the communication occurs within seven
days of the next commission hearing, to the commission on the record
of the proceeding at that hearing.
(b) (1) The commission shall adopt standard disclosure forms for
reporting ex parte communications which shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following information:
(A) The date, time, and location of the communication.
(B) (i) The identity of the person or persons initiating and the
person or persons receiving the communication.
(ii) The identity of the person on whose behalf the communication
was made.
(iii) The identity of all persons present during the
communication.
(C) A complete, comprehensive description of the content of the ex
parte communication, including a complete set of all text and
graphic material that was part of the communication.
(2) The executive director shall place in the public record any
report of an ex parte communication.
(c) Communications shall cease to be ex parte communications when
fully disclosed and placed in the commission's official record.
SECTION 1. Section 30324.1 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
30324.1. A commission staff member shall maintain records of and
disclose any communication between the staff member acting in his or
her official capacity and an interested person pertaining to a matter
before the commission by including the following information in
staff reports provided to commission members:
(a) The date of the communication with an interested person.
(b) The name of the interested person with whom the staff member
communicated.
(c) The matter to which the communication applies.
(d) A statement of the interested person's position with regard to
the matter discussed and whether he or she represents another person
or entity in the matter.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. Section 30325 of the
Public Resources Code is amended to read:
30325. (a) Nothing in this article prohibits any person or any
interested person from testifying at a commission hearing, workshop,
or other official proceeding, or from submitting written comments for
the record on a matter before the commission.
(b) Transcripts Video or audio
recordings of all hearings, workshops, or other written
proceedings shall be promptly posted on
the commission's Internet Web site to allow for public
comment. within 72 hours after the proceeding
. Written and electronic communications that are submitted to
the commission as part of any such proceeding shall be posted on the
commission's Internet Web site within seven days of receipt
.
(c) Written comments shall be submitted by mail or delivered to a
commission office, or may be delivered to the commission at the time
and place of a scheduled hearing or within 30 days after the hearing.
