Bill Text: CA AB466 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 466 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 341, Statutes of 2017. [AB466 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB466-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 466

CHAPTER 341

An act to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 33220) to Division 23 of the Public Resources Code, relating to the Los Angeles River and tributaries.

[ Approved by Governor September 28, 2017. Filed with Secretary of State September 28, 2017. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 466, Bocanegra. Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group.

Existing law provides for the protection, enhancement, and restoration of rivers in this state. Existing law establishes the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and prescribes the membership and functions and duties of the conservancy with regard to the acquisition, preservation, and improvement of real property within the Santa Monica Mountains zone, as defined.

This bill would establish within the conservancy the Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the conservancy, and, to the extent they wish to consult, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the City of Los Angeles, to consider requests from specified local agency representatives to participate in the working group and would authorize them to appoint no more than 23 representatives to the working group. The bill would require, by March 1, 2019, the working group to develop, through watershed-based planning methods and community engagement, a revitalization plan for the Upper Los Angeles River, the tributaries of the Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash, and any additional tributary waterway that the working group determines to be necessary. The bill would require the revitalization plan to address the unique and diverse needs of the Upper Los Angeles River, Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash, and the communities through which they pass, and to include watershed education programs. The bill would require the conservancy to provide any necessary staffing to assist the working group. The bill would require the working group to submit the revitalization plan to the conservancy for approval. The bill would require the revitalization plan to be considered an amendment to the watershed and open space plan for the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers upon adoption by the conservancy and, to the extent that the city or county wishes to consider the plan, would require the conservancy to submit the plan to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles City Council, as prescribed.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Upper Los Angeles River and its tributaries.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 33220) is added to Division 23 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

CHAPTER 4. Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group

33220.

(a) There shall be within the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy an Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group. The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the conservancy, and, to the extent that they wish to consult, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the City of Los Angeles, shall consider requests from local agency representatives to participate in the working group and may appoint no more than 23 representatives to the working group. The working group may include, but need not be limited to, representatives from the conservancy, the County of Los Angeles, the Cities of Burbank, Glendale, Los Angeles, and San Fernando, elected officials of the cities riparian to the Pacoima Wash and Tujunga Wash, and nonprofit organizations serving the Upper Los Angeles River, San Fernando Valley, Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash.

(b) On or before March 1, 2019, the working group shall develop, through watershed-based planning methods and community engagement, a revitalization plan for the Upper Los Angeles River, the tributaries of the Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash, and any additional tributary waterway that the working group determines to be necessary. The revitalization plan shall address the unique and diverse needs of the Upper Los Angeles River, Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash and the communities through which they pass. The plan shall be consistent with and enhance, and may be incorporated into plans that include, but are not limited to, the County of Los Angeles’ Master Plan. The plan shall include watershed education programs that help the Upper Los Angeles River, Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash communities recognize the value of the waterways and the importance of protecting the river’s watershed resources and its vitality to their communities. The revitalization plan shall require a master planning process that includes community engagement and a prioritization of disadvantaged communities, identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.

(d) The development and implementation of the revitalization plan may be eligible for funding from any public or private source, including, but not limited to, funding available pursuant to Section 79735 of the Water Code. Entities that are eligible to implement the revitalization plan include, but are not limited to, state agencies, local agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and may be eligible for state funding. An entity receiving funding to implement the revitalization plan shall submit progress reports to the conservancy that include the status of funding.

(e) The working group shall submit the revitalization plan to the conservancy for approval. Upon adoption by the conservancy, the revitalization plan shall be considered an amendment to the Watershed and Open Space Plan for the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers. To the extent that the city or county wishes to consider the revitalization plan, the conservancy shall submit the plan for adoption to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for inclusion in the Master Plan of the County of Los Angeles and to the Los Angeles City Council for inclusion into the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan.

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the complex ecological and political history of the Upper Los Angeles River and its tributaries and the unique obstacles that local governments encounter when managing the river and its surrounding areas.