Bill Text: CA AB576 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Delta Stewardship Council: Delta Plan: financing.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-01 - Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB576 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB576-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 576 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to add Section 85215 Sections
85035.5, 85215, and 85216 to the Water Code, relating to the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 576, as amended, Dickinson. Delta Stewardship Council:
planning and administration: fee. Delta Plan:
financing.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 establishes
the Delta Stewardship Council, and requires the council, on or before
January 1, 2012, to develop, adopt, and commence implementation of a
comprehensive management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
(Delta Plan), meeting specified requirements.
This bill would require the council, by March 31, 2012, to adopt a
fee on water supply contractors of the State Water Project and the
federal Central Valley Project to fund a portion of the planning and
administrative costs of the council.
This bill would require the council to develop a long-term finance
plan to pay for the costs of implementing the Delta Plan by January
1, 2013. The bill would prohibit the council from adopting new fees
for these purposes unless authorized by statute. The bill would
authorize the council, before adopting and collecting long-term
revenue sources, to seek to obtain early funding contributions from
entities that may benefit from implementation of the Delta Plan and
to track those contributions to provide credit against future funding
requirements.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a critically important
natural resource for California and the nation and serves
Californians as both the most valuable estuary on the west coast of
North America and the hub of the California water system.
(b) The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed and water
infrastructure are in crisis.
(c) In 2009, the Legislature and Governor adopted a comprehensive
water package that included new policies and programs to address the
crisis.
(d) Senate Bill 1 of the 2009-10 Seventh Extraordinary Session
adopted the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, which
created the Delta Stewardship Council and directed the council to
develop a comprehensive Delta Plan to address the coequal goals of
providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting,
restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. Senate Bill 1 also
stated that the coequal goals shall be achieved in a manner that
protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural
resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place.
(e) Long-term funding is needed to support the implementation of
the Delta Plan.
(f) A finance plan for implementing the Delta Plan should
recognize that public and private interests should contribute in
proportion to the benefits received or negative impacts caused.
SEC. 2. Section 85053.5 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
85053.5. (a) "Beneficiary pays principle" means the allocation of
costs to public or private entities in approximate proportion to
benefits received from implementation of measures in the Delta Plan
and in approximate proportion to negative impacts caused to the Delta
and the Delta watershed that the Delta Plan seeks to address.
(b) For purposes of the analysis required pursuant to subdivision
(d) of Section 85215 and in recognition of the Delta as an important
national asset, "beneficiary pays principle" additionally means that
costs of measures designed to improve the Delta ecosystem should
generally be borne by state and federal taxpayers, except that
mitigation for negative impacts on the Delta ecosystem resulting from
past, present, and future exports of water from the Delta should be
borne by those directly benefiting from those exports, and any costs
of measures designed to improve reliability of water supply should be
borne by those directly benefiting from that water supply.
SEC. 3. Section 85215 is added to the Water Code,
to read:
85215. (a) By January 1, 2013, the council shall develop a
long-term finance plan to pay for the costs of implementing the Delta
Plan that includes all projects, programs, and related
administrative costs identified in the Delta Plan. The finance plan
shall be developed through an economic, scientific, and engineering
based, transparent, and open process. The council shall distribute a
draft plan for public review and comment at least six months prior to
the approval of the final long-term finance plan.
(b) The finance plan shall include, but not be limited to, all of
the following information:
(1) Annual expenditure plans for implementation of the Delta Plan
for at least each of the five years following the adoption of the
Delta Plan.
(2) An estimate of all existing state and federal funds, including
General Fund moneys, special fund moneys, fees, and other sources of
revenue reasonably expected to be available to support expenditures.
(3) An evaluation of existing programs and projects to determine
if funding could be redirected to the Delta Plan, including, but not
limited to, funding previously directed at the CALFED Bay Delta
Program.
(4) A definition of public and private benefits.
(5) An analysis and description of the basis for allocating
program and project costs among private and public entities.
(6) An enforceable mechanism that ensures that fees, contractual
payments, cost-share agreements, and contributions are expended as
intended, and not diverted to other purposes.
(c) The finance plan shall recognize and reflect the broad public
benefit to the state and nation of restoring and enhancing the Delta
ecosystem.
(d) The finance plan shall identify and evaluate, pursuant to the
beneficiary pays principle, the benefits to, and negative impacts
caused by, all entities, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) The public.
(2) Urban and agricultural water users including, but not limited
to, state and federal water contractors that do any of the following:
(A) Divert water from the Delta for export to areas downstream of
the Delta.
(B) Divert water from the Delta watershed for use outside of the
Delta watershed.
(C) Divert water for use within the Delta or the Delta watershed.
(3) Delta interests benefiting from flood protection.
(4) Delta recreational interests.
(5) Dischargers into the Delta and the Delta watershed, including,
but not limited to, wastewater dischargers and sources of invasive
species.
(6) Commercial fishing interests within and outside of the Delta.
(7) Other interests with infrastructure or operations in the
Delta, including business and transportation entities.
(e) The finance plan shall recognize that mitigation costs for
projects included in the Delta Plan are the responsibility of the
project beneficiaries. For purposes of this subdivision, "mitigation
costs" include, but are not limited to, physical mitigation costs,
and mitigation for tax, revenue, or other local economic losses to
private property owners and to public entities within the Delta.
(f) The finance plan shall allocate costs based on the beneficiary
pays principle and pursuant to the analysis required in subdivision
(d). Financing proposals to pay for public benefits or impacts shall
include, but not be limited to, new and existing state and federal
funding including proceeds from the sale of bonds. Financing
proposals to pay for private benefits or negative impacts shall
include, but not be limited to, new and existing fees, contractual
payments, and cost-share agreements. To the extent existing fees,
contractual payments, cost-share agreements, and other contributions
support programs and projects included in the Delta Plan, the finance
plan developed by the council shall identify which of these existing
contributions are eligible to be credited against future funding
requirements. The council shall develop a baseline for the purposes
of determining credit.
(g) The council shall review the finance plan at least once every
five years and update the plan as the council deems appropriate.
(h) The council shall not adopt new fees pursuant to this section
unless a statute is enacted that authorizes the council to adopt a
fee pursuant to this section.
SEC. 4. Section 85216 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
85216. (a) Prior to the establishment or collection of a
long-term revenue source pursuant to Section 85215, the council may
seek to obtain early funding contributions from groups that may
benefit from the implementation of the Delta Plan, for purposes of
funding the council's planning and administrative activities related
to the preparation of the Delta Plan.
(b) The council shall track early funding contributions and shall
provide credit for those contributions against future funding
requirements.
SECTION 1. Section 85215 is added to the Water
Code, to read:
85215. On or before March 31, 2012, the council shall adopt a fee
on water supply contractors of the State Water Project and the
federal Central Valley Project to fund a portion of the planning and
administrative costs of the council.
