Bill Text: CA AB71 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Salton Sea restoration.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 402, Statutes of 2013. [AB71 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB71-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 71	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 18, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members V. Manuel Pérez and Hueso

                        JANUARY 10, 2013

   An act to add Article 2 (commencing with Section 2940) to Chapter
13 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to the Salton
Sea.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 71, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Salton Sea restoration.

   (1) Existing 
    Existing  law, until January 1, 2013, established the
Salton Sea Restoration Council as a state agency in the Natural
Resources Agency to oversee the restoration of the Salton Sea.
   This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency, in consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea
Authority, to lead Salton Sea restoration efforts. This bill would
require the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the
authority, to form a technical advisory group, as prescribed, to
provide guidance about evaluating, developing, or proposing future
restoration or economic development activities.  This bill would
authorize the authority to lead a restoration funding and feasibility
study, in consultation with the agency and the technical advisory
group, as prescribed.  This bill would also require the
secretary to seek input from the authority with regard to specified
components of restoration of the Salton Sea. By imposing duties on a
local joint powers authority, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program. 
   (2) Existing law establishes the Salton Sea Restoration Fund and
requires the fund to be administered by the Director of Fish and
Wildlife. Existing law requires the money deposited in the fund to be
expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for various
purposes relating to the restoration of the Salton Sea. 

   This bill would authorize the authority to lead a restoration
funding and feasibility study, in consultation with the agency and
the technical advisory group, as prescribed. If the authority
undertakes the study, this bill would require the Department of Fish
and Wildlife to enter into a funding agreement for an amount of no
less than $2,000,000 from the Salton Sea Restoration Fund for the
purposes of this study.  
   (3) The 
    The  California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for
making that reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Article 2 (commencing with Section 2940) is added to
Chapter 13 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:

      Article 2.  Salton Sea Restoration


   2940.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) The Salton Sea is California's largest inland water body with
beneficial uses that include fisheries and wildlife habitat and
preservation of endangered species, and is a repository for
agricultural drainage.
   (b) The Salton Sea ecosystem is a critical link on the
international Pacific Flyway and supports over 400 species of birds.
   (c) The Salton Sea is threatened by increasing salinity and
reduced inflows. These changes increasingly threaten the unparalleled
wildlife resources at the sea, as well as air quality in the region.

   (d) In cooperation with local governments, nonprofit
organizations, private businesses, and the public, the Salton Sea
Authority can help protect wildlife habitats and endangered species,
improve water and air quality, and enhance recreational opportunities
in the region.
   (e) In restoring the Salton Sea, it is the intent of the
Legislature to do all of the following:
   (1) Permanently protect fish and wildlife that are dependent on
the Salton Sea ecosystem.
   (2) Restore the long-term stable aquatic and shoreline habitat for
fish and wildlife that depend on the Salton Sea.
   (3) Mitigate air quality impacts from restoration projects using
the best available technology or best available control measures, as
determined by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the
Imperial County Air Pollution Control District.
   (4) Protect water quality.
   (5) Maintain the Salton Sea as a vital link along the Pacific
Flyway.
   (6) Preserve local tribal heritage and cultural values associated
with the Salton Sea.
   (7) Minimize noxious odors and other water and air quality
problems.
   (8) Coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies that are
responsible for air quality, endangered species, and other
environmental mitigation implementation requirements of the
Quantification Settlement Agreement.
   (9) Enhance economic development opportunities that will provide
sustainable financial improvements benefiting the local environment
and the economic quality of life for communities around the Salton
Sea.
   2941.  Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions set
forth in this section govern the construction of this article.
   (a) "Agency" means the Natural Resources Agency.
   (b) "Habitat mosaics" means two or more proximate habitat types,
such as saltwater shoreline abutting riverine deltas and irrigated
farmland.
   (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 Authority" or "authority" means the 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.

   (e) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency.
   (f) "Technical advisory group" means the technical advisory group
formed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2942.
   (g) "Vector management" means services that eliminate or reduce
the risk of illness caused by any organism transporting a pathogen.
   2942.  (a) (1) The secretary, in consultation and coordination
with the authority, shall lead the Salton Sea restoration efforts
that shall include all of the following:
   (A) Early start habitat demonstration projects.
   (B) Biological investigations relating to the restoration of the
Salton Sea.
   (C) Investigations of water quality, sedimentation, and inflows
relating to the restoration of the Salton Sea.
   (D) Air quality investigations, in consultation and coordination
with local and regional air quality agencies, relating to the
restoration of the Salton Sea.
   (E) Geotechnical investigations relating to the restoration of the
Salton Sea.
   (F) Financial assistance grant programs to support restoration
activities of local stakeholders.
   (2) The secretary and the Legislature shall maintain full
authority and responsibility for any state obligation under the
Quantification Settlement Agreement. The secretary and the
Legislature shall have final approval for any proposed restoration
plan.
   (3) (A) To the extent that funding is appropriated to the
department for Salton Sea restoration activities, the Department of
Water Resources, in coordination and under agreement with the
department, may undertake restoration efforts identified in this
subdivision.
   (B) The department and the Department of Water Resources shall do
all of the following for the Salton Sea Species Conservation Habitat
Project:
   (i) Immediately make available relevant information relating to
the factors that influence the cost and size of the alternatives
discussed in the environmental impact report or environmental impact
statement for the species habitat conservation program.
   (ii) Release all available detail on a final project design
immediately, or upon final determination of a least environmentally
damaging preferred alternative by the United States Army Corps of
Engineers. Details of a final project design shall include location,
configuration, size, and cost.
   (iii) Immediately make available project evaluation protocols that
include the following principles of adaptive management:
   (I) Goals and objectives of the project.
   (II) The project design and an operations plan.
   (III) A monitoring plan that will include metrics that identify
benefits to the species.
   (IV) A performance evaluation based on species population
identified through monitoring.
   (V) A decisionmaking framework to evaluate project performance and
guide operations and management changes.
   (b) (1) The secretary, in consultation and coordination with the
authority, shall form a technical advisory group composed pursuant to
paragraph (2) to provide guidance to the secretary and the authority
in evaluating, developing, or proposing future restoration of or
economic development activities restoring the, Salton Sea.
   (2) The technical advisory group shall be composed as follows:
   (A) The secretary, or his or her designee.
   (B) The secretary may include a representative from any of the
following:
   (i) The department.
   (ii) The Department of Water Resources.
   (iii) The State Air Resources Board.
   (iv) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission.
   (C) The secretary shall invite the following entities to
participate:
   (i) Local government agencies and tribal governments with
geographic, economic, environmental health, or cultural interest in
the Salton Sea.
   (ii) Nongovernmental organizations with environmental interests
relating to the Salton Sea.
   (iii) The United States Geological Survey Salton Sea Science
Office.
   (iv) Research institutions focused on research and development
projects in the Salton Sea region.
   (c) (1) The authority may lead a restoration funding and
feasibility study, in consultation with the agency and the technical
advisory group, to do the following:
   (A) Investigate access and utility agreements that may contribute
to the future funding of restoration activities at the Salton Sea.
   (B) Analyze all feasible funding sources for restoration program
components and activities.
   (C) Analyze economic development opportunities, including, but not
limited to, renewable energy, biofuels, mineral development, and
algae production for the purposes of identifying new revenue sources
for the Salton Sea restoration efforts.
   (D) Identify state procurement and royalty sharing opportunities.
   (E) Review existing long-term plans for restoration of the Salton
Sea and recommend to the technical advisory group and the secretary
changes to existing restoration plans. In any review pursuant to this
subparagraph, the authority shall consider the impacts of the
restoration plan on air quality, fish and wildlife habitat, water
quality, and the technical and financial feasibility of the
restoration plan and shall consider the impacts on other agencies
responsible for air quality, endangered species, and other
environmental mitigation requirements for implementation of the
Quantification Settlement Agreement.
   (2) No evaluation, study, review, or other activity pursuant to
this article shall delay the planning and implementation of ongoing
and planned mitigation projects, including, but not limited to, the
Salton Sea Species Conservation Habitat Project or other mitigation
measures pursuant to existing state and federal programs and
agreements, including, but not limited to, those programs and
agreements undertaken pursuant to the Quantification Settlement
Agreement. 
   (3) (A) If the authority undertakes a study pursuant to paragraph
(1), the department shall enter into a funding agreement with the
authority for an amount of no less than two million dollars
($2,000,000) from the Salton Sea Restoration Fund for the purposes of
producing the restoration funding and feasibility review study.
Provided that funding is available to the authority on or before July
1, 2014, the authority shall complete the study undertaken pursuant
to this subdivision and present the study to the Governor and the
Legislature on or before June 30, 2015.  
   (B) A report required to be submitted pursuant to this paragraph
shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code. 
   2943.  For the purposes of considering local, publicly derived
input concerning habitat objectives and actions, types and levels of
public access, and integration of air quality management and habitat
restoration, the secretary shall seek input from the authority with
regard to the following components of restoration of the Salton Sea:
   (a) Design opportunities and constraints, including the
integration of the habitat, public access, and air quality management
objectives.
   (b) Public access and recreational components.
   (c) Opportunities for economic development.
   (d) Habitat mosaics and location.
   (e) Vector management and predator control.
   (f) Feasible financial resources to fund all recommended
restoration program components.
   2945.  (a) Nothing in this article interferes with or prevents the
exercise of authority by a public agency to carry out its programs,
projects, or responsibilities.
   (b) Nothing in this article affects requirements imposed under any
other provision of law.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district are the result of a program for which legislative authority
was requested by that local agency or school district, within the
meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code and Section 6 of
Article XIII B of the California Constitution.