Bill Text: CA AB71 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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
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
BILL NUMBER: AB 71 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
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.
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, agency, 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.
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)
(f) "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)
(b) (1) The authority may lead a restoration funding
and feasibility study, in consultation with the agency and
the technical advisory group, agency, 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.
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.
