Bill Text: CA SB223 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Division of Boating and Waterways: oversight committee: invasive aquatic plants.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Assembly without further action. [SB223 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB223-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 223 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Galgiani
FEBRUARY 13, 2015
An act to amend Section 64 of, and to add and repeal Section 64.6
of, the Harbors and Navigation Code, relating to aquatic
invasive aquatic plants, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 223, as amended, Galgiani. Division of Boating and Waterways:
oversight committee: invasive aquatic plants.
Existing law designates the Division of Boating and Waterways
within the Department of Parks and Recreation as the lead agency of
the state for purposes of cooperating with other state, local, and
federal agencies in identifying, detecting, controlling, and
administering programs to manage invasive aquatic plants in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, its tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh,
and prescribes the duties of the division with regard to the
management and control or eradication of those plants.
This bill would require the division, no later than 90 days after
the effective date of the bill, to establish, and designate and
provide staff support to, an advisory and oversight committee to
evaluate and monitor the activities of the division relating
to the management and control or eradication of those plants. The
bill would require the membership of the advisory and oversight
committee to include an equitable number of representatives from
specified interests and would require the advisory and oversight
committee to meet, at a minimum, twice per year and communicate any
findings or recommendations to the division.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. 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 an invaluable California
natural resource. However, the health of the Delta is being
threatened by water hyacinth as it obstructs waterways and marinas,
consumes valuable water resources, creates human health and safety
hazards, and damages cherished natural ecosystems by crowding out
native plants and wildlife.
(b) The Division of Boating and Waterways is the lead agency
responsible for eradicating and controlling invasive aquatic plants,
such as water hyacinth, in the Delta, its tributaries, and the Suisun
Marsh.
(c) Water hyacinth is controlled by the Division of Boating and
Waterways primarily through the use of pesticides, which require
state and federal permits, approvals, and biological opinions.
(d) In 2012, the Division of Boating and Waterways failed to
obtain these permits in a timely manner and pesticide spraying was
significantly delayed, which which, in
combination with other factors, allowed water hyacinth to grow
and multiply into dense, unsafe mats that blanketed and obstructed
several areas of the Delta.
(e) Therefore, in order to improve public transparency and
accountability, an advisory and oversight committee must be
established to evaluate and monitor the activities of the
Division of Boating and Waterways relating to the management and
control or eradication of invasive aquatic plants in the Delta, its
tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh.
SEC. 2. Section 64 of the Harbors and Navigation Code is amended
to read:
64. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the growth
of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Brazilian elodea (Egeria
densa), and South American spongeplant (Limnobium laevigatum) in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, its tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh
has occurred at an unprecedented level and that the resulting
accumulations of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Brazilian
elodea (Egeria densa), and South American spongeplant (Limnobium
laevigatum) obstruct navigation, impair other recreational uses of
waterways, have the potential for damaging manmade facilities, and
may threaten the health and stability of fisheries and other
ecosystems within the Delta and the Suisun Marsh. Accordingly, it is
necessary that the state, in cooperation with agencies of the United
States, undertake an aggressive program for the effective control of
water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Brazilian elodea (Egeria
densa), and South American spongeplant (Limnobium laevigatum) in the
Delta, its tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh.
(b) The department is designated as the lead agency of the state
for the purpose of cooperating with agencies of the United States and
other public agencies in controlling water hyacinth (Eichhornia
crassipes), Brazilian elodea (Egeria densa), and South American
spongeplant (Limnobium laevigatum) in the Delta, its tributaries, and
the Suisun Marsh.
(c) The department, other state agencies, including, but not
limited to, the California Conservation Corps, cities, counties, and
districts are hereby authorized to cooperate with one another and
with agencies of the United States in controlling water hyacinth
(Eichhornia crassipes), Brazilian elodea (Egeria densa), and South
American spongeplant (Limnobium laevigatum) in the Delta, its
tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh and may furnish money, services,
equipment, and other property to that end.
(d) Up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per year of the funds
available for expenditure by the Department of Fish and Game to
implement this section shall be paid from the Harbors and Watercraft
Revolving Fund.
(e) Whenever any control program is proposed to take place in Rock
Slough, the department and the Contra Costa Water District shall
develop a memorandum of understanding establishing the parameters of
the control program. This subdivision does not apply to any control
program proposed for Sand Mound Slough.
SEC. 3. Section 64.6 is added to the Harbors and Navigation Code,
to read:
64.6. The division shall, no later than 90 days after the
effective date of the act adding this section, establish an advisory
and oversight committee to evaluate and monitor the
activities of the division relating to the management and control or
eradication of invasive aquatic plants in the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, its tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh.
(a) The division shall designate and provide staff support to the
advisory and oversight committee.
(b) The membership of the advisory and oversight committee shall
include an equitable number of representatives from each of the
following interests affected by invasive aquatic plants in the Delta,
its tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh:
(1) Agriculture.
(2) Recreational boating.
(3) Commercial shipping.
(4) Business owners.
(5) California Invasive Plant Council.
(6) Research institutions.
(7) Wildlife conservation.
(8) Environment.
(9) Resource conservation districts.
(10) The general public.
(11) Local government.
(c) The advisory and oversight committee shall meet, at a minimum,
twice per year and communicate any findings or recommendations to
the division. The division shall make any such findings or
recommendations publically available on the division's Internet Web
site.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to aid in the mitigation and control of invasive aquatic
plants that have caused significant damage to the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta, its tributaries, and the Suisun Marsh by obstructing
waterways and marinas, consuming valuable water resources, creating
human health and safety hazards, and damaging cherished natural
ecosystems, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
