Bill Text: CA AB1511 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Assembly Bill 1511 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Coastal resources: Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-23 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1511 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1511-Enrolled.html

Enrolled September 12, 2019

Passed IN Senate September 09, 2019

Passed IN Assembly May 29, 2019

Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1511

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 22, 2019

An act to amend Sections 30988, 30988.2, and 30988.3 of the Public Resources Code, relating to coastal resources.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1511, Bloom. Coastal resources: Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

Existing law establishes the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and prescribes the duties of the commission relating to the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to provide administrative services to the commission. Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, and the Chair of the Bay Watershed Council of the commission to enter into a memorandum of understanding that ensures the coordination of state programs affecting Santa Monica Bay, and that delineates the authority of the commission, and its governance structure with respect to the implementation of those state programs.

This bill would instead require the State Coastal Conservancy to provide those administrative services to the commission and to enter into that memorandum of understanding with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, and the commission.

Existing law requires the commission to prioritize in its educational, monitoring, and bond proceeds expenditure decisions, proposals, or projects designed to achieve specified bay restoration objectives, as described.

This bill would instead specify that the purpose of the commission is to promote, support, and achieve the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed, and would prescribe specified restoration and enhancement goals for the bay and its watershed, as provided.

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

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

SECTION 1.

Section 30988 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

30988.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Santa Monica Bay is a public trust for present and future generations of Californians, and an invaluable element in the ecosystem of southern California.

(2) The biological health and recreational resources of Santa Monica Bay are threatened by the historical accumulation of DDT, PCBs and other toxic pollutants, pathogens, nutrients, stormwater and urban runoff, nonpoint pollutant sources, oil spills, and industrial discharges, increasing with population pressures in the region.

(3) Santa Monica Bay’s Palos Verdes Shelf has been identified as a federal Superfund site, and designated under the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program. Since 1988, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has designated the former Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project as an agency to plan for the Santa Monica Bay’s restoration, and to oversee implementation of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan. The State of California has expended millions of dollars for the administration of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, and the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act; Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section 5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code) earmarks up to twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) for Santa Monica Bay restoration projects, as identified by the former Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission be a nonregulatory, locally based state government entity that will monitor, assess, coordinate, and advise all state programs, and oversee funding that affects the beneficial uses, restoration, and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, following extensive research and coordination, has adopted and subsequently updated the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, which identifies the goals and objectives for restoring and enhancing Santa Monica Bay and its watershed. As the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission moves forward with a focus on implementation of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, the State Coastal Conservancy, which has supported implementation of the plan through grants and other actions, is the appropriate state agency to oversee the actions of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

SEC. 2.

Section 30988.2 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

30988.2.

(a) The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project is hereby renamed the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. The commission shall independently execute the duties described in this section, and the State Coastal Conservancy shall provide administrative services to the commission. Any reference in any statute to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project shall be deemed to be a reference to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

(b) The Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission shall enter into a memorandum of understanding that ensures the coordination of state programs affecting Santa Monica Bay, and that delineates the authority of that commission, and its governance structure with respect to the implementation of those state programs. The commission membership shall be prescribed in the memorandum of understanding, and shall include federal, state, and local public agency officials and employees, and representatives of other stakeholder interests.

(1) Request and receive federal, state, local, and private funds from any source, and expend those moneys for the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(2) Award and administer grants for the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(3) Enter into contracts and joint powers authority agreements, as necessary, to carry out the purposes of the commission.

(4) Monitor, assess, and coordinate activities among federal, state, and local agencies and, where appropriate, private firms, to restore and enhance Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(d) (1) The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Account is hereby created in the State Treasury, and moneys in the account may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to support the activities of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

(2) The balance of any funds previously appropriated by the Legislature, before January 1, 2003, from the General Fund or from bond proceeds to support the activities of the former Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project shall be transferred into the account.

(3) (A) Funds transferred to the account that are derived from an appropriation from the General Fund are available for expenditure only for the duration originally authorized and only for a purpose authorized by this division as it read on December 31, 2002.

(B) Funds transferred to the account that are derived from an appropriation of bond proceeds are available for expenditure only for the duration originally authorized and may be expended for any purpose authorized by this division on and after January 1, 2003.

SEC. 3.

Section 30988.3 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

30988.3.

The purpose of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission is to promote, support, and achieve the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed. The restoration and enhancement goals for Santa Monica Bay and its watershed shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(a) The protection, enhancement, and improvement of ecosystems of the Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.

(b) The improvement of water supply.

(d) The enhancement of socio-economic benefits to the public.

(e) The enhancement of public engagement and education.

(f) The mitigation of negative impacts and increase resiliency relating to climate change.

(g) The improvement of monitoring and the ability to assess the effectiveness of actions relating to the restoration and enhancement of Santa Monica Bay and its watershed.