BILL ANALYSIS
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CONFERENCE COMPLETE
Bill No: AB 857
Author: Wiggins (D)
Amended: Conference Report #1, 8/26/02
Vote: 21
PREVIOUS VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT : Infrastructure planning: priorities and
funding
SOURCE : American Planning Association
DIGEST : Conference amendments delete previous version of
the bill which declared the intent of the Legislature that
the Governors Office of Planning and Research prepare by
June 30, 2003, a State Comprehensive Plan to articulate a
statewide, 20-year vision for the state based upon
specified goals.
This new bill (1) revises the contents of the State
Environmental Goals and Policy Report; (2) revises the
contents of the Governor's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan;
(3) requires the Governor to develop a conflict resolution
processes; and (4) extends the sunset clause for the land
use dispute mediation process.
ANALYSIS :
1. State Environmental Goals and Policy Report . Thirty
years ago, Governor Reagan signed a bill requiring the
Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to
CONTINUED
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prepare a State Environmental Goals and Policy Report
every four years. After legislative review and
gubernatorial approval, the Report is a "clear framework
of goals and objectives" for state functional plans and
it "serves as a basis for judgments" about major
programs, capital projects, and budget priorities (AB
2070, Wilson, 1970).
The State Environmental Goals and Policy Report must
contain a 20- to 30-year overview of growth, along with
goals and objectives for land use, population growth and
distribution, development, natural resources
conservation, and air and water quality. The last time
OPR produced the State Environmental Goals and Policy
Report was in February 1978 when Governor Jerry Brown
approved An Urban Strategy for California. His March
1978 executive order requiring state departments to
follow the Urban Strategy is still in effect.
This bill adds three state planning priorities to the
statute, requiring the State Environmental Goals and
Policy Report to promote equity, strengthen the economy,
protect the environment, and promote public health and
safety:
A. To promote infill development and equity.
B. To protect environmental and agricultural
resources.
C. To encourage efficient development patterns.
This bill requires the revisions to the State
Environmental Goals and Policy Report after January 1,
2004, to be consistent with these state planning
priorities.
This bill requires state agencies to ensure that their
functional plans are consistent with these state
planning priorities by January 1, 2005, and to annually
demonstrate how their requests for infrastructure
projects are consistent with these priorities. This
bill also makes conforming statutory changes.
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2. Five-Year Infrastructure Plan . Starting January 1,
2002, the Governor must submit a Five-Year
Infrastructure Plan along with the annual state budget
(AB 1473, Hertzberg, 1999). The Five-Year
Infrastructure Plan must:
A. Identify the infrastructure projects requested by
state agencies and consistent with their required
strategic plans.
B. Estimate the cost of the infrastructure projects.
C. Propose funding for the infrastructure projects,
subject to three criteria.
This bill requires the funding proposals to include the
criteria used to select the infrastructure projects. By
January 1, 2005, those criteria must be consistent with
the state planning priorities set by AB 857. This bill
also deletes the reference to the required strategic
plans.
This bill requires state agencies to specify by January
1, 2005, how the infrastructure projects they request
are consistent with the state planning priorities set by
AB 857.
3. Conflict Resolution Process . In a 1992 report to
Governor Wilson, the Office of Planning and Research
(OPR) inventoried 40 statewide functional plans. OPR
found that "statewide planning in California is largely
fragmented and uncoordinated." According to OPR, "some
consistency exists among statewide plans ? but this
appears to be largely accidental because methods of plan
coordination and integration simply do not exist."
Local officials, planners, and builders complain that
state agencies give them conflicting advice and
recommendations.
This bill requires the Governor to develop conflict
resolution processes by January 1, 2005 to:
A. Resolve conflicts between two or more state
agencies for a local plan, permit, or development
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project.
B. Resolve conflicts between state functional plans.
C. Resolve conflicts between state infrastructure
projects.
A local agency, project applicant, or a state agency can
request the conflict resolution process.
4. Land Use Dispute Mediation Process . To resolve lawsuits
over land use projects, the Legislature created a
temporary program that allows a judge to send a case to
mediation. The mediator must report the outcome to the
State Office of Permit Assistance (OPA) which was
supposed to report to the Legislature by January 1,
2001. Lawsuits filed after January 1, 2002 are not
subject to the land use dispute mediation process (SB
517, Bergeson, 1994).
OPA never filed the required report and it is unknown
whether Superior Court judges have used the land use
dispute mediation process.
This bill extends the land use dispute mediation program
to January 1, 2006.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/29/02)
American Planning Association (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/29/02)
California Association of Realtors
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Business Roundtable
California Chamber of Commerce
California Taxpayers' Association
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Consulting Engineer and Land Surveyors of California
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Homeownership Advancement Foundation
Resource Landowners Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author, in her floor
statement, indicated the bill is supported by planning
groups, local agencies, and environmental groups, and the
bill is designed to provide goals for future planning.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents state the bill
requires all future state infrastructure expenditures to be
guided by an obsolete planning
report that must be consistent with three state planning
priorities designed to constrain future economic
development. Similar proposals were rejected earlier this
year in school and housing bond negotiations.
LB:sl 8/30/02 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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