BILL NUMBER: SBX1 23 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 13, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 5, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 15, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Senator Soto
(Principal coauthor: Senator Alarcon)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Strom-Martin and Washington)
JANUARY 30, 2001
An act to amend Section 1245.250 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
to amend Section 56131 Sections 56131 and
56875 of the Government Code , to add Section 25441.3 to
the Public Resources Code , and to amend Section
Sections 11561 and 11652 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to public power districts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 23, as amended, Soto. Public power districts.
(1) Existing law, relating to the acquisition of property by the
exercise of eminent domain by a public entity, provides that, if the
taking is by a local public entity and , the
resolution of necessity conclusively establishes those facts required
by law to exercise the power of eminent domain except in specified
situations, including when the property is electric, gas, or
water public utility property , . For
electric, gas, or water utility property the resolution of
necessity of the governing body of the local public agency creates a
rebuttable presumption that the required conditions for the exercise
of eminent domain are true, and that the presumption is a presumption
affecting the burden of proof.
This bill would delete the application of that
the rebuttable presumption as to the
taking of electric or gas public utility property.
(2) Existing law establishes the procedures and requirements for
the organization and reorganization of special districts, generally,
in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of
2000. Existing law also requires that, if a service area that is
furnished gas or electric service by a public utility becomes part
of, or is formed into, a district authorized to furnish gas or
electric service, the district may not furnish that service without
approval of the local agency formation commission and the voters of
an election. Existing law specifically provides for the formation of
municipal utility districts and public utility districts. Existing
law prohibits a public agency being divided in the formation of a
municipal utility district.
This bill would delete the local agency formation commission
approval requirements with respect to the formation of a proposed
district to be formed for the primary purpose of furnishing gas or
electric service and would prohibit the commission from denying the
annexation or detachment of any existing public utility district or
municipal utility district furnishing gas or electric service.
This bill would prohibit a city being divided in the formation of a
municipal utility district.
(3) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission to provide financial assistance to local
jurisdictions for the purpose of staff training and support services
to reduce energy costs.
This bill would require the commission to provide technical
assistance to local jurisdictions and community groups for the
purpose of preparing feasible proposals for the formation of special
districts for the generation, transmission, and distribution of
electricity.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:
no yes . State-mandated local program:
no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be citied as the Fair
Citizen Access to Public Power Act.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that in order to
furnish the citizens of California with reliable, affordable
electrical power, to ensure sufficient power reserves, to assure
stability and rationality in California's electricity market, to
encourage energy efficiency and conservation as well as the use of
renewable energy resources, and to protect the public health,
welfare, and safety, the state needs to streamline the process for
forming public power districts.
SEC. 3. Section 1245.250 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
1245.250. (a) Except as otherwise provided by statute, a
resolution of necessity adopted by the governing body of the public
entity pursuant to this article conclusively establishes the matters
referred to in Section 1240.030.
(b) If the taking is by a local public entity, other than a
sanitary district exercising the powers of a county water district
pursuant to Section 6512.7 of the Health and Safety Code, and the
property is water public utility property, the resolution of
necessity creates a rebuttable presumption that the matters referred
to in Section 1240.030 are true. This presumption is a presumption
affecting the burden of proof.
(c) If the taking is by a local public entity and the property
described in the resolution is not located entirely within the
boundaries of the local public entity, the resolution of necessity
creates a presumption that the matters referred to in Section
1240.030 are true. This presumption is a presumption affecting the
burden of producing evidence.
(d) For the purposes of subdivision (b), a taking by the State
Reclamation Board for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage
District is not a taking by a local public entity.
SEC. 4. Section 56131 of the Government Code is amended to read:
56131. (a) (1) The executive officer shall file with the Public
Utilities Commission a certified copy of any proposal for a change of
organization or a reorganization which provides, as a part of the
change of organization or reorganization, that gas or electric
service, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 56129, be furnished
by a district within any of the territory affected by the change of
organization or reorganization.
(2) After that filing, the Public Utilities Commission shall cause
an investigation to be made and may conduct any hearings in
connection with the proposal. Upon completion of the investigation
and not later than 60 days after the date of the filing, the Public
Utilities Commission shall make a report to the commission.
(3) The secretary of the Public Utilities Commission shall
immediately file a certified copy of that report with the executive
officer.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 56375 or any other provision of this
division, the commission may not deny approval of
disapprove a change of organization or reorganization that would
result in the formation of a proposed
special district to be formed for the primary purpose of
furnishing gas or electric service as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 56129, however, the authority of such a district to
furnish water and sewer services is subject to commission approval.
The commission may not deny the annexation or detachment of any
existing public utility district or municipal utility district
furnishing gas or electric service, as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 56129. if the commission has received a
resolution in support of the proposal adopted by the legislative body
of each city that would be included within the proposed district
and, in the case of a district that would include unincorporated
territory, a resolution in support of that proposal adopted by the
county board of supervisors.
SEC. 5. Section 56875 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
56875. (a) If any sufficient petition or resolution of
application shall propose, as a part of the petition or resolution
of application, that the district shall furnish gas or electric
service, as provided in Sections 56129 to 56131, inclusive, a
certified copy of the report of the Public Utilities Commission shall
be on file with the executive officer prior to setting that petition
or resolution for public hearing by the commission.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the report of the Public
Utilities Commission is not available within the 60-day time limit
set by Section 56131, the executive officer may set the petition or
resolution for public hearing without the report.
SEC. 6. Section 11561 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
11561. Any public agency together with unincorporated
territory, or two or more public agencies, with or without
unincorporated territory, may organize and incorporate as a municipal
utility district. Public agencies and unincorporated territory
included within a district may be in the same or separate counties
and need not be contiguous territory, whether
incorporated or unincorporated, whether contiguous or noncontiguous,
may be included in a municipal utility district . No
public agency city shall be divided in the
formation of a district.
SEC. 7. Section 11652 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:
11652. The If the majority of the votes
cast at the election is in favor of forming the district, the
board of supervisors shall canvass the returns of each
public agency and each parcel of unincorporated territory, if any,
separately, and shall order and declare the district created and
established of the public agencies and territory in which a majority
of those who voted on the proposition voted in favor of the creation
of the district if the total number of voters in those approving
public agencies and territory is not less than a majority of the
voters within the district as first proposed who voted on the
proposition, according to the register used at the election.
order and declare the district created and
established.
SEC. 8. Section 25441.3 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
25441.3. The commission shall provide technical assistance to
local jurisdictions and community groups for the purpose of preparing
feasible proposals for the formation of special districts for the
generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.