BILL NUMBER: SBX1 23 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 3, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 14, 2001
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 Robert Pacheco,
Strom-Martin , and Washington)
JANUARY 30, 2001
An act to amend Sections 1240.650 and 1245.250 of , and to
add Section 1245.231 to, the Code of Civil Procedure, to amend
Sections 56131 and 56875 of the Government Code, to add Section
25441.3 to the Public Resources Code, and to amend 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, 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 the rebuttable
presumption to the taking of electric or gas public utility property
, provided that the conclusive presumption made applicable by
the bill shall not be construed as limiting the property owner's
rights under specified provisions of existing law, and set forth
additional requirements with regard to the findings necessary for the
resolution of necessity with respect to the taking of electronic or
gas public utility property . This bill would prohibit a
district or city for 5 years following acquisition of property for
furnishing electric or gas service, from increasing the fee beyond an
annual adjustment for inflation for attachments of cable
corporations or certified telecommunications carriers to the
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 upon receipt of a specified resolution with
respect to the formation of a proposed district to be formed for the
primary purpose of furnishing gas or electric service. This bill
would prohibit a city being divided in the formation of a municipal
utility district. This bill would revise the procedure that the
board of supervisors is required to use to canvass the
returns of each public agency and each parcel of unincorporated
territory, if any, in order to be able to declare a municipal utility
district created.
(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: 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 1240.650 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
1240.650. (a) Where property has been appropriated to public use
by any person other than a public entity, the use thereof by a public
entity for the same use or any other public use is a more necessary
use than the use to which such property has already been
appropriated.
(b) Where property has been appropriated to public use by a public
entity, the use thereof by the public entity is a more necessary use
than any use to which such property might be put by any person other
than a public entity.
(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not be construed as
limiting the property owner's right to review under Section 1094.5 or
1245.255 or to have an objection heard and determined pursuant to
Section 1260.110.
(d) Where property which has been appropriated to a public
use is water public utility property which the public entity intends
to put to the same use, the presumption of a more necessary use
established by subdivision (a) is a rebuttable presumption affecting
the burden of proof, unless the acquiring public entity is a sanitary
district exercising the powers of a county water district pursuant
to Section 6512.7 of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 3.5. Section 1245.231 is added to the Code of Civil
Procedure, to read:
1245.231. If the property to be taken is electric or gas public
utility property, the resolution of necessity shall also contain a
determination that there is an economic basis for the necessity,
based on findings with respect to the following economic issues
affecting the public entity seeking to commence proceedings to
acquire the property by eminent domain:
(a) The projected costs to the public entity.
(b) The ability of the public entity to provide power to its
customers.
(c) The financial condition of the public entity.
(d) Any other possible side-effects of the taking, including
impacts on local telecommunications services.
SEC. 4. 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.
(e) For a period of five years following the acquisition of
property to furnish electric or gas service, the district board, or
the city council, of the district or city furnishing gas or electric
service, shall not increase the annual recurring fee for attachments
by cable corporations or certified telecommunications carriers to
that property above the amount in effect at the time of the
acquisition, except for prospective annual adjustments for inflation,
based upon changes in the Consumer Price Index.
SEC. 5. 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 disapprove a change of organization
or reorganization that would result in the formation of a special
district to be formed for the primary purpose of 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. 6. 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. 7. Section 11561 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
11561. Any territory, whether incorporated or unincorporated,
whether contiguous or noncontiguous, may be included in a municipal
utility district. No city shall be divided in the formation of a
district.
SEC. 8. Section 11652 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
11652. 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 only 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.
SEC. 9. 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.