BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 446 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 446 (Ridley-Thomas) - As Introduced February 23, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Natural Resources |Vote:|9 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill eliminates the 2018 sunset date for the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC), thereby extending the conservancy indefinitely. AB 446 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT: Increased annual administrative state costs of between $369,000 and $615,000 per year (special funds) beginning in FY 2017-18. The BHC's administrative support and operations budget is from the Environmental License Plate Fund (ELPF) and has averaged $369,000 over the last three years. There are also two bond funded support positions budgeted for $246,000 (Proposition 1). COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author, neighborhoods across Los Angeles populated by minorities and recent immigrants are especially short of park space. Access to park space is important for Greater Los Angeles because of the proven health benefits of public parks. The author further notes the BHC has achieved great success to date and has outlined an innovative vision for the future. Allowing the Baldwin Hills Conservancy to sunset would deny Los Angeles access to open space and the healthier future envisioned by the Conservancy. Additionally, removing the sunset date would allow the Baldwin Hills Conservancy to continue its mission in parity with the other eight out of ten conservancies that do not have a sunset date impacting their ability to develop ongoing multiyear projects. 2)Background. The BHC was established in 2000 in the Natural Resources Agency (NRA BHC to acquire public lands within the Baldwin Hills area. BHC jurisdiction covers approximately 2 square miles and it is the smallest of the state's 10 conservancies. AB 446 Page 3 BHC is located approximately 6 miles from downtown Los Angeles. There is significant oil production activity in the BHC's jurisdiction. BHC plans to restore former oil production lands and open them to the public as oil production ceases. The goal of BHC is to eventually connect public land into one big park (2 square miles) to serve the area. This will provide access to open space in a region that is lacking parks. BHC was subject to a Department of Finance (DOF) audit in 2008, which found deficiencies with BHC's pre-awarding processes, monitoring and oversight of projects. BHC responded to the audit and agreed to take several corrective actions to address the deficiencies found. To ensure proper oversight, the Legislature may wish to consider extending the sunset date rather than eliminating it. 3)Resource Bond Funding. BHC received an allocation of $40 million from Proposition 40 (2002), $10 million from Proposition 84 (2006), and $10 million from Proposition 1 (2014). The Proposition 1 funds are meant for multi-benefit water quality, water supply, and watershed protection and restoration projects. 4)State Conservancies. There are currently 10 state conservancies located within the Natural Resources Agency: a) Sierra Nevada Conservancy; b) California Tahoe Conservancy; c) State Coastal Conservancy; d) San Joaquin River Conservancy; e) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy; f) Coachella Mountains Conservnacy; g) San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles AB 446 Page 4 Rivers Conservancy; h) Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy; i) Baldwin Hills Conservancy; and j) San Diego River Conservancy. Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081