BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 1164 |Hearing |7/8/15 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Author: |Gatto |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |6/30/15 |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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WATER CONSERVATION AND LOCAL ORDINANCES (URGENCY)
Prohibits cities and counties from enacting and enforcing any
ban on the installation of synthetic grass or artificial turf on
residential property.
Background and Existing Law
On January 17, 2014, pursuant to his powers under state law,
including the California Emergency Services Act, Governor Brown
issued a proclamation of a state of emergency due to drought
conditions. On April 1, 2015, Governor Brown issued an
executive order that, among its many provisions intended to
improve government response to the drought and promote water
conservation:
Directs the State Water Resources Control Board to
impose restrictions to achieve a statewide 25% reduction in
potable urban water usage through February 28, 2016, which
will require water suppliers to California's cities and
towns to reduce usage as compared to the amount used in
2013.
Directs the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to lead
a statewide initiative, in partnership with local agencies,
to collectively replace 50 million square feet of lawns and
ornamental turf with drought tolerant landscapes.
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In response to the Governor's executive order, DWR is in the
process of establishing a program to reduce lawn irrigation by
replacing residential turf and promoting low water-use
landscapes.
The police power is the inherent authority of sovereign
governments to regulate private behavior, consistent with
constitutional rights and procedures. The California
Constitution delegates the police power to cities and counties
to "make and enforce within [their] limits all local, police,
sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict
with general laws" (Article XI, Section 7). Courts have
interpreted the police power as including the power to regulate
the physical of appearance of the environment within a
community, including ordinances that enforce aesthetic
standards. Exercising their authority under the police power,
some California local governments have adopted ordinances that
ban residents from using synthetic grass or artificial turf to
replace real grass lawns.
Water conservation advocates want the Legislature to invalidate
local prohibitions against artificial turf and provide funding
to DWR for programs to implement the Governor's executive order.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 1164 prohibits a city, including a charter city,
county, or city and county, from enacting any ordinance or
regulation, or enforcing any existing ordinance or regulation,
that prohibits the installation of synthetic grass or artificial
turf on residential property.
AB 1164 makes a continuing appropriation of $300 million from
the General Fund to the Department of Water Resources to be
expended in equal shares of $100 million for each of the
2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 fiscal years to provide matching
funds to any city, county, city and county, public water agency,
or private water agency to provide incentives to residents to
replace water inefficient landscaping with drought tolerant
landscaping.
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State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . According to the Department of Water
Resources, landscape irrigation represents 43 percent of urban
water use. Installing synthetic grass or artificial turf to
replace conventional lawns can directly reduce outdoor water use
to help meet statewide water use reduction goals. California's
prolonged drought requires that no possible water-savings
options should remain unavailable to the state's residents. AB
1146 provides an urgent response to emergency drought conditions
by allowing property owners throughout the state to install
water-saving synthetic grass and by supporting DWR's programs to
promote water-conserving landscapes.
2. Middle ground ? The severe drought conditions confronting
California make it difficult to justify local ordinances that
completely prohibit a resident from installing water-conserving
synthetic turf. However, health concerns and aesthetic
preferences may warrant some local regulation of what types of
turf that residents are allowed to install. The Committee may
wish to consider amending AB 1164 to allow local ordinances that
prohibit specific types of turf that don't meet specified health
or aesthetic standards, as long as those local prohibitions
don't effectively ban the use of any type of synthetic turf
within a local jurisdiction.
3. Related legislation . AB 349 (Gonzalez, 2015) would void, or
make unenforceable, any provision of a common interest
development's governing document or architectural or landscaping
guidelines or policies that prohibit the use of artificial turf
or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass. AB 349 is
currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In 2011, Governor Brown vetoed SB 759 (Lieu), which contained
language identical to AB 349. The Governor's veto message
stated:
Under this bill, homeowners associations that govern Common
Interest Developments would be forced to approve the
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installation of Astro Turf. The decision about choosing
synthetic turf instead of natural vegetation should be left to
individual homeowners associations, not mandated by state law.
For this reason, I am returning this bill.
4. Charter cities . The California Constitution allows cities
that adopt charters to control their own "municipal affairs."
In all other matters, charter cities must follow the general,
statewide laws. Because the Constitution doesn't define
"municipal affairs," the courts determine whether a topic is a
municipal affair or whether it's an issue of statewide concern.
AB 1164 says that it applies to all cities, including charter
cities. To support this assertion, the bill includes a
legislative finding and declaration that the bill's provisions
are a matter of statewide concern because allowing property
owners to install synthetic grass or artificial turf will
advance the state's long-water conservation goals in response to
prolonged drought conditions.
5. Urgency . Regular statutes take effect on January 1
following their enactment; bills passed in 2015 take effect on
January 1, 2016. The California Constitution allows bills with
urgency clauses to take effect immediately if they're needed for
the public peace, health, and safety. AB 1164 contains an
urgency clause declaring that it is necessary for its provisions
to go into effect immediately to enable California residents to
replace water inefficient landscaping with drought tolerant
landscaping as quickly as possible.
6. Double-referred . The Senate Rules Committee has ordered a
double-referral of AB 1164 -- first to the Senate Governance &
Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over bills relating to
local governments' police powers, and then to the Senate Natural
Resource & Water Committee, which has jurisdiction over bills
relating to the Department of Water Resources' programs to
replace residential turf and promote drought-tolerant
landscaping.
7. Gut-and-amend . As passed by the Assembly, AB 1164 contained
provisions relating to the evaluation and rating of the overall
quality of the state highway system. The Senate Governance &
Finance Committee never heard that version of the bill. The
June 22 amendments deleted AB 1164's contents and inserted the
current language relating to local agencies' synthetic turf
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ordinances and DWR's drought-tolerant landscaping programs.
Assembly Actions
Not relevant to the June 30, 2015 version of the bill.
Support and
Opposition (7/2/15)
Support : American Planning Association; California Association
of Realtors; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California;
Three Valleys Municipal Water District.
Opposition : Unknown.
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