BILL NUMBER: AB 2658	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Maienschein

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to amend Sections 30322, 30324, and 30325 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to the California Coastal Commission.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2658, as introduced, Maienschein. California Coastal
Commission: ex parte communications: meetings.
   The California Coastal Act of 1976, for purposes of the act,
defines an "ex parte communication" as any oral or written
communication between a member of the California Coastal Commission
and an interested person about a matter within the commission's
jurisdiction, which does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or
other official proceeding, or on the official record of the
proceeding on the matter, but excludes from that definition any
communication between a staff member acting in his or her official
capacity and any commission member or interested person. The act
prohibits a member of the commission and an interested person from
conducting an ex parte communication, unless the member fully
discloses and makes public the ex parte communication, as specified.
   This bill would also make provisions prohibiting ex parte
communications applicable to communications between a commission
staff member and an interested party.
   Existing law authorizes any person to testify at a hearing or
other official proceeding of the commission and to submit written
comments for the record on a matter before the commission.
   This bill would require transcripts or audio recordings of those
proceedings to be promptly posted on the commission's Internet Web
site to allow for public comment, as specified.
   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.  Section 30322 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   30322.  (a) For purposes of this article, except as provided in
subdivision (b), an "ex parte communication" is any oral or written
communication between a member of the commission  or a member of
the commission staff  and an interested person, about a matter
within the commission's jurisdiction, which does not occur in a
public hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or on the
official record of the proceeding on the matter.
   (b) The following communications are not ex parte communications:
   (1) Any communication between a staff member acting in his or her
official capacity and any commission  member or interested
person.   member. 
   (2) Any communication limited entirely to procedural issues,
including, but not limited to, the hearing schedule, location,
format, or filing date.
    (3) Any communication which takes place on the record during an
official proceeding of a state, regional, or local agency that
involves a member of the commission who also serves as an official of
that agency.
    (4) Any communication between a member of the commission, with
regard to any action of another state agency or of a regional or
local agency of which the member is an official, and any other
official or employee of that agency, including any person who is
acting as an attorney for the agency.
   (5) Any communication between a nonvoting commission member and a
staff member of a state agency where both the commission member and
the staff member are acting in an official capacity.
   (6) Any communication to a nonvoting commission member relating to
an action pending before the commission, where the nonvoting
commission member does not participate in that action, either through
written or verbal communication, on or off the record, with other
members of the commission.
  SEC. 2.  Section 30324 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   30324.  (a) No commission  member,   member
or commission staff member,  nor any interested person, shall
conduct an ex parte communication unless the commission member or
commission staff member  fully discloses and makes public the
ex parte communication by providing a full report of the
communication to the executive director within seven days after the
communication or, if the communication occurs within seven days of
the next commission hearing, to the commission on the record of the
proceeding at that hearing.
   (b) (1) The commission shall adopt standard disclosure forms for
reporting ex parte communications which shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following information:
   (A) The date, time, and location of the communication.
   (B) (i) The identity of the person or persons initiating and the
person or persons receiving the communication.
   (ii) The identity of the person on whose behalf the communication
was made.
   (iii) The identity of all persons present during the
communication.
   (C) A complete, comprehensive description of the content of the ex
parte communication, including a complete set of all text and
graphic material that was part of the communication.
   (2) The executive director shall place in the public record any
report of an ex parte communication.
   (c) Communications shall cease to be ex parte communications when
fully disclosed and placed in the commission's official record.
  SEC. 3.  Section 30325 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   30325.   (a)    Nothing in this article
prohibits any person or any interested person from testifying at a
commission hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or from
submitting written comments for the record on a matter before the
commission.  Written  
   (b) Transcripts or audio recordings of all hearings, workshops, or
other written proceedings shall be promptly posted on the commission'
s Internet Web site to allow for public comment. 
    (c)     Written  comments shall be
submitted by mail or delivered to a commission office, or may be
delivered to the commission at the time and place of a scheduled 
hearing or within 30 days after the  hearing.