BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1172| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 1172 Author: Hancock (D) Amended: 8/9/16 Vote: 27 SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 3/29/16 AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Vidak, Wolk SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 4/14/16 (Consent) AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: McGuire, Runner ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/15/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Tidelands and submerged lands: City of Albany SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill repeals the existing granting statute to the City of Albany to eliminate the requirement that the trust lands be used in a manner consistent with the obsolete Waterfront Plan from 1977. This bill replaces that outdated granting statute with a new grant of public trust lands that is consistent with city's current waterfront improvement plans. SB 1172 Page 2 Assembly Amendments clarify the definition of Public Trust Doctrine to mean the common law doctrine as enunciated by the court in Marks v. Whitney (1971) 6 Cal.3d 251 and National Audubon Society v. Superior Court (1983) 33 Cal. 3d 419 and other relevant judicial decisions. These judicial decisions specify the state's authority as sovereign to exercise a continuous supervision and control over the navigable waters of the state, the lands underlying those waters, and nonnavigable tributaries to navigable waters, including the protection of maritime or water dependent commerce, navigation, and fisheries, and the preservation of lands in their natural state for scientific study, open space, wildlife habitat, and water-oriented recreation. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Protects, pursuant to the common law doctrine of public trust (Public Trust Doctrine), the public's right to use California's waterways for commerce, navigation, fishing, boating, natural habitat protection, and other water-oriented activities. The Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled and unfilled tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes, streams, and other navigable waterways (public trust lands) are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people of California. 2)Establishes that the State Lands Commission (SLC) is the steward and manager of the state's public trust lands. SLC has direct administrative control over the state's public trust lands and oversight authority over public trust lands granted by the Legislature to local public agencies (granted lands). SB 1172 Page 3 3)Grants the City of Albany (city) three parcels of submerged tidelands along the San Francisco Bay waterfront for the establishment, improvement, and conduct of a harbor and other structures and utilities necessary for the promotion of commerce and navigation. 4)Amends the original granting statute to require future developments be consistent with the Albany Waterfront Plan of 1977, which permits recreation-oriented development, including a small craft marina and retail complex. 5)Authorizes the City to grant franchises and leases on the granted land for up to 66 years. 6)Allocates, excess revenue from the granted land as follows: 85% to the General Fund, and 15% to the City. This bill: 1)Requires the city to submit a trust lands use plan to the SLC for approval on or before January 1, 2022. The plan must describe (a) any proposed development, preservation, or other use of the trust lands; (b) the projected statewide benefit; (c) the proposed method of financing any development; (d) an estimated timetable for implementing each phase of the plan; and (e) how the city proposes to protect the resources and facilities on the trust lands, particularly from the impacts of sea level rise. 2)Requires the city to submit a report to the SLC on or before September 30, 2022, and every five years thereafter describing how the trust lands have been used. 3)Requires the city to establish an accounting system to track revenue received from the trust lands and any associated assets. Any revenue received must be kept separate from other city money and can only be spent in a way that is consistent with this bill. 4)Requires the city to get approval from the SLC before spending SB 1172 Page 4 trust revenues for any large capital improvement project ($250,000 or greater). 5)Requires 20 percent of trust revenue be transmitted to the SLC. Of this amount transmitted, 80 percent will be put in the General Fund and the remaining 20 percent will be deposited in the Land Bank Fund pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 8600) of the Public Resources Code. Money in the Land Bank Fund is used to manage the SLC's granted lands program. 6)Permits the city to lease the land, under specified conditions, for less than 50 years. Background Since 1850, the California Legislature has periodically granted public trust lands to local jurisdictions to hold and manage according to various terms and conditions. These lands remain subject to the Public Trust Doctrine and the SLC oversees the grants to ensure the use and management of the trust lands is consistent with the Public Trust Doctrine and granting statutes. Chapter 211, Statutes of 1919 granted the city three parcels of submerged tidelands along the San Francisco Bay waterfront. These lands include what is now known as the Albany Neck and Bulb portion of the waterfront. The Neck and Bulb are located at the base of Buchanan Street and protrude into the bay. That granting statute was later amended (Chapter 1223, Statutes of 1977) to require future development is consistent with the Albany Waterfront Plan. The Albany Waterfront Plan reflected the city's plans at that time for recreation-oriented development, including constructing a small craft marina and retail complex. However, the plan was never implemented. Since 1977, policy at the local, regional, and state levels has shifted away from commercial waterfront development on the publically-owned portion of the Albany waterfront. The city is currently in the process of developing a new plan for improving the Albany Neck and Bulb area and transitioning the area to become part of the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. The SB 1172 Page 5 McLaughlin Eastshore State Park includes tidelands and upland property along 8.5 miles of shoreline extending from the City of Richmond in the north to Emeryville and Oakland in the south. The Albany Bulb and Neck is currently open to the public for recreational uses. At its December 7, 2015 city council meeting, the city authorized city staff to work with the SLC and the Legislature to draft legislation updating the terms of the tidelands grant on the city-owned portion of the Albany waterfront. This bill is the result of those efforts. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)Potential minor revenue increase. Existing law requires 85% of excess trust revenues to be deposited in the GF. This bill requires 20% of annual gross revenue to be transmitted to the state. Of that amount, 20% is deposited into the Land Bank Fund for use by SLC and the remaining 80% is deposited into the GF. Historically, granted lands rarely generate excess revenue. The change from a percentage of excess trust revenues to annual gross revenue could increase revenue to the state, both to the GF and SLC. However, this area is currently used as public open space and does not generate revenue. It is unlikely that this bill will result in a significant change to state revenue. 2)SLC costs are absorbable within existing resources. SUPPORT: (Verified 8/15/16) City of Albany State Lands Commission SB 1172 Page 6 OPPOSITION: (Verified8/15/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author stated that this bill is designed to assist the "City of Albany with managing and improving its waterfront." According to the State Lands Commission, "?the city is in the process of developing a new plan to improve its waterfront and transition the Neck and Bulb area to become part of the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. The city's legislative granting statute, however, is inconsistent with the city's current waterfront improvement plans. SB 1172 eliminates the requirement that the trust lands are used in a manner that is consistent with the obsolete Waterfront Plan. The bill requires the city to submit a new land use plan and sea-level rise analysis to the commission for approval. The bill also modernizes non-discrimination language in the granting statute to reflect current law, aligns the city's financial reporting requirements with current law, and deletes various obsolete provisions." ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/15/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Olsen Prepared by:Matthew Dumlao / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 SB 1172 Page 7 8/19/16 19:54:01 **** END ****