BILL ANALYSIS 1
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Darrell Steinberg, Chair |
| 2007-2008 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 2255 HEARING DATE: June 10, 2008
AUTHOR: Aghazarian URGENCY: No
VERSION: April 28, 2008 CONSULTANT: Marie Liu
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: resource land acquisition and conservation easement
registry.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Section 5096.520 of the Public Resources Code requires the
Secretary of the Resources Agency to establish a central public
registry of all conservation easements held or required by the
state, or purchased on or after January 1, 2000, with state
grant funds. For this section a "conservation easement" includes
a conservation easement, an open-space easement, and an
agricultural conservation easement as defined in 815.1 of the
Civil Code, 51075 of the Government Code, and 10211 of the
Public Resources Code, respectively.
The registry shall only include the following information:
1. The assessor's parcel number for the property covered by
the easement.
2. The purpose of the easement.
3. The location of the easement, identified by county and
nearest city.
4. The identity of the easement holder.
5. The size of the easement in acres.
6. The date the easement transaction was recorded.
7. The amount of state funding provided for the easement.
This registry is to be available to the public by January 1,
2009 and updated biennially. Items 2-6 of the registry shall be
available on the Resource Agency's web site. The Agency has
completed the Conservation Easement Registry ahead of the
statutory required deadline and may be accessed at:
http://easements.resources.ca.gov/
The Department of General Services (DGS) currently maintains a
database of state-owned interests in real property and leases
called the Statewide Property Inventory (SPI). State agencies
are required to submit information about all property purchases
and transfers. Reports generated from this database are
available to the public; however, the database, itself, is not.
Search reports of the SPI include the name of property, its
address, city, county, and whether the property is real
property, a building, or a lease.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would require the Resources Agency, by January 1,
2011, to expand the conservation easement registry to include
all resource land acquisitions (not just easements) that are
acquired or transferred by the agency or its departments,
boards, and commissions. The bill defines "resource land
acquisition" as an acquisition that is made for cultural,
natural, or recreational value.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The author states, "Providing the public information on how
state bond monies are spent will increase oversight of state
agencies and improve government accountability. This information
will also be useful for resource planning among state and local
agencies as well as local government, land trust organizations
and the public."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received.
COMMENTS
Need for improved information on resource purchases : Since 2000,
the state has spent over $2 billion for resource acquisitions,
for both fee title and conservation purchases, and resources
bonds approved by the voters in November 2006 provided up to
addition $1 billion in new land acquisitions. However, the state
does not have a complete central information database that
tracks all these resource purchases.
In 2000, the State Auditor released a report titled
"California's Wildlife Habitat and Ecosystem: The State Needs to
Improve Its Land Acquisition Planning and Oversight" (2000-101).
The Auditor found that the lack of a comprehensive inventory
system for resource acquisitions hampers the state's ability to
facilitate wise statewide land use planning that readily
includes ecosystem restoration and wildlife habitat
preservation. The Auditor recognized DGS' statewide real
property inventory, but found that it lacked important
information, including the type of land (agricultural, habitat,
etc.), that is essential for determining the state's future
acquisition needs and for evaluating the effectiveness of past
spending.
After the passage of the infrastructure bond package in November
2006, the Governor issued Executive Order S-02-07 which directed
the Department of Finance to create a website for the public to
readily access information on how bond proceeds are being
utilized. While the bond accountability website increased bond
spending transparency, this website has limited utility as a
tool to evaluate resource acquisitions because of the limited
information reported and because the information is organized by
bond instead of use.
Thus, while some of the information that would be included in
the resource acquisition registry under this bill would be
repetitive of other databases, the committee may find that such
an expanded registry is necessary for improved oversight and
planning of resource land protection.
Past legislation: The conservation easement registry was created
by SB 1360 (Kehoe, Chapter 531, Statutes of 2006) and later
expanded by AB 188 (Aghazarian, Chapter 229, Statutes of 2007).
Both these measures were heard and passed by this committee.
SUPPORT
Sierra Club
OPPOSITION
None Received