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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05182004 - C17 Contra Costa TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS County FROM: DENNIS M. BARRY, AICP Community Development Director � DATE: May 18, 2004 SUBJECT: REPORT ON AB 2476, SPONSORED BY WOLK, SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA AND THE DELTA PROTECTION COMMISSION SPECIFIC REOUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION{S} & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION OPPOSE AB 2476, Sponsored by Asemblymember Wolk, on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which would expend the composition, mandate and jurisdiction of the Delta Protection Commission, as recommended by the Community Development Director. FISCAL IMPACT As yet undetermined financial impacts would occur to the County if this legislation were enacted,through fees to be paid by the County to the Delta Protection Commission (some or all of which may be passed down to the permit applicant), and through increased staff time associated with additional permit responsibilities, and increased interaction with the Commission. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE 'RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR x RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COIVIMI EE L.--w--APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURES � )s ACTION OF BOARD N mmy 18, 2004 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT None AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: Roberta Goulart (925) 335-1226) ATTESTED may 18, 2004 cc: Community Development Department (CDD) JOHN SWEETEN, CLERK OF County Administrator's Office THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY € w €, a, , .# u U '' , DEPUTY BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS As early as the late 1970"s and during thel 980's, Contra Costa County sat on the Delta Advisory Planning Council (DAPC), a group comprised of the five Delta Counties which met monthly to discuss issues of mutual concern. In the early 1990's Senator Pat Johnson, concerned over the potential for significant development leap-frogging into the Delta, introduced legislation that was later passed, creating the Delta Protection Act of 1992. The Act provided for a more formal entity, the Delta Protection Commission. The Commission's mandate provided for the protection of agricultural areas, creation of recreation opportunities and habitat protection in the Delta proper, delineated as the Primary Management Zone (PMZ), the core of the Delta. A Secondary Management Zone was also created on the periphery, over which the Commission had no control. The two zones together comprised the legal, statutorily defined Delta, Contra Costa County, with the other four delta counties, has a seat on the Delta Protection Commission. The Commission produced a Land Use and Resource Management Plan for the Primary Management Zone, and each county and city within the PMZ had to become consistent with it, by amending it's General Plan. The Commission, with the completion of the Resource Management Plan, and establishment of consistency with the Plan on the part of the land use agencies in the Delta, had essentially completed it's mission. Since that time, the Commission continues to meet, and has remained active relative to its core issues of agricultural protection (primary), and recreation and habitat protection to lesser degrees. In recent years, County participation has been minimal, due to the heavy agricultural bent of the Commission in the larger Delta, while unincorporated agricultural lands in this County are not largely impacted, due to protection of the agricultural core, the urban limit line and to a limited extent, the Agricultural Land Trust. AB 2476 Recently, legislation was introduced by Assemblymember Wolk, which revises the Commission's composition, increasing citizen participation and eliminating most state agencies. Each of the five delta counties would maintain a seat on the Commission. The legislation vastly increases the Commissions powers and duties, allowing the Commission authority over lands in the Secondary Management Zone, where development could affect the Primary Management Zone. The legislation would require the Commission to collect fees from Counties and Cities to allow development in those Secondary Management Zone areas. Under this legislation the Commission would have authority over (among other things) implementation of habitat acquisitions and conservation easements, multiobjective flood control, habitat restoration, agricultural land conservation, levees, fisheries, wetlands, water quality, non-point source pollution, water reservoir development, and coordinated marine patrol. The recommendation to oppose is offered for a number of reasons. First, should the legislation move forward, the revised composition of the Commission would not be consistent with the level of responsibility placed on it. It would be difficult for the Commission to deal with the size and complexity of the tasks as enumerated in the legislation. In addition, the legislation removes as voting members, the very relevant state agencies which have served this Commission faithfully for over a decade. Second, this would establish an additional layer of administrative redundancy related to the tasks as defined, as there are a large number of agencies already dealing with these issues. For example, CALFED has been tasked with addressing water quality, reliability and ecosystem restoration in the Delta (CALFED being comprised of all of the relevant agencies, with support from stakeholders, as well as state and federal funding). There are several state and federal agencies with authority over reservoir permitting. Each of the five Delta counties have existing departments and expertise to deal with flood control issues. All of the five Delta Counties have completed or will complete Habitat Conservation Plans (RCP's), which address preservation (and strengthening) of 2 species, and addressing mitigation requirements of development specific to species and habitat need in the region, In addition, it would be difficult for the revised Commission as outlined to dictate land use policy and mitigation specifics to the cities and counties. Third, the issue of Commission authority over the Secondary Management,done is directly in conflict with the rationale and intent of the Commission when the 1992 delta Protection Act was enacted. At that time, substantial work was completed by Senator ,Johnson and his staff, working with a large number of stakeholders (including the County) to place the boundaries to protect the delta while allowing development to occur in outlying (Secondary Management Zone) areas. (The boundary between the Primary and Secondary Zones is consistent with the County's Urban Limit bine. The Secondary Management Zone covers much of east county, including Pittsburg, Antioch, Hotchkiss Tract, Brentwood, Syron and discovery Bay). To allow the Commission to have authority over the Secondary Zone would have a potentally significant impact on the County's (and cities) permitting authority and would install an additional bureaucratic layer impacting applicants and the time constraints placed upon the County by other regulations such as the Permit Streamlining Act. The Commission currently has the ability to comment on development occurring in the Secondary Zone areas. Finally, the legislation would require fees to be paid to the Commission for development occurring in the Secondary Management Zone, which could be used for staff or other sunoort of the Commission, As mentioned above, the County is in the process of developing an HCP which will provide appropriate mitigation fees for mitigation purposes. There are other agencies such as the State Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service that provide this mitigation expertise, and have provided this expertise to the County in development of the MCP. Dote: in a separate budget action, Assemblymember Wolk has recommended to the Assembly Budget Committee that the delta Counties pay half of the delta Protection Commissions budget, with the state continuing to pay the other half of the approximately $300,000 budget for I`Y04/05. 3 AB 2476 Assembly Bill - AMENDED Page 1 of 9 BILL NUMBER: AB 2476 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 23, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wolk FEBRUARY 19, 2004 An act to amend Sections 29702, 29703, 29705, 29706, 29707, 29735, 29741, 29753, 29756, 297556.5, 29760, 29761, 29762, 29763, 29763.5, 29764, 29765, 23771., 29776, and 29777 of, to add Sections 29740.5 and 29765.5 to, and to repeal Section 29761.5 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2476, as amended, "Volk. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (1) Existing law creates the De .ta Protection Commission and specifies that the membership includes, among others, one member from each of the 5 different reclamation districts located within the prirn.ary zone who is a resident of the delta and elected by the trustees of the reclamation districts, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, the Director of Fish and Game, the Director of Food and Agriculture, the y„_—T,Q Executive Officer of the State Lands Commission, the Director of Boating and Waterways, and the Director of Mater Resources, or their designees. Existing law also authorizes each reclamation district to nominate one director to be a member of the commission. This bill would, instead of the members specified above, require membership of the commission to include 2 members who are representative of agricultural interests, 2 members who are representative of environmental interests, 2 members who are representative of recreation interests, 2 members representing reclamation districts, the public member of the California "., n-14Eay-Delta Authority appointed by the Governor to represent the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta Region, the Secretary of the Resources Agency or the secretary's designee, and the Secretary of Food and Agriculture or the secretary` s designee. The bill would also add specified nonvoting members to the commission. The bill would also revise certain legislative findings relating to the delta. (2) Existing law vests the commission with various powers and duties relating to the delta. Existing law requires local governments to undertake various actions with respect to the delta. The bill would revise some of the commission's powers and duties by, among other things, requiring the commission, by October 1, 2006, to identify lands within the secondary zone, that, if developed, would have an impact on the primary zone, and would expand the commission's authority, and local governments' duties, with respect to those lands within the secondary zone. By expanding local governments` duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also provide that a change or update to the resource management plan adopted, reviewed, and maintained by the commission may be approved by the commission only after at least 3 http://www.leginfd.ca.gov/pubfbill/asm/ab 2451-2500/ab_2476_bill_20040426_ar ended—... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill -AMEN-DED Page 2 of 9 public hearings, as specified. (3) Existing saw requires the Director of State Planning and Research to submit to the commission comments and recommendations on the resource management plan, before the commission adopts the plan. The bill would also require the director to submit comments to the commission before the pian is updated. (4) Existing law authorizes a person to appeal to the commission from specified actions by a local government or local agency with res-pect to the delta. If an appealed action is remanded by the commission to the local government or local agency, existing law authorizes the local government or local agency to modify the appealed action and resubmit the matter for review by the commission. This bill would require, rather than authorize, the local government or local agency to modify the appealed action and resubmit it to the commission for review, thereby imposing a state--mandated local program. (5) Existing law creates the San Joaquin Delta Protection Fund in the State 'Treasury and provides that any money in the fund is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for support of the cormmission in an amount not to exceed $250, 000 in any fiscal year. This :Dill would delete the cap on the amount of money that may be appropriated from the fund for support of the commission in any fiscal year. (6) The bill would require a local government's general pian amendment for the secondary zone that results in the conversion of agricultural land or habitat from a rural use to an urban classification, to comply with specified mitigation requirements relating to easements or fees for easements . By imposing that requirement on local governments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require those fees to be paid to the commission and deposited in the fund, as specified. (7) The bill would make other related substantive and nonsubstantive changes and delete obsolete provisions of law. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1, 000, 000. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECT TON 1.. Section 29702 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29702. The Legislature further finds and declares that the basic goals of the state for the delta are the following: (a) Protect, maintain, and, where possible, enhance and restore the overall quality of the delta environment and its historical http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/t)ub/bill/asm/ab 2451-2500/ab_2476i bill 20040426_amended ... 5/1112004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill - AMENDED Page 3 of 9 importance, including, but not limited to, agriculture, wildlife habitat, and recreational activities. (b) Assure orderly, balanced conservation and development of delta land resources. (c) Improve flood protection by structural and nonstructural means to ensure an increased level of public health and safety. SEC. 2. Section 29703 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29703. The Legislature further finds and declares as follows: (a) The delta is an agricultural region of great value to the state and nation and the retention and continued cultivation and production of ertile peatlands and prime soils are of significant value. (b) The agricultural land of the delta, while adding greatly to the economy of the state, also provides a significant value as open space and habitat for water fowl using the Pacific K yway, as well as other wildlife, and the continued dedication and retention of that delta land in agricultural production contributes to the preservation and enhancement of open space and habitat values. (c) Agricultural lands located within the primary zone should be protected from the intrusion of nonagricultural uses in the secondary zone. SEC. 3. Section 29705 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29705. The Legislature further rinds and declares the following: (a) The delta's wildlife and wildlife habitats, including waterways, vegetated unleveed channel islands, wetlands, and riparian forests and vegetation corridors, are highly valuable, providing critical wintering habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds using the Pacific Flyway, as well as certain plant species, various rare and endangered wildlife species of birds, mammals, and fish, and numerous amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. (b) These wildlife species and their habitat are valuable, unique, and irreplaceable resources of critical statewide significance, and it is the policy of the state to preserve and protect these resources and their diversity for the enjoyment of current and future generations. (c) Wildlife habitat located within the primary zone should be protected from the intrusion of nonagricultural uses in the secondary zone. SEC. 4 . Section 29706 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29706. The Legislature further finds and declares that the resource values of the delta have deteriorated, and that further deterioration threatens the maintenance and sustainability of the delta`s agriculture, ecology, fish and wildlife populations, recreational opportunities, historical importance, and economic productivity. SEC. 5. Section 29707 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29707. The Legislature further finds and declares that there is no process by which state and national interests and values can be protected and enhanced for the delta, and that, to protect the regional, state, and national interests for the long-term agricultural productivity, economic vitality, historic value, and ecological health of the delta resources, it is necessary to provide and implement delta land use planning and management by local governments. SEC. 6. Section 29735 of the Public Resources Code is amended to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab-2451-2500/ab_2476 bill_20040426i_amen ed_... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill - AMENDED Page 4 of 9 read: 29735. There is hereby created the Delta Protection Commission consisting of 19 members as follows: (a) One member of the board of supervisors of each of the five counties within the delta whose supervisorial district is within the primary zone shall be appointed by the board of supervisors of the county. (b) Three elected city council members shall be selected and appointed by city selection committees, from regional and area councils of government, one in each of the following areas: (1) One from the north delta, consisting of the Counties of yo:llo and Sacramento. (2) One from the south delta, consisting of the County of San Joaquin. (3) One from the west delta, consisting of the Counties of Contra Costa and Solano. (c) Two members representative of agricultural interests (one of whom shall be a landowner or represent landowners within the primary zone) . (d) Two members representative of environmental interests (one of whom shall be a landowner or represent landowners within the primary zone) . (e) Two members representative of recreation interests (one of whom shall represent historic preservation interests) . (f) Two members representing reclamation districts within the primary and secondary zones of the delta, chosen through a selection process established by the five reclamation districts in the region. (g) The public member of the California Bay-Delta Authority appointed by the Governor to represent the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta �L)Qlt-a-1-P (dei Lal Region. (h) The Secretary of the Resources Agency, or the secretary's designee. (i) The Secretary of Food and .Agriculture, or the secretary's designee. SEC. 7. Section 29740.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 29740.5. The director of each of the entities specified in subdivisions (a) to (g) , inclusive, shall., and the director of each of the entities specified in subdivisions (h) to (k) , inclusive, may, designate an employee of the entity to participate as a nonvoting member in the activities of the commission: (a) Department of Parks and Recreation. (b) Department of Water Resources. (c) Department of Fish and Game. (d) State Lands Commission. (e) Department of Boating and Waterways. (f) State Reclamation Board. (g) Department of Conservation. (h) United States Army Corps of Engineers. (i) United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (J) United States Fish and Wildlife Service. (k) National Marine Fisheries Service. SEC. S. Section 29741 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29741. A1l of the commission's meetings shall be held in a city within the delta. SEC. 9. Section 29753 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29753. The commission may appoint advisory committees, as http:/ www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asni/ab_2451-2500/ab_2.47'b—bill 20040426—amended ... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill - AMENDED Page 5 of 9 necessary, for the purpose of providing the commission with tamely comments, advice, and information. The commission may appoint committees from its membership or may appoint additional advisory committees from members of other interested public agencies and private groups. The commission shall seek advice and recommendations from advisory committees appointed by local governments that are involved in subject matters affecting the delta. SEC. 10. Section 29756 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29756. The commission may promote, facilitate, and administer the acquisition of voluntary private and public habitat and agricultural conservation easements in the delta. SEC. 11. Section 29756.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29756.5. The coi-mmission may act as the facilitating agency for the implementation of any programs for multiobjective flood control, ;pint habitat restoration or enhancement, or agricultural '.and conservation, Located within the primary zone and secondary zone of the delta. SEC. 12. Section 29760 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29760. (a) (1) The commission shall review and maintain the resource management plan for land uses within, and that may have an impact on, the primary zone of the delta. (2) On or before October ?, 2006, the commission shall identify lands within the secondary zone, that, if developed, would have an impact on the primary zone. (b) The resource management plan shall meet the following recuirements: (1) Protect and preserve the cultural values and economic vitality that reflect the history, natural heritage, and human resources of the delta. (2) Conserve and protect the quality of renewable resources. (3) Preserve and protect agricultural viability. (4) Restore, improve, and manage levee systems by promoting strategies, including, but not limited to, methods and procedures that advance the adoption and implementation of coordinated and uniform standards among governmental agencies for the maintenance, repair, and construction of both public and private levees. (5) Preserve and protect delta dependent fisheries and their habitat. (6) Preserve and protect riparian and wetlands habitat, and promote and encourage a net increase in both the acreage and values of those resources on public Lands and through voluntary cooperative arrangements with private property owners. (7) Preserve and protect the water quality of the delta, both for instream purposes and for human use and consumption. (8) Preserve and protect open---space and outdoor recreational opportunities. (9) preserve and protect private property interests from trespassing and vandalism. (10) Preserve and protect opportunities for controlled public access and use of public lands and waterways consistent with the protection of natural resources and private property interests. (11) Preserve, protect, and maintain navigation. (12) Protect the delta from: any development that .results in any significant loss of habitat or agricultural land. (13) Promote strategies for the funding, acquisition, and maintenance of voluntary cooperative arrangements, such as http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2451-2500/ab 2476_bill_20040426_amended ... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Dill - AMENDED Page 6 of 9 conservation easements, between property owners and conservation groups that protect wildlife habitat and agricultural land, while not impairing the integrity of levees. (14) Permit water reservoir and habitat development that is compatible with other uses. (c) The resource management pian shall not supersede the authority of local governments over areas within the secondary zone that do not impact the primary zone's resources. (d) To facilitate, in part, the requirements specified in paragraphs (8) , (9) , (10) , and (11) of subdivision (b) , the commission shat include in the resource management plan, in consultation with all law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction in the delta, a strategy for the implementation of a coordinated marine patrol system throughout the delta that will improve law enforcement and coordinate the use of resources by all jurisdictions to ensure an adequate level of public safety. The strategic plan shall identify resources to implement that coordination. The commission does not have authority to abrogate the existing authority of any law enforcement agency. (e) To the extent that any of the requirements specified in this section are in conflict, nothing in this division shall deny the right of the landowner to continue the agricultural use of the land. SEC. 13. Section 29761 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29761. The Director of State Planning and Research shall submit comments and recommendations on the resource management plan for the commission's consideration, prior to the pan's adoption or update. SEC. 14. Section 29761.5 of the Public Resources Code is repealed. SEC. 15. Section 29762 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29762. A change or update to the resource management plan may be approved by the commission only after at least three public hearings, with at least one hearing held in a city in the north delta, one hearing held in a city -'in the south delta, and one hearing held in a city in the west delta. SEC. 16. Section 29763 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29763. Within 180 days from the date of the adoption of the resource management plan or any amendments, changes, or updates, to the resource management plan, by the commission, all local governments shall submit to the commission proposed amendments that will cause their .general plans to be consistent with the criteria in Section 29763.5 with respect to land located within the primary zone. SEC. 17. Section 29753.5 of the public; Resources Code is amended to read: 29763.5. The commission shall act on proposed local government general plan amendments within 60 days from the date of submittal of the proposed amendments. The commission shall approve the proposed general plan: amendments by a majority vote of the commission membership, with regard to lands within, or causing impact on the resources of, the primary cone, only after making all of the fol"+_owing written findings as to the potential impact of the proposed amendments, to the extent that those impacts will not increase requirements or restrictions upon agricultural practices in the primary zone, based on substantial evidence in the record: (a) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab-2451-2500/ab_2476_bill 20040426—amended_... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill - AMENTIMED Page 7 of 9 that is consistent with the general plan, are consistent with the resource :management plan. (b) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not result in wetland or riparian loss. (c) The general plan, and development approved or proposed that .is consistent with the general plan, will not result in the degradation of water quality. (d) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not result in increased nonpoint source pollution. (e) The generai plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not result in the degradation or reduction of Pacific Flyway habitat. (f) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the genera'_ plan, will not result in reduced public access, provided the access does not infringe on private property sights. (g) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not expose the public to increased flood hazard. (h) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not adversely impact agricultural lands or increase the potential for vandalism, trespass, or the creation of public or private nuisances on public or private _and. (i) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not result in the degradation or impairment of levee integrity. (j ) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not adversely impact navigation. (k) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not result in any increased requirements or restrictions upon agricultural practices in the primary zone. (1) The general plan, and any development approved or proposed that is consistent with the general plan, will not result in degradation to the cultural or historical value of delta communities. SEC. 18. Section 29764 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read. 29764. This division does not confer any permitting authority upon the commission or require any local government to conform its general plan, or land use entitlement decisions, to the resource management plan, except with regard to lends within, or that may have an impact on, the primary zone. The resource management plan does not preempt local government general plans for lands within the secondary zone, except for those lands that have been identified as lands that, if developed, would have an impact on the primary zone. SEC. 19. Section 29765 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read. 29765. Prior to the commission approving the general plan amendments of the local government, the Local government may approve development within the primary zone only after making all of the following written findings on the basis of substantial evidence in the record: (a) The development will not result in wetland or riparian loss. (b) The development will not result in the degradation of water http://vvwv.leginfo.ca.govl-Fub/bill/asm/ab-2451-2500/ab-2476_bill_20040426 mended-... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill -AMENDED Page 8 of 9 cua .ity. (c) The development will not result in increased nonpoint source pollution or soil erosion, including subsidence or sedimentation. (d) The development will not result in degradation or reduction of Pacific Flyway habitat. (e) The development will not result in .reduced public access, provided that access does not infringe upon private property rights. (f) The development will not expose the public to increased flood hazards. (g) The development will not adversely impact agricultural lands or increase the potential for vandalism, trespass, or the creation of public or private nuisances on private or public land. (h) The development will not result in the degradation or impairment of levee integrity. (i} The development will not adversely impact navigation. ,;; The development will not result in any increased requirements or restrictions upon agricultural practices in the primary zone. (k) The development will not result in degradation to the cultural or historical value of delta communities. SEC. 20. Section 29765.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 29765.5. (a) A local government's general plan amendment for the secondary zone that results in the conversion of agricultural land or habitat from a rural use to an urban classification shall be mitigated by either agricultural or habitat conservation easements within the primary zone or areas of the secondary zone that may impact the resources of the primary zone or fees equal to the value of obtaining those easements. The mitigation easements shall be in the amount of one acre for every acre of land converted, or the fees charged for the value of obtaining those easements shall be in the amount it would cost to obtain one acre of easement for every acre of land converted. (b) When a person applies to a public agency of a local government subject to subdivision (a) .for a building permit, .license, certificate, or other entitlement for use, all .fees required by subdivision (a) shall be paid by the local government to the commission and transmitted to the Treasurer for deposit in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Protection Fund. SEC. 21. Section 29771 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29771. After a hearing on an appealed action, the commission shall either deny the appeal or remand the matter to the local government or local agency for reconsideration, after making specific findings. Upon remand, the local government or local agency shall modify the appealed action and resubmit the matter for review to the commission. A proposed action appealed pursuant to this section shall not be effective until the commission has adopted written findings, based on substantial evidence in the record, that the action is consistent with the resource management plan, the approved portions of local government general plans that implement the resource management plan, and this division. SEC. 22. Section 29776 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 29776. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Protection Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. Any money in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Protection Fund is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for support of the commission. SEC. 23. Section 29777 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: http://www.legilit-o.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2451-25 30/ab_2476_bi11-20044426_a ended_... 5/11/2004 AB 2476 Assembly Bill - AMENDED Page 9 of 9 29777. The commission shall not incur costs in excess of the amount of funds available for expenditure by the commission in any fiscal year. SFC. 24. Notwithstanding Section. 17610 of the Government Code, 7f the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section_ 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. if the statewide cost of the claim for reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1, 000, 000) , reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund. http:HNvv ov.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab-2451-2500/ab 2476;6111-20040426_amended_... 5/11/2004 5�a"��..`a. � NIA, � ,OT, ZE tj i�,a�'.�`�� w*�c`'2� , .sit £' ��"^"•���� s. `�� i.' ti�� ��� 3. kms#.-U F': 7, �Y'`F• +�,'•� Lby n :-�. � ��;.A • t