AB 1876: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Delta Plan: administration.

Existing law, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, establishes the Delta Stewardship Council, which consists of 7 members, and requires the council to develop, adopt, and commence implementation of a comprehensive management plan for the Delta, known as the Delta Plan.

Existing law, the Johnston-Baker-Andal-Boatwright Delta Protection Act of 1992, creates the Delta Protection Commission, which includes both state officials and members appointed by local authorities, including members who are local officials. The act requires the Delta Protection Commission to review and maintain a comprehensive long-term resource management plan for land uses within the primary zone, as defined, of the Delta, and to adopt and periodically review an economic sustainability plan containing, among other things, information and recommendations that inform the Delta Stewardship Councils policies regarding the socioeconomic sustainability of the Delta region. The act also authorizes the commission to review and provide comments and recommendations to the council on any significant project or proposed project within the scope of the Delta Plan. The act provides for the council, upon receiving recommendations from the commission, to review and, if the commission makes certain determinations, to adopt those recommendations.

This bill would make the provisions establishing the Delta Stewardship Council inoperative on July 1, 2020. The bill would provide for the Delta Protection Commission, on that date, to succeed to, and to be vested with, the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction vested in the council as of June 30, 2020. Consistent with this transfer of authority, the bill would provide for the commission to adopt, instead of recommend, various measures for inclusion in the Delta Plan, subject to making the determinations previously made by the council. The bill would make related conforming changes. By imposing new duties on local officials appointed to the commission, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

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 the statutory provisions noted above.