Senate Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Water

I think we have a quorum, but to extent any Members are missing, you can come on down to room 2200. We have just one Bill on today's agenda. The speaker is AB. 876. Before we hear presentation on this Bill, let's establish a quorum. Assistant, please call the roll.

Senators Min here, Seyarto here, Allen, Dahle here, Eggman, Grove, Hurtado, Laird here, Limon here, Padilla here, Stern.

All right. System notes that we do have a quorum, so we will hear from the speaker whenever he is able to make it down. So I guess we'll take a brief recess while we wait for the speaker. Mr. Speaker, you may proceed when ready with presenting your Bill. AB 876. Good to have you.

Well, good morning, everybody. Sorry I'm a little tardy, but appreciate you all making the time for this hearing and for this important Bill. First, I want to thank the committee staff for their work on this Bill and note that I will be accepting the proposed amendments that I know that will be happening in this committee.

Mr. Chair, this is urgency legislation. This is a Bill that is important to the district, the region that I and Senator Laird both represent, as it intends to speed up the critical 400 million dollar flood risk management project located in the Pajaro Valley, which is nestled between the counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz. And specifically this Bill.

It proposes to grant the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project exemptions from needing to secure lake and stream bed alteration agreements with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, as well as exemptions from certain water quality rules. It also seeks to grant this project an expedited CEQA process, which is loosely based on a precedent regarding dam removal along the Klamath River. In both cases, recognition of the environmental the benefits of the projects justified a less extensive environmental review, so that work could begin sooner and faster.

This Bill in particular is based on the Governor's recent Executive Order N1023, allowing the temporary streamlining of repairs to levees and rivers across California. But for this project in particular, Mr. Chair, regulatory certainty is needed. And it's needed over the lifespan of this project. It should be noted that the project will only receive these exemptions if it meets the highest environmental standards. In fact, we have incorporated extensive feedback from the environmental, the community, which is reflected in this committee's amendments.

As a result, this project is expected to result in significant environmental benefits to our region. And as I mentioned, this is important legislation for the district I represent. The district that Senator Laird represents these communities. In the Pajaro Valley. The town of Pajaro, the city of Watsonville, are some of the most disadvantaged in our state and receive some of the lowest levels of flood protection in California. We know this because in the early 1960s, a report by the US.

Army Corps of Engineers concluded that the Pajaro River levee system, which was built in 1949, was inadequate and ultimately resulted in congressional authorization to reconstruct this levee system, which was also authorized in the mid 1960s. Unfortunately, that reconstruction never occurred.

As was reported by the LA times just a few months ago, federal, state and local government officials had known for decades, for decades that the Pajaro River levee system was vulnerable to collapse, which represented a significant public safety threat to residents of this region, but never prioritized levee system repairs, in part because they believed it did not make financial sense to protect the Low income area. The result, as we all know, is that several major floods have devastated these communities over the years.

Five major floods, and that includes this past spring when hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed. Recovery is still ongoing, and local farm workers were left unemployed after the destruction of agricultural fields in the surrounding areas. Knowing the history and the existing vulnerability of the levee system, I commend so many former current federal, state and local elected leaders who have helped facilitate this flood risk management project in the Pajaro Valley.

If I haven't mentioned it, this levee upgrade is projected to provide 100 year flood protection to our region, which is greatly needed. With me. Here to testify in support is Allyson Violante, chief of Staff to Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend, who serves as the current chair of the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency. And with that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And good morning, Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee for Giving me the opportunity to address you this morning. As the speaker mentioned, I'm Allyson Violante, chief of staff to Supervisor Zach Friend, the chair of the Pajara Regional Flood Management Agency. AB 876 is the best way the state can expedite the Pajaro River Flood Project, which will help future disaster prevent future disasters. As the speaker mentioned, 876 could shave years off the project timeline and ensures that this disadvantaged community, which has seen underinvestment for decades, is protected by modern flood control infrastructure moving forward.

The communities of Pajaro and Watsonville have been living with levees that were built over six decades ago. The Low home values and the lack of federally subsidized crops grown in the area have resulted in a historic underinvestment in the federal levee system, and the community has not received the protection they deserve. Despite being an agriculture and farm worker community, the residents of Watsonville and Pajaro have been afraid to wish for rain for fear of flooding. Too many of them have lived through the repeated flooding events that have taken place along the Pajara River, including the 1995 flood that caused loss of life.

This year, following the winter rains, thousands of people and hundreds of families from the Pajaro and Watsonville communities were displaced from their homes due to the breach of the river levee in March. 6 months from the flood date today, about a dozen families still have not been rehoused. When the water receded, the families were able to return home. It was to unsafe drinking water and a sanitation system needing repairs as a result of a rupture to the sewer forced main during the flooding event.

The consequence of the breach could have been even worse, as floodwater against the levee threatened the critical infrastructure of the Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Facility for the new brink city of Watsonville. The Pajaro River Project is environmentally beneficial by design, expanding sensitive habitat, utilizing setback levees and engineering with nature initiative principles.

Doing nothing leaves the environment vulnerable to pollution from flood, as we saw this year with the rupture of the sewer, and leaves the river corridor overly narrow and subject to detrimental vegetation clearing that is required under current maintenance protocols. Work recently started on the emergency repairs from this year's 2023 breach, and the timeline for repair to complete is before this winter.

Residents are thankful for this expedited work by the Army Corps, but they live with the realization that the rest of the levee system is still vulnerable. As California deals with the frontlines of climate change, from historic fires to historic floods, the sense of urgency for action becomes acute. What is proposed here would help our region rebuild and prevent future catastrophes in an expedited way.

The state has the ability to help right the wrong that the federal government never did, and the state has been an enormous partner in this process. AB 876 would allow construction of the project to begin much more quickly and condense the construction phase from ten to twelve years to as little as five to ten. With the passage of eight, seven, six, it is possible for developers where the project could break ground as early as next year. I'm available for any questions you may have.

Thank you very much. Let's hear from any other support witnesses we have here in room 2200. If you could just limit your testimony to your name or affiliation and position on the bill, that'd be great.

Thank you. Chair and Members Ashley Walker with the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the Monterey County Water Resources Agency in support.

Good morning, chair and Members, Matthew Allen with Western Growers. We're also pleased to support the Bill. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning. Alex Bearing, California Farm Bureau in support. Thanks.

Thank you. All right, seeing no one else in the room, we'll move to any lead witnesses in opposition, but I don't believe there are any. Okay. Anybody else in the room want to speak in opposition to the Bill? All right, seeing nobody in the room, we'll move on to any witnesses waiting to testify via the teleconference service. We'll limit teleconference testimony to 15 minutes total. I don't think that'll be a problem.

Those wishing to testify should limit their comments, their name, affiliation, and position on the measure. Again, as a reminder, today's participant number is 877-226-8163 and the access code is 670-9796. Moderator if you could please prompt any individuals waiting to testify in support or opposition of AB 876, we will begin again.

If you would like to make comment on AB 876 please press 10. The first comment is from line 14. Your line is now open.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman of Members, Matt Cremins here on behalf of the California Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers. We unfortunately didn't get our letter in prior to the hearing, but wanted to be here to offer our support. Thank you.

Thank you.

Again, if you'd like to make comment, please press 10, and there are no further comments at this point, Mr. Chair.

Very controversial Bill here for your mr. Speaker. We'll bring this back to the Members then. Do any Members have questions or comments? Senator Laird?

I have a comment. First, let me thank the speaker for bringing the Bill. And I am a co author, and I think there's just a brief context that will help even further make the case for this Bill. Because legislation was done in 2006 that enabled the state share, and then the money was in the flood bond in Prop 20. And it was clear that as a disadvantaged community, the local community couldn't raise the money.

And so in 2021, we did something that hadn't really been done before. The speaker and I partnered on a Bill where the state bought out the local share. And it was because they were getting grants as a disadvantaged community, but the state capped it at the 70% local. And when that Bill was signed, it allowed for the state to Fund entirely the state and local share.

As a result, the federal government came in fully with their share through the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. And because the locals didn't have that tremendous burden, they voted a year ago to tax themselves for the operations and maintenance of this. So last October, we celebrated on the levy a fully funded levee project, and we couldn't make it. The levy broke this winter, and the project would start in 2025. And what this does is really allow it to start in 2024.

And the real problem is we're still going to have an El Nino this year. We're still going to have to try to get through one more winter. And as was mentioned by the speaker and the witness, there were major environmental benefits and there's been major environmental work that's been done already. So this is not absenting the environmental work or the environmental protections, they're in the Bill and they're in the work that's been done. So this is really vital for the local region, and at the appropriate time, I will look forward to making the motion.

Okay. Senator Eggman.

Thank you very much, Mr Chair. And thank you, Mr. Speaker, for bringing this forward. I know how important these district bills are. I think I've shared with you before that some of my family came from the Watsonville area, and my dad ran Bees in San Benito County up through that area. So I'm very familiar with that area.

And much like mine, these different valleys, they are often left out and often the poorest and the brownest people are left without the levee protection that often is prepared for agriculture and other things. So if the Senator hadn't already moved the Bill, I was going to move it and just I know there's a district Bill for you. And I think I mentioned to you before, I also have a district Bill SB 586. If any of your staff want to look, got a little hung up, we hope to get that one moving again too. But I'm excited to support your district Bill as well. Thank you.

That is noted.

Thank you, Senator Eggman. We'll see what we can do. Senator Limon.

Thank you. And, you know, there's two things that I think that the speaker mentioned in your comments. One, that this was coming also as a result of the Executive order that's been issued. And I just want to go on record in saying that I think that that Executive order is really critical for a lot of parts of the state. But it also is set to end in November.

And I'm not sure how many communities are going to be able to expedite the needed work to protect the communities from flooding, to ensure that the levees are there. And I represent a community as well with the Santa Maria River Guadalupe, its agriculture area, predominantly Latino, that saw a very small, know impact compared to what the Pajaro community has experienced. But nonetheless, I am watching how impacted our communities are.

And you also said something else in your comments related to the fact that very often cost is a reason that we don't protect some of these communities, right? Because there's less people, they're more rural. And I think that that is a big issue, and we are certainly seeing that play out in other parts of the state. So while this is a district issue, the impacts that it's have are also impacts that other communities are seeing across the state.

So those were two things I just wanted to call out. And my hope is that if communities aren't able to rebuild and do what they need to do by the November deadline with this Executive order expires, that we collectively will understand that that perhaps may need to be extended for the state.

Thank you, Senator Limon. Any other questions or comments from Members? Senator Grove?

Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for bringing this Bill forward. I'd like to echo my colleagues comments from Stockton. We represent the north and south central valleys. A lot of the times, I mean, 70% of the people in the area are brown communities that work in our farm fields and that provide business, small businesses, and we often get left behind. So I appreciate your district Bill, but we have a district Bill, too, just like to echo those comments. Thank you, sir, for bringing this forward.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments from Members? All right, well, I want to thank this speaker for bringing this Bill forward and for working with my staff. I will note that there are amends, and we'll be voting on amendments today, and the Bill will be taken up in approach. The speaker has agreed to take amends. These amends may also change slightly to reflect feedback from the Governor's office between now and the Appropriations Committee. I want to thank you for bringing this Bill forward.

It is a district Bill, but as you noted, as your witness noted, this has not been seriously invested in since 1949. And we have shamefully neglected our infrastructure over the last century. We need to do a much better job of reinvesting in our infrastructure, building out new infrastructure to meet our needs in the 21st century. And we have a water bond coming up that I think will be very a General climate bond.

And the discussions of that are being the parameters of that are being worked out right now. And I know you're working closely on that, but I think it's important that we start to really address some of these infrastructure gaps throughout the state. So thank you for bringing this Bill forward. And we do have a motion from Senator Laird. Senator, speaker Rivas, would you like to close?

I just really appreciate the opportunity to be here and appreciate all the comments and look forward to working with you all. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, we have a motion from Senator Laird. The motion is do pass to appropriations. Assistant, please call the roll.

Senators Min aye. Seyarto. Allen aye. Dahle. Eggman aye. Grove aye. Hurtado aye. Laird aye. Limon aye. Padilla aye. Stern aye.

I'm going to leave that Bill open for now for Members to vote on this. The count is 9-0. What's that? We will take a short recess in the meantime. All right, we are back in session and hearing. Okay, so the Assistant we have a 9-0 vote on AB 876. Could you please call the roll?

And the motion is due pass to appropriations with chair voting aye. Senator Seyarto aye. Dahle aye.

Okay, that Bill is out. Eleven ayes zero no's. Thank you, everyone, for your patience and cooperation. We have concluded the agenda. Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee is adjourned.