AB 2693

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law authorizes the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency to jointly develop and submit to the Legislature a specified plan for forest and watershed restoration investments in the drainages that supply the Oroville, Shasta, and Trinity Reservoirs, as prescribed. Existing law authorizes those agencies to jointly develop and propose to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature a pilot project for the coordinated, multiagency permitting of specified watershed restoration activities. Existing law establishes the Headwaters Restoration Account in the General Fund and makes the moneys in the account available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for those forest and watershed restoration purposes. This bill would instead require the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency to jointly develop and submit to the Legislature a spatially explicit plan for forest and watershed restoration investments in the drainages that supply the Oroville, Shasta, and Trinity Reservoirs. The bill would establish the Shasta, Trinity, and Oroville Watershed Restoration Administration (STOWRA) under the State Water Resources Control Board to coordinate and facilitate the restoration and conservation of the watersheds supplying the Oroville, Shasta, and Trinity Reservoirs. The bill would authorize General Fund moneys to be deposited in the Headwaters Restoration Account. The bill would require any other moneys received for purposes of the bill to be deposited in the Headwaters Restoration Special Subaccount, which the bill would establish. The bill would continuously appropriate all moneys in the subaccount to the STOWRA for purposes of the bill. The bill would require the STOWRA to provide grant funding from the Headwaters Restoration Account and the Headwaters Restoration Special Subaccount for purposes of the bill. The bill would require the STOWRA to consist of a 5-member steering committee, with voting members from the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the State Water Resources Control Board, and adjunct nonvoting members from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board. The bill would create an advisory body within the STOWRA to facilitate interagency coordination and advise on project selection, as provided. The bill would require the STOWRA, in selecting watershed restoration and conservation projects for grant funding from the Headwaters Restoration Account and the Headwaters Restoration Special Subaccount, to prioritize grantmaking opportunities that simultaneously benefit watershed function, native fish and wildlife habitat, water reliability and quality, and climate resilience. The bill would require the STOWRA, on or before January 1, 2022, to develop an implementation plan for the completion of the priority restoration and conservation projects within 15 years. The bill would require the STOWRA to provide an annual report to the Legislature detailing progress toward the comprehensive restoration of the region.