Agreement Reached on Flood Protection
SB 5 (Machado), a bill signed by the Governor in October and supported by CBIA, adopts a comprehensive, system-wide approach to flood protection – assigning responsibilities to state and local agencies and creating performance standards, not moratoria.
Dubbed the “Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008”, SB 5 is designed to update the state’s near-dormant flood-protection plan and establish a higher level of flood protection – ultimately 200 years. Areas in the watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers that already have 10,000 residents or are planned to have that many residents must achieve the 200-year standard by 2025.
Under the bill, the state Reclamation Board, renamed the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, must adopt the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (the Plan) by July 1, 2012. The Plan must contain a description of area flood-protection facilities, including their performance; their design capacities; associated risk factors such as overtopping, under-seepage, seismic activity and climate change; and a funding plan for making necessary improvements.
After the Plan has been adopted, SB 5 gives cities and counties 24 months to amend their general plans to incorporate the data and information contained in the Plan, establish goals, policies and objectives to reduce flood risks as well as feasible implementation measures to carry out those goals, policies and objectives. After the local general plans have been amended, cities and counties will have 12 months to amend their zoning ordinances to be consistent with the Plan. SB 5 says that all of these steps should be completed by July 1, 2015.
Once general plans and zoning ordinances have become effective, development projects must demonstrate compliance with the appropriate level of protection. (Amendments to the general plan and zoning ordinances do not become effective until the statute of limitations has expired to challenge the amendments or if there is a legal challenge to the amendments or any associated environmental document, when a court has issued a final decision upholding the amendments and environmental documents.)
Compliance with the flood-protection provisions of general plans and zoning ordinances is demonstrated by meeting any of the following three criteria: 1) the project has already achieved the appropriate level of flood protection; 2) conditions (fees, elevation of the structure, flood insurance, compliance with building codes applicable to floodplains, participation in assessment districts or any other condition within the authority of a city or county) have been imposed that will eventually result in the achievement of the applicable level of flood protection; or 3) adequate progress is being made towards achievement of the applicable level of flood protection. “Adequate progress” is determined by a scope of the project and a schedule of funding and construction developed by the local flood management agency. Cities and counties may take advantage of the “adequate progress” option provided the local flood management agency can demonstrate it is on track to raise and expend funds and complete improvements according to the schedule.
