SECTIONS 66600-66607 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 66600-66607

66600. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the public
interest in the San Francisco Bay is in its beneficial use for a
variety of purposes; that the public has an interest in the bay as
the most valuable single natural resource of an entire region, a
resource that gives special character to the bay area; that the bay
is a single body of water that can be used for many purposes, from
conservation to planned development; and that the bay operates as a
delicate physical mechanism in which changes that affect one part of
the bay may also affect all other parts. It is therefore declared to
be in the public interest to create a politically-responsible,
democratic process by which the San Francisco Bay and its shoreline
can be analyzed, planned, and regulated as a unit.

66601. The Legislature further finds and declares that
uncoordinated, haphazard filling in San Francisco Bay threatens the
bay itself and is therefore inimical to the welfare of both present
and future residents of the area surrounding the bay; that while some
individual fill projects may be necessary and desirable for the
needs of the entire bay region, and while some cities and counties
may have prepared detailed master plans for their own bay lands, a
governmental mechanism must exist for evaluating individual projects
as to their effect on the entire bay; and that further piecemeal
filling of the bay may place serious restrictions on navigation in
the bay, may destroy the irreplaceable feeding and breeding grounds
of fish and wildlife in the bay, may adversely affect the quality of
bay waters and even the quality of air in the bay area, and would
therefore be harmful to the needs of the present and future
population of the bay region.

66602. The Legislature further finds and declares that certain
water-oriented land uses along the bay shoreline are essential to the
public welfare of the bay area, and that these uses include ports,
water-related industries, airports, wildlife refuges, water-oriented
recreation and public assembly, desalinization plants, upland dredged
material disposal sites, and powerplants requiring large amounts of
water for cooling purposes; that the San Francisco Bay Plan should
make provision for adequate and suitable locations for all these
uses, thereby minimizing the necessity for future bay fill to create
new sites for these uses; that existing public access to the
shoreline and waters of the San Francisco Bay is inadequate and that
maximum feasible public access, consistent with a proposed project,
should be provided.

66602.1. The Legislature further finds and declares that areas
diked off from the bay and used as saltponds and managed wetlands are
important to the bay area in that, among other things, such areas
provide a wildlife habitat and a large water surface which, together
with the surface of the bay, moderate the climate of the bay area and
alleviate air pollution; that it is in the public interest to
encourage continued maintenance and operation of the salt ponds and
managed wetlands; that, if development is proposed for these areas,
dedication or public purchase of some of these lands should be
encouraged in order to preserve water areas; that, if any such areas
are authorized to be developed and used for other purposes, the
development should provide the maximum public access to the bay
consistent with the proposed project and should retain the maximum
amount of water surface area consistent with the proposed project.

66603. The Legislature further finds and declares that the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, treating the
entire bay as a unit, has made a detailed study of all the
characteristics of the bay, including: the quality, quantity, and
movement of bay waters, the ecological balance of the bay, the
economic interests in the bay, including the needs of the bay area
population for industry and for employment, the requirements of
industries that would not pollute the bay nor interfere with its use
for recreation or other purposes, but would need sites near deepwater
channels; that the study has examined all present and proposed uses
of the bay and its shoreline, and the master plans of cities and
counties around the bay; and that on the basis of the study the
commission has prepared a comprehensive and enforceable plan for the
conservation of the water of the bay and the development of its
shoreline, entitled the San Francisco Bay Plan.

66604. The Legislature further finds and declares that in order to
protect the present shoreline and body of the San Francisco Bay to
the maximum extent possible, it is essential that the commission be
empowered to issue or deny permits, after public hearings, for any
proposed project that involves placing fill, extracting materials or
making any substantial change in use of any water, land or structure
within the area of the commission's jurisdiction.

66605. The Legislature further finds and declares:
(a) That further filling of San Francisco Bay and certain
waterways specified in subdivision (e) of Section 66610 should be
authorized only when public benefits from fill clearly exceed public
detriment from the loss of the water areas and should be limited to
water-oriented uses (such as ports, water-related industry, airports,
bridges, wildlife refuges, water-oriented recreation, and public
assembly, water intake and discharge lines for desalinization plants
and power generating plants requiring large amounts of water for
cooling purposes) or minor fill for improving shoreline appearance or
public access to the bay;
(b) That fill in the bay and certain waterways specified in
subdivision (e) of Section 66610 for any purpose should be authorized
only when no alternative upland location is available for such
purpose;
(c) That the water area authorized to be filled should be the
minimum necessary to achieve the purpose of the fill;
(d) That the nature, location, and extent of any fill should be
such that it will minimize harmful effects to the bay area, such as,
the reduction or impairment of the volume surface area or circulation
of water, water quality, fertility of marshes or fish or wildlife
resources, or other conditions impacting the environment, as defined
in Section 21060.5 of the Public Resources Code;
(e) That public health, safety, and welfare require that fill be
constructed in accordance with sound safety standards which will
afford reasonable protection to persons and property against the
hazards of unstable geologic or soil conditions or of flood or storm
waters;
(f) That fill should be authorized when the filling would, to the
maximum extent feasible, establish a permanent shoreline;
(g) That fill should be authorized when the applicant has such
valid title to the properties in question that he or she may fill
them in the manner and for the uses to be approved.

66605.1. The Legislature finds that in order to make San Francisco
Bay more accessible for the use and enjoyment of people, the bay
shoreline should be improved, developed and preserved. The
Legislature further recognizes that private investment in shoreline
development should be vigorously encouraged and may be one of the
principal means of achieving bay shoreline development, minimizing
the resort to taxpayer funds; therefore, the Legislature declares
that the commission should encourage both public and private
development of the bay shoreline.

66606. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that this title is
not intended, and shall not be construed, as authorizing the
commission to exercise its power to grant or deny a permit in a
manner which will take or damage private property for public use,
without the payment of just compensation therefor. This section is
not intended to increase or decrease the rights of any owner of
property under the Constitution of the State of California or the
United States.

66606.6. Nothing in this title shall deny the right of private
property owners and local governments to establish agricultural
preserves and enter into contracts pursuant to the provisions of the
California Land Conservation Act of 1965.
The commission, within six months after the effective date of this
section, shall institute an affirmative action program to encourage
local governments to enter into contracts under the California Land
Conservation Act of 1965 with owners of property to which the
provisions of that act may be applicable.

66607. If any provision of this title or the application thereof in
any circumstance or to any person or public agency is held invalid,
the remainder of this title or the application thereof in other
circumstances or to other persons or public agencies shall not be
affected thereby.