Existing law, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, provides that it is the intent of the Legislature to provide for the sustainable management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem, to provide for a more reliable water supply for the state, to protect and enhance the quality of water supply from the Delta, as defined, and to establish a governance structure that will direct efforts across state agencies to develop a legally enforceable Delta Plan.

This bill would make the provisions of the Delta Plan severable.

Existing law establishes the Delta Stewardship Council as an independent agency of the state to establish and oversee a committee of agencies responsible for implementing the Delta Plan. Existing law requires council members to possess diverse expertise and reflect a statewide perspective.

The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the council appointees have knowledge about the Delta.

Existing law authorizes persons and certain entities, claiming that a proposed covered action is inconsistent with the Delta Plan and that, as a result of that inconsistency, the action will have a significant adverse impact on the achievement of certain goals or implementation of government-sponsored flood control programs to reduce risks to people and property in the Delta, to file an appeal with regard to a certification of consistency submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council. Existing law requires the appeal to be heard by the council within 60 days of the date of the filing of the appeal, as specified, and requires the council to make its decision on the appeal within 60 days of hearing the appeal.

This bill would provide certain deadlines for legal actions arising out of specified actions of the council and would make related changes. The bill would add state and local public agencies to those entities authorized to appeal regarding a certification of consistency.