BOARD MEETING DATE: April 6, 2007
AGENDA NO. 42

PROPOSAL:

Provide Direction on Legislative Bills AB 391 (Lieu) Concerning AQMD Board Composition and SB 886 (Negrete McLeod) Concerning Term Limits For Board Chair

SYNOPSIS:

Legislation has been proposed that would, among other things, increase the Board Membership from 12 to 13 by adding a member appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles from the Los Angeles City Council and would realign eastern and western regions of Los Angeles County. Legislation has also been proposed to eliminate the term limits for the Board Chair. The Board will give direction to its representatives in Sacramento regarding these bills.

COMMITTEE:

Board Retreat, March 30, 2007, Discussed

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Establish position on AB 391 (Lieu) which proposes to expand the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) Board;
2. Direct staff to expand SB 866 (Negrete McLeod) to include Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) by eliminating term limits for Board Chairs in their districts as requested by both AQMDs.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D. Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Under existing law, the AQMD Board consists of 12 members, including one member appointed by the cities in the western region of the County of Los Angeles, and one member appointed by the cities in the eastern region of the County of Los Angeles. Those specified cities are required to organize a city selection committee and hold a public meeting in order to determine the appointment from each region. The selected representative must be voted in by both a majority of the cities, and a majority of population in those cities.

Additionally, existing law specifically defines the cities that comprise the western region of the County of Los Angeles, and those cities not specified as included in the western region are to be included in the eastern region for the purpose of appointing members to the AQMD Board. Since this requirement was chaptered into law, new cities that have been incorporated in western Los Angeles County are considered to be eastern sector cities.

In addition, SB 866 is being proposed to eliminate restrictions on the term of the chairmanship of the AQMD Governing Board. No such limit exists for 32 of the 35 local air districts.

History

In 2006, at the behest of the South Bay Cities Council of Government (South Bay COG), Assembly Member Ted Lieu introduced AB 2015 to expand and reconfigure the composition of the AQMD Governing Board. Specifically, as introduced, the bill would have expanded the Governing Board to 16 members by adding one additional city representative from each county. For a variety of reasons, the AQMD Governing Board voted to oppose AB 2015. The bill eventually failed passage in the Senate.

In the present legislative cycle, Assembly Member Lieu reintroduced this legislation sponsored by the South Bay COG in a modified manner. It is the same as the final version of last year’s bill. Specifically, AB 391 (Lieu) increases the Governing Board membership from 12 to 13 by adding a member appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles from the Los Angeles City Council. Additionally, the bill would add the Cities of Calabasas and Malibu to, and exclude Los Angeles from, the list of cities included in the western region of the County of Los Angeles.

Discussion

SCAQMD Governing Board Members discussed the 2007 Lieu bill sponsored by the South Bay COG. Joining the discussion was Manhattan Beach Councilman and South Bay COG Steering Committee Chair Jim Aldinger. A number of unresolved issues remain.

Relative to SB 866 (Negrete McLeod), both the MDAQMD and SMAQMD have asked to be included in the bill, so that there will be uniformity statewide and local determination by each Governing Board as to the Chairmanship.

Recommendation

AQMD staff recommends that the Board establish a position on AB 391 (Lieu), sponsored by South Bay COG, which proposes to expand the AQMD Governing Board. In addition, as the sponsor of SB 866, request that the Author expand the bill to include all air districts with a statutory limit on the number of consecutive terms a member can serve as Board Chair. It is also recommended that staff be directed to convey the Board’s positions to the Legislature and other parties as warranted.

Attachment (PDF 149kb)
AB 391 (Lieu)