BILL NUMBER: SCR 13CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 118 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2009 ADOPTED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 29, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Gaines and Jones) (Coauthors: Senators Cox and Dutton) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Ma) FEBRUARY 2, 2009 Relative to the creation of the Joint Committee for the Protection of Lake Tahoe. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 13, Steinberg. Creation of the Joint Committee for the Protection of Lake Tahoe. This measure would create the Joint Committee for the Protection of Lake Tahoe. The measure would require the committee to consist of 8 members, who shall include 4 Senators appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and 4 Assembly Members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. In addition, this measure would require the members to meet at various times and places on or before December 31, 2009. This measure would authorize the termination of the committee on November 30, 2010. WHEREAS, Lake Tahoe has long been recognized as a natural resource of national and international significance as one of the world's largest, clearest, and most scenic Alpine lakes and is one of only two Outstanding National Resource Waters in the State of California; and WHEREAS, It is the expressed policy of this state, of the State of Nevada, and of the United States of America, through adoption and ratification of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact as amended in 1980, to preserve the scenic beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities of the region by ensuring an equilibrium between the region's natural endowment and its manmade environment; and WHEREAS, This state, along with the State of Nevada, the United States of America, and other public and private entities, committed itself in 1997 to the development and implementation of the Environmental Improvement Program, a comprehensive 1.1-billion-dollar ($1,100,000,000) plan that allocates and guides capital investments in conservation and restoration measures designed to achieve the environmental threshold carrying capacities and to repair environmental damage from the past that are beyond the capacity of the Tahoe Regional Plan to address through regulation and the mitigation of impacts of current activities; and WHEREAS, Representatives of the State of California are participating in a variety of ways in the development of a new Environmental Improvement Program, in partnership with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; and WHEREAS, The Lake Tahoe region deserves special representation by the Legislature to provide appropriate policy and budgetary guidance on the adoption and implementation of a new Environmental Improvement Program; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California hereby establishes the Joint Committee for the Protection of Lake Tahoe; and be it further Resolved, That the committee consist of eight members, who shall include four Senators appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and four Assembly Members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; the members of the committee from each house shall include three members of the majority caucus and one member of the minority caucus; and be it further Resolved, That the chair and vice chair of the committee shall be appointed by mutual agreement of the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly; and be it further Resolved, That the Joint Committee for the Protection of Lake Tahoe shall meet at least once in the Lake Tahoe region on or before December 31, 2009, and once with its respective committee representing the State of Nevada on or before December 31, 2009; and be it further Resolved, That the Senate Committee on Rules may make the moneys available from the Senate Operating Fund, as it deems necessary, to pay expenses of the joint committee and its members, and that any expenditure of moneys shall be made in compliance with policies set forth by the Senate Committee on Rules and shall be subject to the approval of the Senate Committee on Rules; and be it further Resolved, That the joint committee is authorized to act until November 30, 2010, when its existence shall terminate; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.