SACRAMENTO – After unanimous passage in both houses of the California state Legislature, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed SB 630 by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), which renews California’s partnership with Nevada and reaffirms the states’ commitment to preserving and enhancing the Lake Tahoe region.
“Today, California reaffirmed its longstanding partnership with the state of Nevada to protect and enhance the beauty of Lake Tahoe,” said Governor Brown.
This legislation delivers on the commitment Governor Brown and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval made earlier this year to work with legislative leadership in both states to develop amendments to bills in the Nevada and California state Legislatures that repeal Nevada’s planned withdrawal from the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact in 2015 and California’s proposal to re-establish a California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) in 2014.
“Nevada and California have a long history of working together to protect Lake Tahoe and this new law ensures that legacy of collaboration will continue,” said Governor Sandoval. “Lake Tahoe truly is the Jewel of the Sierra and with the signing of this law both states can continue to ensure the protection of the environment and help enhance the economy of the region. I want to thank Governor Brown and Senator Pavley for their support and dedication to protecting the Tahoe basin.”
Nevada’s companion legislation, SB 229, was signed by Governor Sandoval in June 2013.
The amendments included in the legislation require consideration of economic conditions in adopting and implementing regional plans, as well as language establishing a burden of proof for challenging a regional plan or agency decisions. It also confirms each state’s rights and authorities in relation to membership in the compact.
With this legislation, California and Nevada can continue important work to implement the updated regional plan for Lake Tahoe, which was adopted by the TRPA in December 2012.
More than four decades ago, the governors of California and Nevada and lawmakers in both states approved the bi-state compact that created a regional planning agency to help oversee development at Lake Tahoe. In 1969, the U.S. Congress ratified the compact and created the TRPA. The compact also called for a regional plan that established a balance between the natural environment and the human-made environment.
Governor Brown and Governor Sandoval both attended the Tahoe Summit in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and committed to continuing to work together to do what’s best for the environment and economy of the Lake Tahoe region.
For full text of the bill, visit: http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.