Collection Guide
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Inventory of the California State Assembly
Natural Resources Committee Records
See series descriptions for LP numbers.
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Table of contents
Title: California State Assembly
Natural Resources Committee Records
Dates: 1974-2014
Collection number: See series descriptions for LP numbers.
Creator:
Assembly Resources and Land Use Committee, 1974-1975;
Assembly Resources, Land Use, and Energy Committee, 1975-1980;
Assembly Natural Resources and Energy Committee, 1981;
Assembly Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 1981-1982;
Assembly Natural Resources Committee, 1983-present;
Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection, 2003-2004;
Assembly Special Committee on Fuel Scarcity, 1979;
Assembly Subcommittee on Coastal Zone Planning, 1975-1976;
Assembly Subcommittee on Energy, 1975-1980;
Assembly Subcommittee on Land Use, 1976-1978;
Assembly Subcommittee on Parks and Forestry, 1976;
Assembly Subcommittee on Public Lands, 1980;
Assembly Subcommittee on Resource Status and Trends, 1983-1984;
Assembly Subcommittee on Timber, 1985-1986
Collection Size:
93 cubic feet of textual material, 210 audiotapes, 15 compact discs, 13 videotapes, 8 DVDs, 7 slides, 6 Dictabelts, and 26
photographs
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The Assembly Natural Resources Committee records consist of ninety-three cubic feet of textual records and three cubic feet
of audiovisual records dating from 1954-2014. The committee's first predecessor, the Assembly Resources and Land Use Committee
was delineated as an investigative standing committee by Assembly Rule 11.5, authorized and directed to ascertain, study,
and analyze all facts relating to any subjects that the committee on Rules shall assign to them upon request of the assembly
or upon its own initiative. The Assembly Natural Resources Committee is the most recent of four Assembly committees established
to oversee the quality and preservation of California's natural resources.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], [Name of Committee] Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the
Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
Acquisition and Custodial History
The State Archives received these records in accordance with California Government Code 9080(b) which requires legislative
committees to transfer their records to the State Archives when they are no longer needed by the committee.
Note
The California State Archives received the records of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee over a number of years and
Archives staff arranged them at various times. While the physical arrangement of the records reflects this variety, this inventory
describes all of the records according to present archival descriptive standards for legislative committee records. Therefore,
the physical arrangement of these records does not necessarily follow the order listed in this inventory.
The Natural Resources Committee is the most recent Assembly committee to oversee the quality and preservation of California's
natural resources.
The first predecessor committee that had natural resources under its purview was the Assembly Resources and Land Use Committee,
created by House Resolution 208 on August 28, 1974. The Resources and Land Use Committee was delineated as an investigative
standing committee by Assembly Rule 11.5, authorized and directed to ascertain, study, and analyze all facts relating to any
subjects that the committee on Rules shall assign to them upon request of the assembly or upon its own initiative. It evolved
from the consolidation of two former Assembly standing committees: the Natural Resources and Conservation Committee, and the
Planning,Land Use, and Energy Committee.
On September 10, 1975 the committee name changed again per HR50 to Assembly Resources, Land Use, and Energy. The Assembly's
list of standing committees for the 1981-1982 session originally listed the committee's name as the Natural Resources and
Energy Committee, however House Resolution 15 amended the list of standing and standing investigative committees to record
the name as the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 29, 1981. In 1981, the committee is noted as having jurisdiction
over a variety of subjects including non-vehicular air pollution (including airport noise and agricultural land burning),
State lands, agricultural land use, energy conservation, and alternative energy sources. The committee also reviewed legislation
affecting the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, the California Energy Commission, the California Coastal Commission,
and the Subdivision Map Act (re: timber, coastal, and agricultural land use). The committee also oversaw issues relating
to litter and solid waste management excepting hazardous substances, tidelands and submerged lands, wild and scenic rivers,
oil spills and water pollution,harbors, siting of power plants, as well as the regulation of oil, mining, geothermal and forestry
resources. Housing elements in general plans were also under the purview of the committee until March 25, 1981 when it was
re-allocated to the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.
The number of committee members fluctuates between nine and fifteen. Originally consisting of thirteen members, the Resources,
Land Use, and Energy Committee increased its membership of representative Assemblymen to fifteen on January 5, 1976 and the
Energy and Natural Resources Committee established it again at fifteen on January 11, 1982. However, the Natural Resources
Committee total membership changed almost every other year in the 1990s and 2000s.
Arrangement
Organized into six series and eight subgroups: (1) Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection Records, (2) Assembly Special
Committee on Fuel Scarcity Records, (3) Assembly Subcommittee on Coastal Zone Planning, (4) Assembly (Permanent) Subcommittee
on Energy Records, (5) Assembly Subcommittee on Land Use, (6) Assembly Subcommittee on Public Lands, (7) Assembly Subcommittee
on Status and Trends, (8) Assembly Subcommittee on Timber.
The Assembly Natural Resources Committee records consist of ninety three cubic feet of textual records and three cubic feet
of audiovisual records dating from 1954-2014. Series include bill files, hearing files, subject files, and correspondence
reflecting the activities of the committee in introducing and investigating legislation related to the sources, allocation,
pollution, regulation, and use, of California's natural resources.
The Assembly Natural Resources Committee records also include the records of many select, special, and subcommittees: Select
Committee on Coastal Protection, Special Committee on Fuel Scarcity, Subcommittee on Coastal Zone Planning, Subcommittee on
Energy, Subcommittee on Land Use, Subcommittee on Parks and Forestry, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Subcommittee on Resource
Status and Trends, and the Subcommittee on Timber. The subcommittee files focus on specific natural resources issues such
as energy (oil, gas, solar, coal, geothermal, liquid natural gas), nuclear power, parks, public lands, litter, pollution,
air quality, wetlands, and forests. The files may consist of public hearing files, bill files, subject files, correspondence,
reports, and committee files encompassing the activities, budget, correspondence, and findings of the committees.
The bill files document legislation authored by and directed to the committee and include committee analyses, letters from
interested parties, and the comments of affected agencies. These files show the close involvement of the committee in resource
related topics such as air quality, water quality, nuclear initiatives, the handling of hazardous waste, resource allocation
and conservation, oil and natural gas, marine and coastal resources, forestry, mining, and recycling. The committee also
collected extensive materials on the state energy shortages during the late 1970s. These energy materials include reports,
videotapes, correspondence, and fact sheets, which were used to form energy allocation and alternative fuel policy. Joint
hearing and correspondence demonstrate the close involvement of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Natural
Resources and Wildlife Committee, as well as the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, Assembly Local Government
and the Senate Utilities and Commerce Committees. The California Bottle Bill, AB2020 enacted in 1986 and revisited in later
sessions, received substantial attention from the committee resulting in detailed records on the topic of recycling and beverage
containers during the 1985-1986 and the 1987-1988 sessions.
Large quantities of opposition appear on nuclear energy legislation in 2007, AB719. Other files include, SB568 (2011-2012),
prohibiting food vendors from dispensing prepared food to customers in polystyrene foam containers after Janurary 1, 2016
and SB270 (2013-2014), establishing requirements for reusable bags and a 10 cent limit set on stores for distributing reusable
bags.
The subject files include correspondence, memoranda, statistical findings, published and unpublished reports, notes, and newspaper
clippings regarding subjects heard and reviewed by the committee covering topics such as toxic waste, water quality and use,
liquefied natural gas, and marine and environmental preservation. The committee's files on toxic waste in Ward Valley are
especially detailed and extensive covering the date range of 1991-1997. Large amounts of hearing files from 1991 and 1993
related to the subject are also available. Hearing Files from 2007 onward provide substantial information on various bills.
In addition, large quantities of roll calls and agendas are included between 2009-2010.
Further accruals expected.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California. Legislature. Assembly. Natural Resources Committee
Natural resources
Land use
Energy
Pollution
Related Collections at the California State Archives
Assembly Agriculture Committee Records
Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee Records
Assembly Local Government Committee Records
Assembly Natural Resources and Conservation Committee Records
Assembly Planning, Land Use, and Energy Committee
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee Records
Senate Natural Resources and Wild Life Committee Records
Department of Natural Resources Records
Loni Hancock Papers
Thomas Hannigan Papers
Hannah-Beth Jackson Papers
Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Records
Charles Warren Papers
Howard Wayne Papers
Edwin L. Z'Berg Papers
Thomas H. Willoughby, Oral History Interview, Conducted by Ann Lage, Regional Oral History Office, University of California
at Berkeley, for the State Government Oral History Program, California State Archives.
David E. Pesonen, Oral History Interview, Conducted by Ann Lage, Regional Oral History Office, University of California at
Berkeley, for the State Government Oral History Program, California State Archives.
Some of the records are available on microfilm at the California State Archives, including bill files from the 1975-1978 and
1985-1990 sessions.