SB 231 (Hertzberg) – Support
Enrolled on September 1st, 2017
SB 231, by Senator Bob Hertzberg, passed off the Assembly floor
this week and is headed to the Governor’s desk for his
consideration. This bill would clarify the constitutional and
statutory authority of counties, cities, and local water agencies
to finance stormwater projects by the same process used for
similar water infrastructure fees and charges as enacted by
California voters under Proposition 218.
CSAC is continuing to request your feedback on SB 623, by Senator
Monning, a bill that includes a water tax on homes and businesses
of public water systems. While discussion and concepts have been
floating around on this idea for some time, this is the first
legislative attempt to move this idea forward this year. The bill
is currently on the Appropriations suspense file and will be take
up on Friday, September 1. If it moves out of the Appropriations
Committee, the bill will then move to the Assembly Floor.
Governor Brown and leaders from the Legislature announced a deal
this week that extends the state’s cap and trade program. The
deal would also create a new air quality program focused on
reducing toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in
the most impacts areas of the state. The announcement comes after
weeks of back and forth between the Legislature, Administration,
environmental, industry and other stakeholder groups and requires
a two-thirds vote.
SB 252 (Dodd) relates to water wells in critically overdrafted basins. CSAC had opposed previous versions of the bill; recent amendments address county concerns about the bill’s interactions with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). While CSAC is pleased with this positive direction, efforts are now focused on the public meetings component of the bill which would require a public notice and comment period for new well permits.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is accepting
applications for habitat restoration projects located in areas
impacted by unregulated cannabis cultivation. The impacts of
unregulated cannabis cultivation can include issues like unlawful
water diversions, conversion of land, and prohibited
environmental contaminants like prohibited rodenticides and
herbicides. The program was created by
2015’s AB 243 (Wood).
Environmental issues are making news at all levels of government.
From the Paris Climate Agreement to the halls of the state
capitol in Sacramento, this policy area has had a tumultuous
start to summer.
Assembly and Senate Appropriations will take up their respective
“suspense files” this week. Bills with a notable fiscal impact on
the state go through the suspense file process. The following
AENR bills are on the agenda:
The CSAC Board approved cannabis policy language when it met on
Thursday as part of our annual legislative conference. Developed
by the CSAC Cannabis Working Group, the final policy language
reflects a strong emphasis on local control in all aspects of
cannabis regulation. The language also speaks to cultivation,
environmental impacts, enforcement, public safety, labeling,
testing, advertising, resources, revenue, banking, and public
outreach and research.
The California Natural Resources Agency released a new draft
Safeguarding
California and Climate Change Adaptation Policy. This
document is the state’s strategy plan for climate change
adaptation, and serves to “communicate current and needed actions
state government should take to build climate resiliency.”
