CSAC Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources staff
would like feedback from counties on the following bill from
Senator Bill Dodd. The bill was introduced on January 30 and is
aimed at improving building standards and defensible space
enforcement to reduce risk of fire. The bill is sponsored by the
California Building Industry Association. Please send any
comments to Nick Cronenwett at ncronenwett@counties.org
CSAC is actively monitoring the complex situation related to
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)’s official filing for Chapter
11 Bankruptcy this week. As a key stake holder in a wildfire
coalition that includes insurance companies, wildfire victims
groups, other local government advocates, and consumer protection
attorneys, CSAC’s top priority is ensuring that our communities
are safe and that people who are trying to recover from a
disaster can be made whole.
CSAC is hosting a Disaster Recovery Summit and Roundtable
Discussion in Sacramento on February 13th from 10
a.m. to Noon at the Capitol Events Center in
Sacramento. California County Supervisors, CAOs, Emergency
Managers, Public Works Directors and more from impacted counties
are invited to attend.
On January 14, the State’s
Forest Management Task Force met for the first time this
year. This was also the first time the group had met under the
new administration. The Task Force heard presentations from the
Board of Forestry, the Governor’s Office, and the CPUC on key
legislation and rulemakings related to forest management.
CSAC is encouraging boards of supervisors statewide to adopt a
local resolution requesting action from Governor Gavin Newsom on
a major recycling issue related to Chinese trade import policies.
Local governments are partners with the state in meeting
California’s recycling and waste diversion goals. California has
been largely successful in achieving and making progress towards
these goals and others over recent years.
The new legislative session is officially underway in Sacramento
and legislators are introducing dozens of bills that will touch
on many different topics. The AENR team will start to highlight
key bills that might have an impact on agriculture, environment,
and natural resources issues.
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will
hold a public meeting to consider adoption of proposed final
amendments to both the Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean
Waters of California (Ocean Plan), and the forthcoming Water
Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays,
and Estuaries of California (ISWEBE Plan).
These amendments will include a State Wetland Definition
and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to
Waters of the State.
CARB staff will hold a public workshop about regulatory concepts
to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions from new on-road
heavy-duty vehicles with gross vehicle weight rating greater than
10,000 pounds. The workshop will include a discussion about
potential revisions to the heavy-duty emission standards and
certification test procedures, certification and warranty
requirements and the Not-to-Exceed heavy-duty in-use testing
program.
The workshop will be held at the following location and time:
During the latest State’s Forest Management Task Force meeting,
Mariposa County Supervisor Rosemarie Smallcombe was featured in a
roundtable of local leaders who shared their views on how to
improve alignment of regulatory programs between multiple
environmental agencies and the best ways to create complimentary
sources of revenue for local forest health projects.
Cal Recycle recently released its Standard Regulatory Impact
Assessment (SRIA) estimating the direct costs of implementing
upcoming SB 1383 organic waste diversion regulations. The SRIA
indicates direct costs of approximately $20.9 billion between
2019 and 2030. These costs include expanding organic waste
management infrastructure, collection and processing costs, and
administrative costs of enforcement, contamination monitoring,
and reporting.
With Governor Brown signing over 1,000 bills into law this year
CSAC is publishing a series of articles to spotlight new laws
that impact counties from each policy area. This week, the report
from the AENR provides information on new laws affecting fire
hazard planning in high fire areas, fire and forest management
resources, drinking water, cannabis, and solid waste management.
Stay tuned for more updates from other policy areas over the next
several weeks.
