CSAC is requesting comments from counties on recently submitted
investor owned utility (IOU) wildfire mitigation plans. These
plans are available for public comment and can be found
here. Links to the major IOU plans can be found below:
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO
Biz) announced that grant solicitations for the Cannabis Equity
Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions are available. The
Grant Solicitation, link to the Online Application Portal, an
Application User Guide, and required documents can be found at
www.business.ca.gov/CEG.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has granted $20
million to the State of California for its Earthquake Brace +
Bolt (EBB) program. The grant will subsidize the work of the
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and
the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) for earthquake
retrofits on more than 6,300 at-risk structures likely to shake
from their foundations in the event of an earthquake.
The CPUC has announced upcoming workshops for evaluations of 2020
Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMPs). 2020 WMPs are due to the
Department by February 7th. The CPUC has announced the
following tentative dates and will provide more details soon.
Workshop #1: February 18th and possibly February
19th: Informational Workshop, Utility
Presentations of 2020 WMPs
Workshop #2: February 24th and February
25th Technical Workshop to Discuss Specific Aspects of
WMPs across Utilities
The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently released a reported
titled Preparing for Rising Seas: How the State Can Help Support
Local Coastal Adaptation Efforts. The report predicts that by
2100 California could experience as much as 7 feet of sea level
rise and also suggests that local governments will be the key
leader in preparation and mitigation of sea level rise.
The Legislature is back in session and has begun taking up
two-year bills. Measures that didn’t clear their house of origin
last year must do so by the end of the month. CSAC recently
submitted a support letter on AB 1525 which is set to be heard in
Assembly Business & Profession Committee on Tuesday January
14th.
The Strategic Growth Council has opened a public comment period
on its draft guidelines for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands
Conservation Program (SALC). The SALC program invests in
agricultural land conservation with revenue from the California
Climate Investments (CCI) Fund, made available for projects
that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing additional
benefits to California communities. Comments are due by
noon on January 27th.
In December, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that
more zip codes are eligible for protection from insurance
non-renewals. The California Department of Insurance (CDI)
released an updated bulletin to insurance companies specifying
additional ZIP codes adjacent to recent wildfires in parts of San
Bernardino and Riverside counties, including the mountain
communities of Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead, as well as parts of
Contra Costa, Solano and Ventura counties.
In accordance with the California
Cannabis Equity Act as amended by AB 97 (Stats. 2019,
Ch. 40), the California Bureau of Cannabis Control entered into
an interagency agreement with GO-Biz for fiscal year 2019-2020 to
administer the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local
Jurisdictions to aid local equity program efforts to support
equity applicants and equity licensees.
CSAC has been actively tracking and advocating on the development
of Investor Owned Utility (IOU) Public Safety Power Shutdown
(PSPS) policy for the past year through multiple regulatory
processes, and through advocacy in the Legislature and the state
budget process.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has opened an
investigation to examine recent Public Safety Power Shut-off
(PSPS) events and ensure utilities are held accountable for their
actions during these events. The formal investigation will assess
whether the state’s investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs)
properly balanced the need to provide safe and reliable service
when planning and executing their recent PSPS events. Initiating
this investigation is one of several actions the CPUC is taking
in response to recent PSPS events.
CSAC thanks all the counties that recently responded to our
request for information regarding October Public Safety Power
Shutdown (PSPS) events. CSAC will continue to accept any
information from counties regarding PSPS costs on a rolling
basis. Information that you provide will help CSAC continue to
advocate for resources to help mitigate future impacts of PSPS
events. CSAC will gladly take information related to the
following questions or any other information related to a county
PSPS experience.
CSAC thanks all the counties that recently responded to our
request for information regarding October Public Safety Power
Shutdown (PSPS) events. CSAC will continue to accept any
information from counties regarding PSPS costs, as the
information you provide will help CSAC continue to advocate for
resources to help mitigate future impacts of PSPS events. CSAC
will gladly take information related to the following questions
or any other information related to a county PSPS experience.
