AB 52 (Gatto) – Neutral
To Engrossing and Enrolling on August 28, 2014
AB 52, by Assembly Member Mike Gatto would create a new resource
area under CEQA for tribal cultural resources and create a
process for consultation between local governments and tribes on
individual projects. CSAC initially opposed the bill and worked
with a coalition of stakeholders over the past two years to
successfully amend the measure to reduce our most significant
concerns.
AB 52 (Gatto) – Neutral To Engrossing and Enrolling on August 28,
2014
AB 52, by Assembly Member Mike Gatto would create a new resource
area under CEQA for tribal cultural resources and create a
process for consultation between local governments and tribes on
individual projects. CSAC initially opposed the bill and worked
with a coalition of stakeholders over the past two years to
successfully amend the measure to reduce our most significant
concerns.
SB 785 (Wolk) – Request for Signature To Engrossing and
Enrolling on August 27, 2014
SB 785, by Senator Lois Wolk, would recast existing design-build
statutes for purposes of eliminating inconsistencies and
consolidating present statutory authority as well as extend the
sunset date on existing design-build authority and reduce the
project cost threshold to projects that exceed $1 million.
AB 1537 (Levine) – Request for Signature To Engrossing
and Enrolling on August 22, 2014
AB 1537, by Assembly Member Marc Levine, would create a pilot
project allowing Marin County and certain cities within the
County, to move to a suburban default density to demonstrate that
they have zoned an adequate amount of land to accommodate their
respective shares of lower-income housing under the Regional
Housing Needs Allocation Process.
OPR Recommends Vehicle Miles Travelled as Replacement Metric for
Level of Service for CEQA Analysis
On August 6, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR)
issued a preliminary discussion draft of updates to the CEQA
Guidelines to implement SB 743 (Steinberg, 2013), which required
OPR to develop an alternative metric to Level of Service (LOS)
for analyzing the transportation impacts of projects under CEQA.
Congress Votes to Avert Highway Trust Fund Shortfall
Last night, the Senate voted 81-13 to approve the House’s $10.9
billion measure to fund the Highway Trust Fund and extend current
MAP-21 federal transportation programs through May 2015. The
measure is now headed to the President’s desk. If signed, the
bill will avert the approximately 30% reduction in payments to
states for federally-funded transportation projects, including
local projects with federal participation, that was expected to
begin today absent Congressional action.
Department of Interior Grants Extension to Comment on Tribal
Acknowledgement Rulemaking
CSAC is pleased to announce that the Department of Interior is
extending the public comment period on the proposed regulations
to reform the federal tribal acknowledgment process. The DOI also
intends to hold two additional public outreach meetings and
tribal consultations. We would like to thank Senator Feinstein
for her assistance in securing the extension and additional
public outreach meetings as well as counties that engaged with
the California congressional delegation.
Proposed Rule Could Increase Federally Recognized Tribes in
California and Potentially Growth Gaming
CSAC has been closely following federal efforts to reform the
acknowledgement process for Indian Tribes. CSAC respects the
rights of Indian Tribes to seek federal recognition and in so
doing be granted sovereign status and gain access to a host of
federal programs and services. While acknowledgement by the
federal government is a necessary step for a Tribe to have land
taken into trust, recognition does not guarantee that a Tribe
will seek trust lands.
Claudia Cappio Appointed Director of Department of Housing and
Community Development
On June 27, Governor Brown appointed Claudia Cappio as director
of the California Department of Housing and Community
Development. Cappio has served as Executive Director of the
California Housing Finance Agency since 2011. Her extensive
resume includes several positions in local government planning.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Advances Federal
Surface Transportation Reauthorization
On May 15, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
approved its MAP-21 reauthorization bill (S 2322). Please visit
the CSAC Housing, Land Use, and Transportation page of the CSAC
website for an analysis on select provisions of the legislation.
Some highlights from the analysis include:
