The CSAC AENR team would like input on the following pieces of
introduced legislation relating to resiliency and wildfires. If
you have any comments or feedback, please email Nick Cronenwett,
Legislative Analyst.
This week, the Board of Forestry (BOF) held a public workshop to
discuss proposed changes to the state’s Fire Safe Regulations.
The discussion primarily focused on the first article of the
regulations dealing with applicability. CSAC staff has been
closely monitoring the development of these regulations for
months and appreciated elements of the discussion and comments
from Board members and staff around developing reasonable
regulatory triggers related to development size in State
Responsibility Area and Local Responsibility Very High Fire
Severity Zones.
The Board of Forestry has announced additional public workshops
in its ongoing development of proposed changes to the state’s
Fire Safe Regulations. CSAC has been closely monitoring the
development of these new regulations and has been working closely
with other local government advocates. We will continue to
coordinate with our member counties to help provide feedback
directly to the BOF on the development of these regulations.
On Wednesday, December 30th, Governor Gavin
Newsom issued an executive order to further assist
communities across the state recovering from devastating
wildfires dating back to 2017. The order extends the state’s
prohibition on price gouging for Butte, Los Angeles, Mendocino,
Napa, Sonoma and Ventura Counties.
The full text of the executive order can be found
here.
The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has announced that
it will hold a public workshop on proposed changes to the state’s
fire safe regulations on December 22nd from 9 AM to 5
PM. Please find the workshop notice
here.
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development has
announced that the fiscal year 2020-2021 Grant Solicitation for
the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions is now
available. The Grant Solicitation guide, the link to the Online
Application Portal, an Application User Guide, and required
documents can be found at
www.business.ca.gov/CEG.
The U.S. Geological Survey announced the completion of a new mobile tool that
provides real-time information on water levels, weather and flood
forecasts all in one place on a computer, smartphone or other
mobile device.
Governor Newsom met the September 30 deadline to take action on
measures approved by the Legislature and delivered to his desk.
To keep counties informed of new laws that impact them, CSAC will
be publishing a series of articles to spotlight those laws in
each policy area. This week, the Agriculture, Environment, and
Natural Resources (AENR) policy area provides information on new
laws affecting emergency planning, wildfire prevention, recycling
& pollution, cannabis, and firefighting.
CSAC is requesting feedback on our draft response to the recent
Safety and Enforcement Division Report issued by the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). CSAC has been working on
behalf of California’s Counties to make sure that their voices
are heard at the CPUC, and to achieve appropriate compensation
for costs incurred during the PSPS events of 2019.
On Friday, October 30th from 10:30 AM to 3:30
PM, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and
the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will hold a
public workshop on water affordability impacts from COVID-19. The
workshop will include panel discussions on solutions to customer
protections, arrearage management, fee forgiveness, CARE funding,
and small water system operation impacts.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Fairs
and Expositions Branch has announced the 2020-21 fair
distribution of $12 million in allocations from two sources. The
first source is a General Fund base allocation of $2.7 million
statewide. The second source is AB 1499’s New Fair Funds,
which CDFA anticipates reaching $9.3 million that will be
allocated separately from the General Fund allocation.
The U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region announced a
temporary closure of all 18 national forests in California
due to the wildfires ravaging the state. Earlier this week, the
Forest Service closed eight forests in the state including
Sequoia, Angeles, Los Padres, Inyo, San Bernardino, Stanislaus,
Sierra and Cleveland National Forests.
CSAC’s Executive Director Graham Knaus was recently quoted
in a New York Times article regarding the issue of
homeowner’s insurance in California. The article was written by
Christopher Flavelle, who specializes in reporting on the impacts
of climate change on financial instruments including bonds,
mortgages, home prices and insurance.
This week California has experienced an unprecedented “heat dome”
hovering over the western states. With moisture from a tropical
storm over Baja, California, the state experienced 10,849
lightning strikes over a 72 hour period. At the same time, a
world record 130 degree temperature was observed in Death Valley.
Every county in the state has been impacted by the extreme
weather that lead to rolling blackouts on Friday and calls for
conservation throughout this week.
This week, Governor Newsom indicated that the state was facing a
historic heatwave and had experienced a significant shortfall in
electricity supply over the course of 72 hours. This shortfall
included a predicted deficit of 4,400 megawatts of expected daily
need. These shortfalls prompted the California Independent
System Operator (CAISO) to issue a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency
notification which requires utility provides to enact “Load
Shedding” through rolling blackouts in order to reduce demand for
electricity and prevent system overload.
CalRecycle has released a guidance document regarding how the
agency will approach the compliance and enforcement process for
its SB 1383 Organic Waste Diversion regulations. The regulations
will become effective Jan. 1, 2022, however CAL Recycle is
proactively reaching out to local now to help with
implementation. Per the guidance document, the enforcement
process will be an escalating process and the timelines are not
triggered until a Notice of Violation (NOV) is issued.
On Tuesday August 4, President Trump signed the Great Outdoors
Act into law. The new law was passed with bi-partisan support and
will provide up to $9.5 billion over five years to fix deferred
maintenance at national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, and
other federal lands, with $6.5 billion earmarked specifically to
the 419 national park units. The Act is expected to create more
than 108,000 new jobs to repair park infrastructure, including
access roads and bridges in adjacent communities.
Department of Water Resources (DWR) is conducting its first
Sustainable Groundwater Management (SGM) Implementation Grant
solicitation, providing a minimum of $103 million in
Proposition 68 funds for competitive grants. The Round 1 grant
solicitation will provide $26 million for critically overdrafted
(COD) basins only. The future Round 2 grant solicitation will
provide a minimum of $77 million for medium- and high-priority
(including COD) basins. The two rounds of grant solicitations may
fund implementation projects that:
The CSAC AENR team will be monitoring the following bills during
the last month of session and has a support position on the
following two bills which have been set for hearing.
This week, the Office of Administrative Law submitted an approved
emergency rulemaking regarding Fire Safe Regulations to the
Secretary of State. These new rules are now in effect across the
state. Earlier this year, the California Board of Forestry and
Fire Protection (Board) decided to move forward with an emergency
rulemaking to clarify the applicability of the existing SRA Fire
Safe Regulations and inspection authorities to increase the
availability of affordable housing in the state and improve the
safety of communities developed in the SRA.
As many counties are beginning to implement groundwater
management programs under the Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act (SGMA), the Department of Conservation will host two
workshops to answer potential applicants’ questions about the
SGMA Watershed Coordinator Program application. The workshops
will take place on August 6 and
August 11 and are open to all interested
applicants. Each workshop will cover the same content.
CSAC is requesting feedback on the following proposed bills
related to fire insurance in high fire threat areas by close of
business Thursday, July 30. Please email Legislative Analyst
Nick Cronenwett at ncronenwett@counties.org
with any thoughts or feedback.
The Caltrans Landscape Architecture Program, in partnership with
CalRecycle, University of California Riverside, University of
Washington, Filtrexx Sustainable Technologies, Salix Applied
Earthcare, United States Composting Council, California Compost
Coalition, and R. Alexander Associates, Inc., is presenting two
half-day workshops that focus on the use of compost-based best
management practices (BMPs) to improve roadside revegetation,
control erosion, filter stormwater, reduce runoff, and improve
stormwater quality.
Governor Newsom recently visited McClellan Air Force Base to
highlight the state’s wildfire mitigation capabilities and
discuss new efforts to protect emergency personnel and evacuees
from COVID-19 during wildfires. The Governor also announced the
state would hire 858 more firefighters and six California
Conservation Corps (CCC) crews through October because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. These crews are anticipated due, in part, to
the reduction in inmate crews from correctional facilities.
CSAC and a coalition of local government advocates, consumer
rights groups, and telecommunications companies have filed a
joint motion to require the California Public Utilities
Commission to review PSPS after-action reports in order to make a
determination on whether the benefits of the decision to
de-energize outweighed potential impacts to public safety.
