Assembly Bill 2188 (Muratsuchi), before being amended in committee, would have required cities and counties to uniformly issue a small residential rooftop solar system permit in an “over the counter” fashion, within a 24-hour timeframe, and inspect the solar installation within two days of any request. As amended in committee on April 30, 2014, the bill now provides that an application that meets checklist requirements shall be deemed approved upon receipt of the completed application submittal, and extends the inspection requirement to five business days of any request.
RCRC Chair Nate Beason (Nevada County) testified in opposition to AB 2188 before the Assembly Local Government Committee on Wednesday. The legislation will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee where the amendments agreed to in the Local Government Committee will be officially amended into the bill.
RCRC staff strongly urges member counties to contact the Assembly Appropriations Committee to express opposition to AB 2188, and describe the impacts this legislation would have upon local government, as well as the potential public safety impacts. To learn more about AB 2188, RCRC’s previous Barbed Wire article on the legislation can be accessed here. The recent amendments can be accessed here.
For additional information, please contact RCRC Legislative Advocate Kathy Mannion at (916) 447-4806 orkmannion@rcrcnet.org.