The Barbed Wire - April 29, 2016

April 29, 2016
RCRC Welcomes Two Legislative Advocates
Rural Counties Applaud Assembly Member Dahle
CAL FIRE Determines Cause of 2015 Butte Fire
Legislature Approves County Elections Funding for June Primary
Senate Committee Approves Water Bill with Infrastructure Grants
EPA Announces National Action Plan on Drinking Water
DWR Increases Water Allocation
KEEPING UP
BULLETIN BOARD
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
REGULATORY UPDATE

RCRC Welcomes Two Legislative Advocates

SACRAMENTO, CA – April 27, 2016 – The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) announced today the addition of two Legislative Advocates to its governmental affairs team.  Mary-Ann Warmerdam has rejoined RCRC to cover agriculture, water, and other resource-related issues, and Tracy Rhine has joined the team to cover land use, health and human services, telecommunications, and overall infrastructure issues.  Warmerdam and Rhine join the existing RCRC governmental affairs staff in advocating on behalf of RCRC’s 35 rural California member counties.  Read More…

Rural Counties Applaud Assembly Member Dahle

By: Lee Adams, RCRC Immediate Past Chair and Sierra County Supervisor

I’d like to applaud Assembly Member Dahle (R-Bieber) for his leadership on a controversial telecommunications (telecom) measure authored by Assembly Member Evan Low from the Silicon Valley.  Assembly Bill 2395 addresses “legacy phone service,” and provides a process for legacy carriers to relinquish their decades-old obligations that guarantees basic telephone service.  The measure is dangerous for rural California and Assembly Member Dahle recognizes the potential impacts to residents of the North State.  Read More…

CAL FIRE Determines Cause of 2015 Butte Fire

California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) investigators have officially determined that contact between a tree and a PG&E powerline caused the 2015 Butte Fire that burned more than 70,000 acres of forest land, killing two citizens, and destroying more than 900 structures.  The fire began in Amador County, and blazed into Calaveras County before being contained after 22 days.  

Under state law, CAL FIRE now has the ability to seek recovery costs from PG&E for the state resources used to suppress the fire.  The agency has stated its intent to seek costs in excess of $90 million to pay for the expense of fighting the fire.  Two bills are also making their way through the Legislature this year – Senate Bill 1028 (Hill) and Senate Bill 1463 (Moorlach) – that would place requirements on utilities to take wildfire mitigation actions in high risk areas.  RCRC is supporting both measures. 

Legislature Approves County Elections Funding for June Primary

This week, the Legislature adopted Assembly Bill 120 (Assembly Budget Committee) which would provide $16.2 million in funding for counties to support activities related to the upcoming June 2016 Primary Election.  Due to conducting the June 7, 2016 Primary Election and simultaneously addressing an unprecedented amount of initiative signature verifications, counties requested the Legislature and the Brown Administration provide assistance with these elections’ costs.  Under the bill, counties will be reimbursed by the State Controller based on a formula that will be provided to each county by May 1, 2016.  

While this is welcome news to California’s counties as a whole, there will be significant increased costs associated with the upcoming November elections due to higher anticipated voter turnout.  Legislators have expressed a strong desire to visit those anticipated costs before the Legislature adjourns the 2016 Session on September 1. 

RCRC will continue to support efforts to secure additional monies to support these activities, as well as efforts to reimburse counties for what the Department of Finance estimates is roughly a $120 million backlog in state-mandated elections programs (See DOF report accessed here) and the costs of conducting special elections when there are vacancies in a legislative seat.  

RCRC’s joint support letter can be accessed here.

Senate Committee Approves Water Bill with Infrastructure Grants

This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee adopted S. 2848 which authorizes projects and programs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The bill departs from previous authorizations for the Corps by providing new infrastructure financing options through the Environmental Protection Agency and calling for lead testing in drinking water and replacement of supply lines, primarily as a result of the Flint, Michigan crisis.  

Specifically, the bill:

  • Authorizes additional funding for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program which leverages Treasury bonds for infrastructure investment;
  • Authorizes planning, design, preconstruction activities, replacement or rehabilitation of aging treatment, storage, or distributions facilities and water system security as eligible activities under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund;
  • Authorizes a new grant program for drinking water for small (under 10,000), disadvantaged, and underserved communities;
  • Authorizes a grant program for removing lead service lines, testing, planning, corrosion control, and education.  Another grant program is authorized for voluntary school and child care lead testing programs;
  • Outlines that any exceeding of lead action levels must be reported to the public within 15 days.  Notice also required to Center for Disease Control and state and county health agencies if the violation has the potential for serious health effects;
  • Reauthorizes Section 221 of the Clean Water Act to provide grants for combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and stormwater discharges;
  • Requires the EPA to inform municipalities of the opportunity to prepare an integrated plan, combining requirements related to a combined sewer overflow; a capacity, management, operation, and maintenance program for sanitary sewer collection systems; a municipal stormwater discharge; a municipal wastewater discharge; and a water quality-based effluent limitation to implement an applicable wasteload allocation; and,
  • Directs the EPA, the Interior, the USDA, the NOAA, and other appropriate federal agencies to work with state and local governments to develop non-regulatory national drought resilience guidelines relating to drought preparedness planning and investments for communities, water utilities, and other water users and providers.

EPA Announces National Action Plan on Drinking Water

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is developing a national action plan to correct drinking water problems around the country.  The EPA will seek to strengthen implementation of Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, look for ways to incorporate its environmental justice goals in infrastructure funding, strengthen protections against lead in drinking water, and address unregulated contaminants like algae toxins.  EPA expects the plan to be released by the end of the year.  

Additionally, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is undertaking a study of the science and technology needed to prevent drinking water disasters like the current crisis in Flint, Michigan.  The PCAST study will offer recommendations on how to use science and technology to protect drinking water. 

DWR Increases Water Allocation

The Department of Water Resources recently increased its water allocation to 60 percent of requests for the calendar year.  The initial allocation in December 2015 was only 10 percent, but as the precipitation continued, the allocation has slowly increased throughout the spring.  Additional information may be accessed here

KEEPING UP

Assembly Members Bigelow and Dahle Appointed to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has appointed Assembly Member Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals) and Assembly Member Brian Dahle (R-Beiber) to serve as non-voting members on the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board.  

“The drought has left nearly 30 million dead trees in the Sierra, setting the stage for even more dangerous fire seasons.  Megafires threaten local communities, but they’re not just a local problem.  They cost the state hundreds of millions to contain and can ruin water quality for millions of users downstream,” Dahle said.

Both Assembly Member Dahle and Assembly Member Bigelow are former RCRC Board Members, and previously served on the Conservancy board as County Supervisors.

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy was created in 2004 and supports efforts that preserve and restore significant natural and recreational resources, and improve the overall economic and social well-being of the Sierra Nevada Region.  

BULLETIN BOARD

USDA Offers New Resource to Help Food Hubs Improve Financial Performance

Click here

Wildlife Conservation Board Proposition 1 Restoration Grant Program

Click here

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

AB 1749 (Mathis): CEQA: Exemption: Recycled Water Pipeline.  Assembly Bill 1749 would extend the exemption, until January 1, 2019, from CEQA requirements on projects consisting of the construction or expansion of recycled water pipeline and directly related infrastructure within existing rights of way, and directly related groundwater replenishment under specified conditions and undertaken for the purpose of mitigating drought conditions for which a state of emergency was proclaimed by the Governor.  Status: Awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 2678 (Gray): State-Designated Fairs: Funding.  Assembly Bill 2678 would dedicate the State portion of the sales and use tax collected from transactions at fairgrounds (except for Los Angeles) to support small - and medium-sized fairs.  Status: Awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 2781 (Garcia): Supplemental Environmental Projects.  Assembly Bill 2781 would direct 10 percent of all penalties collected by California Environmental Protection Agency boards, departments, and offices to fund environmental projects in disadvantaged communities using Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code for the definition (CalEnviro Screen) of a disadvantaged community (DAC).  Status: Awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Oppose

SB 995 (Pavley): Well Standards.  Senate Bill 995 would require the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to update well standards for certain types of wells based on existing knowledge.  This bill would also require DWR to establish an advisory panel to identify critical gaps in existing knowledge about the best practices for well construction, alteration, maintenance, and destruction for these wells.  Status: Awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Support if Amended

SB 1170 (Wieckowski): Public Contracts: Water Pollution Prevention Plans: Delegation.  Senate Bill 1170 would prohibit a public entity, charter city, or charter county from delegating to a contractor the development of a plan, as defined, used to prevent or reduce water pollution or runoff on a public works contract, except as provided.  The bill would also prohibit a public entity, charter city, or charter county from requiring a contractor on a public works contract that includes compliance with a plan to assume responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of a plan developed by that entity.  Status: Awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Oppose

SB 1188 (McGuire): Wildlife Management Areas: Payment of Taxes and Assessments.  Senate Bill 1188 will return the ‘may’ back to ‘shall’ in Fish and Game Code Section 1504 making future PILT payments required rather than permissive.  Status: Placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee File.  RCRC Position: Support/Sponsor

SB 1317 (Wolk): Conditional Use Permit: Groundwater Extraction Facility.  Senate Bill 1317 would require a city or county overlying a basin designated as a high or medium priority basin to establish a process for the issuance of conditional use permits for the development of a groundwater extraction facility in order to prevent that facility from contributing to or creating an undesirable result.  Status: Awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Oppose

SB 1396 (Wolk): Inner Coast Range Conservancy.  Senate Bill 1396 would establish the Inner Coast Range Conservancy.  The Inner Coast Range region as defined in the legislation includes all or part of the following counties: Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Tehama, Trinity and Yolo.  Status: Awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended

REGULATORY UPDATE

Resource Management Planning: Amends existing regulations that establish the procedures used to prepare, revise, or amend land use plans pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.  Agency: U.S. Bureau of Land Management Status: Draft released for public review, comment deadline extended to May 25, 2016.  Proposed regulatory language and related documents can be accessed hereRCRC Comments: RCRC’s letter requesting an extension of the comment deadline can be accessed here.  RCRC Advocate: Staci Heaton sheaton@rcrcnet.org

Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy: Mandated by Senate Bill 605 (Lara), establishes strategies to reduce emissions from short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon and methane.  Agency: California Air Resources Board Status: Second draft published for public comment, comment period ends May 26, 2016.  Board hearing on May 19, 2016.  Draft Strategy and related documents can be accessed here.  RCRC Comments: RCRC staff is seeking member county input.  RCRC Advocate: Staci Heaton sheaton@rcrcnet.org