The Barbed Wire - June 03, 2016

June 3, 2016
RCRC-Sponsored State PILT Legislation Clears the Senate Floor
Congressman Costa Gathers Key Stakeholders for Tree Mortality Workshop
Sierra Nevada Conservancy Awards $3.2 Million for Tree Mortality, Forest Health, and Watershed Restoration Projects in California’s Rural Counties
Legislature Unveils Housing Bond
Fair Funding Bill Clears Assembly Floor
DWR and Bureau of Reclamation Submit Testimony on California WaterFix
BULLETIN BOARD
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
REGULATORY UPDATE

RCRC-Sponsored State PILT Legislation Clears the Senate Floor

This week, Senate Bill 1188, authored by Senator Mike McGuire (Healdsburg-D), cleared the Senate Floor on a unanimous roll call vote.  Authored in conjunction with 15 other authors and co-authors, SB 1188 is a bipartisan effort to amend Fish and Game Code to restore language that makes State Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) payments to counties required as opposed to permissive.  

Senator McGuire articulated the critical need for these funds for counties, particularly in rural areas, to carry out their responsibilities for many programs including public safety, and health and welfare.  Senator McGuire expressed his appreciation of Senator Lois Wolk (Davis-D) and Senator Jim Nielsen (Gerber-R) for their help with this measure this year, and for championing the State PILT cause in prior years.

SB 1188 will now head to the appropriate Assembly policy and fiscal committees.  The text of SB 1188 can be accessed here.

Congressman Costa Gathers Key Stakeholders for Tree Mortality Workshop

On Thursday, Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA 16th District) gathered key state, federal, and local government representatives in Clovis to discuss the tree mortality emergency in California, and the need for the federal government to more urgently address the problem on California’s federal lands.  Despite the efforts of the California Tree Mortality Task Force to carry out the directives in Governor Brown's 2015 Emergency Proclamation, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, which manages most of the national forest lands in California, still has not received sufficient funding and support at the federal level to address the unprecedented tree die-off on USDA Forest Service lands, which account for more than 66 percent of the recent mortality in the state.  

RCRC member counties were well represented at the workshop, as Supervisor Kevin Cann (Mariposa) and Supervisor Randy Hanvelt (Tuolumne), both delegates to the RCRC Board of Directors, were invited and participated in the discussion.  Representatives from Tulare County and Madera County were also in attendance, as well as RCRC staff.
 
Rep. Costa vowed to work to get support from other states for the USDA Forest Service, including tree mortality mitigation funding and other issues impacting general forest management such as securing disaster funding for wildfire suppression.  The Congressman also committed to work with the Administration to help secure federal funding for increased tree mortality mitigation activities on national forest lands in California. 

Sierra Nevada Conservancy Awards $3.2 Million for Tree Mortality, Forest Health, and Watershed Restoration Projects in California’s Rural Counties

On Thursday, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) Governing Board approved over $3.2 million in grants for projects that will address tree mortality, reduce wildfire risk, and restore forest and watershed health in the Sierra Nevada region.  Read More…

Legislature Unveils Housing Bond

On Wednesday the Legislature released Budget trailer bill language outlining the “No Place Like Home” (NPLH) initiative, which the Governor endorsed as part of his Fiscal Year 2016-17 May Revision released last month.  The NPLH initiative would provide roughly $2 billion in bond financing – partially-supported through a portion of Mental Health Services Act funding – to construct permanent supportive housing to address local communities’ homeless populations.  

While there are a number of concerns and technical issues with the bill, RCRC is working with a coalition of local government stakeholders to help guide development of the NPLH proposal and will be meeting with leadership engaged with crafting the final version of the bill.  Specifically, RCRC will be advocating for rural counties to receive an equitable share of bond funding, appropriate representation on the NPLH Advisory Committee, which is charged with assisting the California Department of Housing and Community Development on implementation of the program and guidelines, and mitigating as many adverse impacts the measure will have on providing critical services in our communities.  RCRC will provide additional information as the details of the proposal continue to become available.

Fair Funding Bill Clears Assembly Floor

This week, Assembly Bill 2678 (Gray) cleared the Assembly Floor.  AB 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, thus providing a stable source of revenue to help ensure the long –term viability for the network of fairs.  

The text of AB 2678 can be accessed here.  In addition, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 186 (Bigelow) declares June 2016 as Fair Appreciation Month.  The text of ACR 186 can be accessed here

DWR and Bureau of Reclamation Submit Testimony on California WaterFix

This week, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) submitted testimony to the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) as required for Part I of the upcoming public hearings on a request to add three new points of diversion to the State Water Project, with coordinated operations for the Central Valley Project, for California WaterFix.  

In Part I, DWR will present evidence intended to show that the proposed change will neither initiate a new water right nor injure any other legal user of water.  DWR’s, the Bureau’s and the State Water Board’s documentation for the hearing can be accessed here.

Part I of the hearings is scheduled to start July 26, 2016, and is expected to run several months.  Part II of the hearings is currently slated for early 2017.  Part II will focus on the extent to which fish and wildlife and other beneficial uses will be affected by the requested change in point of diversion and any measures needed to protect fish and wildlife from any unreasonable impacts of the change.

Additional information regarding California WaterFix may be accessed here.  RCRC’s California WaterFix Policy Statement dated February 26, 2016 can be accessed here.

BULLETIN BOARD

CDFW Proposition 1 Grant Opportunities

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: Gained passage in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 1934 (Santiago): Density Bonus.  Assembly Bill 1934 would provide a commercial developer a density bonus for partnering with an affordable housing developer on a mixed-use project who also receives a density bonus.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate.  RCRC Position:  Concerns – Seeking Amendments

AB 2149 (Bonilla): Collection of Cash Payments for Medical Marijuana-Related Businesses.  Assembly Bill 2149 would authorize the Board of Equalization to accept cash transactions on behalf of several state agencies charged with regulatory responsibility of medical marijuana.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 2243 (Wood): Medical Cannabis: Cultivation Taxation.  Assembly Bill 2243 would impose state taxes on the cultivation of medical marijuana.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 2319 (Gordon): Infrastructure Bank.  Assembly Bill 2319 seeks to increase development of affordable housing by making these projects eligible for California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank funding.  Status: Failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 2438 (Waldron): CEQA: Exemption: Recycled Water Pipelines.  Assembly Bill 2438 would, until January 1, 2020, exempt from CEQA a project for the construction and installation of a new pipeline or the maintenance, repair, restoration, reconditioning, relocation, replacement, removal, or demolition of an existing pipeline, not exceeding 8 miles in length, for the distribution of recycled water within a public street, highway, or right-of-way.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Support

AB 2475 (Gordon): Loan Program: Infrastructure Bank.  Assembly Bill 2475 would encourage local agencies to expand development of affordable homes by establishing a forgivable loan program within the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.  Status:  Failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position:  Support

AB 2501 (Bloom): Housing: Density Bonus.  Assembly Bill 2501 seeks to increase affordable housing through reforms to density law and the review period to process a density bonus application.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits committee assignment in the Senate.  RCRC Position: Oppose

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 on the Assembly Floor.  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: Gained passage in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Oppose

AB 2783 (E. Garcia): Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities.  Assembly Bill 2783 would amend the guidelines and criteria for the Rural Innovation Project Area component of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to provide the opportunity for more rural communities to compete for these critical funds.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly and awaits consideration in the Senate Transportation, Housing Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

SB 885 (Wolk): Indemnity Agreements.  Senate Bill 885 would eliminate the ability of a public agency to impose indemnity clauses in contract with engineers and architects for upfront legal defense costs against claims related to a project’s design work.  Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Oppose

SB 967 (Vidak): Special Elections Costs.  Senate Bill 967 would require the State to pay for the cost of special elections – as proclaimed by the Governor – to fill a vacancy in the office of a member of the State Assembly, State Senate, or the U.S. House of Representatives that occurs after January 1, 2008.  Status: Failed passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Support

SB 987 (McGuire): Taxation of Medical Marijuana.  Senate Bill 987 would impose a statewide excise fee on the sale of medical marijuana.  Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Support

SB 1000 (Leyva): General Plans: Environmental Justice.  Senate Bill 1000 would require and Environmental Justice element be added to a county General Plan.  Status:  Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Oppose Unless Amended

SB 1029 (Hertzberg): Debt Issuance.  Senate Bill 1029 would require local governments to submit various reporting elements to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Committee for all bond debt that has not been fully repaid or redeemed.  Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Pending - Seeking Amendments

SB 1069 (Wieckowski): Land Use: Zoning.  Senate Bill 1069 seeks to encourage the development of more affordable housing through various reforms to a local government’s planning requirements and zoning regulations.  Status: Awaits consideration in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.  RCRC Position: Pending – Seeking Amendments

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: Gained passage in the Senate.   RCRC Position: Oppose

SB 1188 (McGuire): Wildlife Management Areas: Payment of Taxes and Assessments.  Senate Bill 1188 would return the ‘may’ back to ‘shall’ in Fish and Game Code Section 1504 making future PILT payments required rather than permissive.  Status: Gained passage in the Senate.   RCRC Position: Support

SB 1250 (McGuire): Telecom: Rural Outage Reportings.  Senate Bill 1250 would require telecommunications carriers to report rural 911 outages to state and local public safety agencies.  Status: Gained passage in the Senate and awaits committee assignment in the Assembly.  RCRC Position: Support

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: Gained passage in the Senate.  RCRC Position: Oppose

SB 1396 (Wolk): Inner Coast Range Conservancy.  Senate Bill 1396 would establish the Inner Coast Range Program within the Wildlife Conservation Board.  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: Gained passage in the Senate.  RCRC Position: Oppose

REGULATORY UPDATE

Lake and Streambed Alteration Program Fee Increase.  Proposes to increase all fees by 129 percent, and establishes a fee for remediation of marijuana cultivation sites.  Agency: California Department of Fish and Wildlife Status: Draft available for public comment, comment period ends June 13, 2016.  Public hearing scheduled in Sacramento on June 13, 2016.  Draft proposal and related documents can be accessed here.  RCRC Comments: RCRC staff is seeking member county input.  RCRC Advocate: Staci Heaton sheaton@rcrcnet.org