The Barbed Wire - June 12, 2015

June 12, 2015
State Budget Conference Committee Completes Work – Votes Slated for Monday
SB 863 Jail Construction RFP Released
Caltrans Notices Transportation Partners of Potential Shutdown
State Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance Update
House Begins Work on Interior Appropriations Bill
Forecast of National Wildfire Season
Senate Bill Advances to Withdraw and Redirect Clean Water Act Rule
House Passes FY 2016 Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill
Denham Amendment Prohibits Funding for California High-Speed Rail Project
Medical Marijuana Language Included in Senate Committee-Passed CJS Bill
Bulletin Board
Keeping Up
Legislative Update

State Budget Conference Committee Completes Work – Votes Slated for Monday

This week, the Senate-Assembly Budget Conference Committee completed its work on finalizing key aspects of the State Budget, primarily resolving many of the differences between the Senate and Assembly budget plans.  Over the past ten days, the Conference Committee has focused its work on issues pertaining to Human Services, Health, Education, and Natural Resources.  The final product on many of these issues will most likely be known when the State Budget and associated trailer bills are addressed on the Floor of each house.  It remains to be seen how much of the budget package will be completed on Monday as a few unresolved issues beyond the Conference Committee’s action remain.  The final Budget is constitutionally required to be passed before midnight on Monday, June 15.

RCRC staff will be monitoring the activities of budget adoption process on Monday and will be preparing a summary of key aspects of the Budget package as it pertains to RCRC member counties.  Furthermore, a full briefing on the State Budget will occur when the RCRC Board of Directors meets on Thursday, June 18 in Sierra County.  For additional information regarding the Budget Conference Committee or individual Budget issues, please contact the RCRC Governmental Affairs staff at (916) 447-4806. 

SB 863 Jail Construction RFP Released

This week, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) released the Senate Bill 863 Jail Construction Request for Proposals (RFP), which provides $500 million in lease revenue bonds for the construction, reconstruction, and renovation of local detention facilities and programming capacity.  RCRC worked with the BSCC staff and the SB 863 Executive Steering Committee (ESC) – the entity charged with developing the SB 863 RFP – over the past six months to secure a dedicated funding set-aside and reduced match requirement for small counties.  Additionally, RCRC was represented by Colusa County Supervisor Kim Vann during the SB 863 ESC meeting in February when members first discussed development of the jail construction program.  Supervisor Vann presented and discussed the RCRC recommendations at great length with members of the SB 863 ESC.  Included in the final program are two critical components that RCRC has consistently advocated for:  1) the SB 863 RFP contains a $100 million set-aside for California’s small counties (under 200,000 population); and, 2) a process for small counties to petition the BSCC for a reduced state match requirement.  Importantly, small counties that petition the BSCC can have their state match requirement reduced to a zero sum, although there are some ineligible costs that would remain the responsibility of the county.  

The SB 863 RFP contains $100 million for small counties, $160 million for medium-sized counties, and $240 million available for large-sized counties with a $20 million, $40 million, and $80 million maximum award amount respectively.  Additionally, the SB 863 RFP includes a process for small counties to petition the BSCC for a reduced match requirement.  The BSCC has scheduled a bidders’ conference on June 26 to discuss the SB 863 RFP with interested stakeholders.  Information on the upcoming bidders’ conference, timeline and application process, and the county population chart are provided in the SB 863 RFP which is available here.

For additional information, please contact RCRC Legislative Analyst Randall Echevarria at 916.447.4806 or rechevarria@rcrcnet.org.

Caltrans Notices Transportation Partners of Potential Shutdown

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Secretary Malcolm Dougherty recently sent a letter to the State’s transportation partners alerting them to a potential shutdown of federally-supported transportation projects if Congress fails to reach an agreement over another extension or reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program, known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).  Congress recently passed H.R. 2353 to provide a short-term extension to MAP-21 through July 31, 2015 using existing transportation revenues.  As we move closer to the anticipated insolvency of the Federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which coincides with the extension of MAP-21, Congress will need to reach another agreement over how to fund our nation’s highways.  Several transportation funding options continue to be discussed, but Congress has not coalesced around one specific funding proposal.  Due to the complexity and ongoing contention over various transportation funding proposals, Congressional insiders do not believe that a long-term reauthorization of MAP-21 is in sight and a series of short-term extensions to keep the HTF afloat until after the November 2016 elections appear to be more likely.  The Caltrans letter is available here.

State Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance Update

In California, about half of the urban water is used for landscape irrigation.  To improve water savings in this sector, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is updating the Model Ordinance. The Model Ordinance promotes efficient landscapes in new developments and retrofitted landscapes.

Governor Brown’s Executive Order  B-29-15 calls for revising the Model Ordinance to increase water efficiency standards for new and retrofitted landscapes through more efficient irrigation systems, greywater usage, onsite storm water capture, and by limiting the portion of landscapes that can be covered in turf.  It also requires reporting on the implementation and enforcement of local ordinances with required reports due by December 31, 2015. 

DWR will release a public draft of the Model Ordinance on June 12.  The Model Ordinance and related information can be accessed here.  The public comment period ends on June 26.

Two public meeting will be held as follows: 

Northern California – June 19, 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m., State Resources Building Auditorium, 1416 9th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

Southern California – June 16, 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m., Metropolitan Water District, 700 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, California 90012

 

The California Water Commission will conduct a hearing on the Model Ordinance on July 15 to consider adoption of the Model Ordinance.  Written comments can be submitted to:

California Department of Water Resources
Urban Water Use Efficiency Unit
ATTN: Julie Saare-Edmonds, Senior Environmental Scientist
P.O. Box 942836
Sacramento, CA 94236-0001

Email: Julie.Saare-Edmonds@water.ca.gov

House Begins Work on Interior Appropriations Bill

This week, the FY 2016 House Interior and Environment Appropriations bill was marked up in subcommittee.  The bill would fully fund the Federal Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program at $452 million for FY 2016.  The measure also contains 20 policy riders to stop or redirect federal agency actions on a number of controversial measures, including the Clean Water Act rule (known as the Waters of the U.S.), proposed listing of the sage grouse as an endangered species in California and other western states, and a rule to allow ease requirements for recognizing new Indian Tribes. 

The Senate is anticipated to include a ban on funding the Clean Water Act rule for the first time when the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Committee meet next week.  The House recently approved the ban on the bill that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Additionally, the Senate Appropriations bill includes a rider to prohibit funding to implement the President’s recent Executive Order and Standard that would restrict all federal actions in floodplains.  The House Interior bill will be marked up in the full Appropriations Committee next week. 

Forecast of National Wildfire Season

This week, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Sally Jewell, and Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Tom Tidwell held a press conference to give a nationwide forecast regarding the upcoming fire season and the readiness of firefighters and equipment deployed.  Secretary Vilsack opened with a plea to Congress about the continued need to re-vamp the funding structure for catastrophic-level wildfire disasters.  Secretary Vilsack highlighted the fact that the forecast shows there is a 90 percent chance this year's fire suppression costs for the USFS will be between $810 million and $1.62 billion, and for Interior it will be between $281 million and $475 million.  He went on to explain that under this scenario, if the USFS were “fully funded” at the 10 year average, they would need to borrow more than $200 million from vegetation management and other fire prevention activities in order to pay for fire suppression costs this year.  According to Chief Tidwell, the USFS exceeded their fire suppression budget by $240 million last year. 

In 10 of the past 15 years, USFS has utilized forest management funds to pay for suppression costs.  "In order to protect the public, the portion of the Forest Service budget dedicated to combating fire has drastically increased from what it was 20 years ago," said Vilsack. "This has led to substantial cuts in other areas of the Forest Service budget, including efforts to keep forests healthy, reduce fire risk, and strengthen rural economies.  One percent of the most severe fires make up 30 percent of fire suppression costs.  These fires should be funded like other natural disasters, since that is what they are, rather than forcing the Forest Service to take money from other programs that can help reduce the severity and cost of future wildfires."  He expressed disappointment that the House Interior Appropriations bill, also released this week, did not provide the change in funding structure sought.  Secretary Jewell stated an ongoing commitment to the cause and unwillingness to give up, even if a standalone bill was necessary and urged supporters of the effort to keep fighting.  RCRC supports a change to the funding structure, either through the Budget process or a standalone measure, such as the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act (WDFA).  RCRC’s letter can be accessed here.

While the fire season is predicted to be average or even milder than most in many parts of the country, the prolonged drought in the west is causing the forecast for California, and other Western states, to continue to be grim.  Secretary Vilsack announced that 10,000 fire fighters will be mobilized and 21 air tankers will be in service this year, up from 11 just a few years ago.  USFS was able to acquire additional fixed wing aircraft for repurposing from the Coast Guard when they were being decommissioned for a low-cost bump in numbers to their fleet.  RCRC’s support letter can be accessed here.

Secretary Jewell also highlighted DOI’s Integrated Rangeland Strategy, previously discussed in the Barbed Wire, as well as a new program utilizing combat veterans in their wildland fire program known as “Team Rubicon.”

Both Secretaries and Chief Tidwell urged the public to prepare their homes and communities for fire season by performing appropriate defensible space work and learning about “Firewise Communities” and “Ready, Set, Go!” programs offered through the agencies and through the website: www.fireadapted.org.

Senate Bill Advances to Withdraw and Redirect Clean Water Act Rule

On Wednesday, bipartisan legislation was approved in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to withdraw the final Clean Water Act rule and directs Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers to rewrite the rule after considering numerous modifications.  S. 1140 does not mandate rule provisions but instead provides guidance to the agencies to redefine tributaries and adjacent waters and to exempt existing systems for wastewater treatment, water recycling, storm water, and water delivery.  The legislation will move to the full Senate when bill sponsors are convinced that they have at least 60 votes to support the bill.

House Passes FY 2016 Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill

This week, the House passed its FY 2016 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD).  The bill decreases funding for transportation by $1 billion by increasing funding for housing programs by $1 billion.  Voting on passage of the bill fell mostly along party lines, with only 31 Republicans opposing the bill, and only 3 Democrats supporting it.  Democrats voted against the bill based on their opposition to low spending levels under the sequestration.  

For transportation, the bill would continue to fund highway, bridge, and transit programs at the levels authorized in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).  Two programs proposed for cuts are Amtrak, which would be cut by $262 million to $1.4 billion and the TIGER grant program, which would be reduced from $500 million to $100 million under the House approach.  For housing programs, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program would be held steady at $3.0 billion, while the HOME Investment Partnerships program, which provides housing assistance, would also be funded at the same level as this year, at $900 million.  Amendments to increase funding for Amtrak and TIGER were defeated.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has indicated that it will begin work on its THUD bill in either late June or early July.  Senate Democrats have indicated that they will oppose the bill due to low spending levels just as their House counterparts did. 

Denham Amendment Prohibits Funding for California High-Speed Rail Project

During consideration of the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill, the House approved an amendment offered by Representative Jeff Denham (R-CA) that would prohibit the use of funds in FY 2016 for high-speed rail in the State of California or for the California High-Speed Rail Authority.  If enacted, the language would not kill the project, since appropriated money from previous years would still be available.  The House has included similar language in its appropriations bills the past two years, but it has been taken out during negotiations with the Senate.

Medical Marijuana Language Included in Senate Committee-Passed CJS Bill

This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2016 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill, which included an amendment regarding medical marijuana.  The amendment, offered by the Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), would direct the Justice Department to take no action against states where marijuana use for medical purposes is legal.  The amendment was adopted by a committee vote of 20-10.  The amendment identifies 39 states and the District of Columbia that have passed such laws.  

Bulletin Board

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants Now Available for FY 2015

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced the application periods for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program are now open. Both grant programs provide funding to local, state, tribal, and territorial governments to help strengthen the ability of communities to prepare and recover from natural disasters. The application process for both the FMA and PDM grant programs will be open until 3:00 P.M. EDT on August 28, 2015. Click here.

USDA Announces Rural Housing Repair Funding

On June 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $3.3 million in housing repair grants for "low and very-low income rural residents." These funds are made available through the USDA Rural Development's Home Preservation Grant program which provides grants for the repair or rehabilitation of housing occupied by low and very low income residents.  This funding will help rural families address home health or safety issues and reduce utility costs through energy-efficiency improvements. Pre-applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on July 6, 2015. Click here.

Keeping Up

Mark Nechodom resigned on June 4 as the Director of the California's Department of Conservation (DOC).   

Dr. Nechodom was appointed to DOC by Governor Brown in January 2012.   Prior to his appointment, Dr. Nechodom held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service where he was involved in developing environmental markets, federal greenhouse gas legislation, and forest carbon reporting protocols and greenhouse gas reduction methodologies to support cap and trade markets.  He was the co-founder of the Land Use and Natural Resources program at UC Davis, and helped to establish the California Biodiversity Council in the early 1990s.

Legislative Update

RCRC members are encouraged to share letters addressed to state and federal representatives and regulatory bodies with RCRC’s Government Affairs staff.  Click “Read More” to access information related to the current status of legislation impacting California’s rural counties.  

AB 327 (Gordon): Public Works: Volunteers.  Assembly Bill 327 would extend the sunset until January 1, 2024 that is set to expire January 1, 2017 which would extend the exemption from the definition of “public works” for any work performed by a volunteer, a volunteer coordinator, or by members of the California Conservation Corps or certified Community Conservation Corps.  Status: Gained passage in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee.  RCRC Position: Support