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 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: Failed passage in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.  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 Senate 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 Senate Appropriations Committee.  RCRC Position: Oppose

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 Assembly Local Government 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 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) payments required rather than permissive.  Status: Gained passage in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.  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: Pulled from the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee at the author’s request.  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: Pulled from the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee at the author’s request.  RCRC Position: Oppose