The Barbed Wire - September 17, 2021

CAL FIRE Awards $138 Million in Local Fire Resilience Grants

On Wednesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announced nearly $138 million in local fire resilience grant dollars to 105 projects around the state, most of which is being directed from the Early Action funding approved by Governor Gavin Newsom in April. The funding can be accessed by local governments, fire safe councils, tribes and other local agencies to undertake community fire prevention and mitigation efforts. 

Projects funded by the grants range from evacuation planning to shaded fuel breaks to removing hazard trees along critical infrastructure to providing community chipping services. Home hardening and defensible space support projects are also being funding to help residents in high fire risk areas retrofit their homes. Several projects are being funding in RCRC member counties,  with the full list of projects available on CAL FIRE’s website here. 

Register Today for RCRC Annual Meeting, September 29 - October 1

Register today for RCRC’s 2021 Annual Meeting, September 29 – October 1, 2021, at the Portola Hotel and Spa at Monterey Bay in Monterey County! This year's program will feature experts discussing a wide range of topics from politics to space exploration, with a keynote address by former U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta.  View additional program details here.

RCRC and CSAC Present Opportunity for County Input on CalPERS Investment Portfolio in Upcoming Webinar

Pension costs are the second largest line item on county budgets; only salaries are a bigger expense.  CalPERS is in the midst of reviewing the discount rate - the target rate of return for investment portfolios - and the factors that go into this momentous decision.  At stake are the costs that county employers pay to fund retirement benefits, direct employee contribution increases from paychecks, and the long-term stability of the retirement system itself.  

RCRC and CSAC are teaming up to present counties with an update and opportunity to engage in discussion with CalPERS. On this webinar, the CalPERS Deputy Chief Actuary will detail the factors that the Board will be weighing as they evaluate different investment portfolios with different degrees of risk, review life expectancy and inflation estimates, potential impacts on city costs, and how any changes would be phased in. 

This is an important and consequential time for CalPERS and for our counties. Join us on September 23, 2021 at 10:00 AM to learn the current state of play and hear about our opportunities for ongoing stakeholder engagement. You must register in advance to attend this webinar. Register today!

Date:  Thursday, September 23, 2021
Time:  10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Register Here
 

RCRC’s Legislative End-of-Session Wrap Up

Last Friday, September 10th, the State Legislature adjourned for the year by 9 p.m., with surprisingly little drama. The Legislature is scheduled to return on January 3, 2021. In the meantime, the Governor will take action on over 700 measures sitting on his desk, awaiting his pen. The RCRC Government Affairs (GA) team have been engaged on a number of those measures over these past months, in some cases with aligned stakeholders and/or our local government partners. The Governor has until October 10, 2021 to act on these measures.

Several other measures remain in the legislature, for further consideration/action in 2022. Over the autumn, the GA team will be working on those measures, as well as identifying new opportunities to move RCRC Board policy priorities forward.

To view legislation tracked by RCRC’s Government Affairs staff during the 2021 Legislative Session, and related letters, visit the easy-to-use RCRC Legislative Tracking Tool. 

 

Bills Sent to the Governor
 

Agriculture

• AB 1103 (Dahle) would authorize county boards of supervisors, or other relevant entities, to establish a livestock pass program for entry into evacuation zones during disasters, as specified.
   
• AB 73 (Rivas) would direct OSHA to develop an enforceable program for employers, including agricultural employers, to provide respirators or similar PPE for employees during wildfire events.
   

CPUC 

• AB 14 (Aguiar-Curry) extends the ability of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to collect monies to fund the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) and revises the methodology for the surcharge calculation. RCRC supports this measure.
   
• SB 4 (Gonzalez) increases the maximum annual amount of funding the California Public Utilities Commission can collect for the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) program and adds flexibility to CASF subaccount funding allocations. RCRC supports this measure.
   
• SB 28 (Caballero) expands the authority of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to collect data to enforce requirements for cable franchises and authorizes the CPUC to set customer service requirements for cable providers. RCRC is in support of this measure.
   

Cannabis 

• AB 1138 (Rubio) would impose a civil penalty on persons aiding and abetting unlicensed commercial cannabis activity of up to 3 times the amount of the license fee for each violation but in no case more than $30,000 for each violation. RCRC successfully amended the bill to include explicit anti-preemption language preserving local enforcement tools and help minimize preemption arguments based on the bill. 
   

Criminal Justice & Public Safety 

• SB 2 (Bradford) would create a statewide decertification process for peace officers by granting new powers to the Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST). The measure establishes processes for investigating and determining the fitness of a person to be a peace officer as well as for suspending or revoking the certification of officers founds to have engaged in serious misconduct.SB 16 (Skinner) – Peace officer personnel records. (Note: SB 586 was amended to make technical corrective changes to provisions connected to SB2. RCRC previously submitted a letter of concern for the bill which would have eliminated an array of court-related fees without county backfill identified in the bill.) 
   
• SB 16 (Skinner) would expand the categories of police personnel records subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act and modify existing provisions regarding the release of records subject to disclosure. The final version of the measure that moved to the Governor earlier this week specifies that records related to the use of excessive or unreasonable force must be sustained in order to be subject to disclosure and clarifies provisions around the attorney-client privilege. 
   
• AB 177 (Committee of Budget) would, among other provisions, (1) repeal as of January 1, 2022, the authority to collect another round of specified criminal justice administrative fees upon conviction or arrest; (2) vacate all previously levied debt associated with these same fees on the effective date of the repeal; and (3) appropriate to counties $25 million in 2021-22 (for half-year implementation) and $50 million annually thereafter to backfill associated revenue losses.  RCRC along with UCC and CSAC, have engaged extensively in policy conversation on court-related fine and fee reform since 2019 to ensure counties receive backfill to address the direct fiscal impacts to county governments resulting from the repeal of court fines and fees. RCRC supports AB 177 and submitted a request for signature to Governor Newsom.
   

Elections 

• SB 594 (Glazer) would make various changes to state law governing candidate filing for the 2022 statewide primary election, redistricting in special districts following the 2020 census, and districting and redistricting for local governments. These changes are necessary to accommodate the delayed receipt of data from the United States Census Bureau and subsequent redistricting processes leading up to the 2022 elections. RCRC, along with UCC and CSAC, support this measure and work with legislative staff to ensure clarification on the ability for counties to adopt maps by resolution or ordinance, was included in SB 594.
   
• AB 428 (Mayes) would ensure that county Boards of Supervisors that are subject to a term limit are limited to no fewer than two terms and clarifies that county Boards of Supervisors are responsible for prescribing compensation for all county officers. RCRC supports AB 428 and submitted a request for signature to Governor Newsom.
   

Energy and Utilities

• AB 33 (Ting) seeks to expand the Energy Commission’s State Energy Conservation Assistance Account to provide financial assistance to local governments, public institutions, and tribes to install energy storage systems and transportation electrification infrastructure.  RCRC supported AB 33.
   
• AB 418 (Valladares) seeks to establish a Community Power Resiliency Program through which the Office of Emergency Services will award grants counties, cities, special districts and tribal governments for energy resilience improvements.  RCRC strongly supported AB 418 and helped to draft the language ultimately sent to the Governor.
   
• AB 843 (Aguiar-Curry) seeks to allow Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) to access the CPUC BioMAT program, which promotes small renewable bioenergy projects, including biomass and biogas.  Sponsored by Pioneer Community Energy, RCRC supported AB 843 as a way to spur the development of local biomass projects that can help achieve wildfire risk reduction goals.
   
• AB 1124 (Friedman) expands the definition of “solar energy system”  which is subject to only a ministerial review, to include facilities not installed on a building or structure on multiple properties. RCRC is opposed to this measure.
   
• SB 52 (Dodd) clarifies that de-energization events (also known as PSPS events) qualify as events for which a local emergency can be declared under the California Emergency Services Act.  RCRC strongly supported SB 52, which was sponsored by Napa County.
   
• SB 556 (Dodd) requires streetlight poles and traffic signal poles owned by a local government or local publicly owned electric utility to be made available for the placement of small wireless facilities and outlines the rates and fees that may be imposed for this use of these poles. RCRC is opposed to this measure.
   

Health and Human Services 

• AB 640 (Cooley) is related to eligibility redeterminations for Extended Foster Care (EFC). The bill would allow a county to do eligibility redeterminations to establish Title IV-E eligibility for many of these youth as they enter EFC, without any disruption in services or supports to these youth. RCRC supports AB 640 and submitted a request for signature to Governor Newsom.
   

Labor/Pension

• SB 270 (Durazo) allows public employee unions to file an unfair labor practice charge before the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against public employers that fail to fully or accurately disclose employee information to public employee unions. The bill also contains the ability for agencies to cure violations three times in twelve months and a recent amendment extends the period to remedy violations to 20 days. RCRC along with a coalition of public sector employees remain opposed to SB 270.
   
• SB 278 (Leyva) would require a public employee to cover the difference between a retiree’s pension and any subsequent reduction in the person’s post-retirement pay for circumstances in which CalPERS determines a portion of the compensation is “disallowed.”
   

Housing

• SB 9 (Atkins) requires ministerial approval of a housing development of no more than two units in a single-family zone and the subdivision of a parcel zoned for residential use into two parcels. RCRC had a support if amended position on the bill.
  (Signed by the Governor)
   

Meetings

• AB 339 (Lee and Garcia), an RCRC-opposed bill, requires county boards of supervisors and city councils governing jurisdictions of at least 250,000 people to provide either a two-way telephonic or two-way internet-based option for members of the public to attend all open and public meetings.
   
• AB 361 (Rivas), an RCRC-supported bill, allows local agencies to meet via teleconference when necessary during a state-declared emergency.
   

Needle and Syringe Exchange Programs

• AB 1344 (Arambula) seeks to exempt needle and syringe exchanges services from the California Environmental Quality Act.  RCRC vigorously opposed provisions of the bill exempting those programs and the illegal disposal of sharps waste from public nuisance actions, but removed its opposition when those provisions were stricken from the bill.
   

Planning and Zoning

• AB 602 (Grayson) requires any county with a population of at least 250,000 or any city located therein, to conduct capital improvement planning. RCRC is opposed to this measure.
   

Sales

• SB 264 (Min), an RCRC-opposed bill, would have prohibited the sale of firearms and firearm components on state property, most notably District Agriculture Associations-operated fairs. SB 264 passed the Legislature, but was amended during the last week of session to only apply to the Orange County Fair and Events Center. 
   
• SB 792 (Glazer), an RCRC-supported bill, requires online retailers with annual online transactions more than $50 million to report for each local jurisdiction the gross receipts from the qualified sale of tangible personal property shipped or delivered to a purchaser in that jurisdiction.
   

Solid and Hazardous Waste

• AB 332 (ESTM) (Chapter 147, Statutes of 2021) re-establishes a viable pathway for the alternative management and disposal of treated wood waste (TWW) in a landfill.  RCRC strongly supported AB 332 and worked with DTSC to establish a stop-gap solution to address TWW until enactment of AB 332.
   
• AB 1201 (Ting) seeks to improve labeling and quality of compostable products that enter the waste stream.  RCRC led local government efforts to support AB 1201, but ultimately opposed the bill when late amendments were added.  Those late changes unintentionally require CalRecycle to order the bifurcation of organic waste collection and processing systems if CalRecycle determines it is feasible to do so.  RCRC and others convinced the author to write a Letter to the Assembly Journal clarifying that this was not his intent and securing his commitment to introducing clean-up legislation to address this ambiguity in 2022.
   
• AB 1311 (Wood) seeks to provide CalRecycle with additional flexibility increase consumer access to beverage container redemption opportunities.  RCRC strongly supported and provided technical assistance on AB 1311.
   
• SB 619 (Laird) seeks to provide local governments with one additional year to come into compliance with SB 1383 organic waste recycling regulations without being subject to penalties by CalRecycle, if certain conditions are met.  Provisions providing flexibility for rural organic waste collection services were removed from the bill.  RCRC removed its support when the rural flexibility sections were removed from the bill.
   

Water

• SB 552 (Hertzberg) would require counties to establish a county drought task force on Jan. 1, 2022, and would require the county to establish a drought emergency response plan as a standalone planning document or integrated into an existing, relevant planning document.
   

Wildfire, Forest Resilience, and Natural Resources

• AB 9 (Wood) codifies the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program at the Department of Conservation, along with shifting oversight of several fire prevention programs from CAL FIRE to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Those programs include defensible space, general plan safety element review, establishment of fire hazard severity zones, and the Fire Prevention Grants Program. 
   
• AB 431 (Patterson), an RCRC-supported bill, continues exemptions from timber harvesting plan requirements for private landowners to meet defensible space requirements.
   
• AB 804 (Dahle) would require the Director of Department of Fish and Wildlife to designate two days a year as a free hunting pass day. Currently law allows the director to designate up to two days.
   
• AB 379 (Gallagher) would authorize the Department of Fish and Wildlife to enter into agreements with California native tribes to provide for the construction, management or maintenance of state-owned conservation lands.
   
• SB 456 (Laird), an RCRC-supported bill, requires the California Natural Resources Agency to develop an implementation plan for the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan and report annually to the Legislature on its progress. 
   

Zero-Emissions

• AB 1346 (Berman) expedites the adoption of new zero-emission equipment such as portable generators and lawn and garden equipment.  

Issues Remaining for Action in 2022

Bail Reform

• SB 262 (Hetzberg) would make various changes to the current cash bail system, including, among other provisions, requiring the Judicial Council to adopt a uniform statewide bail schedule. Senator Hertzberg remains committed to bail reform and has expressed his clear intent to pursue this measure in 2022.
   

Housing

• AB 989 (Gabriel) creates the Office of Housing Appeals that will conduct an appeals process for violations of the Housing Accountability Act (Act), and authorize a developer to appeal a local agency’s decision that resulted in the denial of a specified housing development project or subjected the project to conditions in violation of the Act.
   

Land Use and CEQA

• AB 1547 (Reyes) allows ARB to regulate indirect sources of air pollution, like those resulting from warehouses, and requires local governments to undertake many other actions to identify and address the potential environmental impacts of warehouse development projects.  RCRC opposed AB 1547, which remains in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
   
• SB 30 (Cortese) prohibits state agencies from designing or constructing a state facility that is connected to the natural gas grid and prohibits state agencies from funding projects for the construction of residential and nonresidential buildings that are connected to the natural gas grid.  RCRC opposed SB 30, which remains in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee.
   
• SB 37 (Cortese) would eliminate the ability to use a “common sense exemption” under CEQA for any projects undertaken at over 40,000 sites throughout the state that appear on the Cortese List of currently or formerly contaminated properties.  SB 37 would instead allow specified types of projects to use either a statutory or categorical CEQA exemption is if certain circumstances are met.  RCRC strongly opposed earlier versions of the bill that would have added unnecessary costs, time, and complexity to a wide variety of routine maintenance projects at many local government facilities, but removed its opposition after extensive negotiations and modifications to the bill.  SB 37 remains on the Assembly Floor.
   
• SB 261 (Allen) would require ARB to adopt new greenhouse gas emission and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction targets for incorporation into the sustainable communities’ strategies prepared by the state’s 18 MPOs.  RCRC and many other local organizations opposed SB 261, which remains in Senate Transportation Committee.
   

Solid Waste and Recycling

• SB 38 (Wieckowski) replaces the existing Beverage Container Recycling Program (Bottle Bill) with a new recycling program administered by beverage container manufacturers and increases the CRV from $0.05 to $0.10 per container.  SB 38 also seeks to repeal the $10.5 million annually set aside for payments to cities and counties to address recycling and litter.  RCRC opposed SB 38 unless amended to address several pressing local concerns and the bill remains in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
   

Water

• AB 1434 (Friedman) would accelerate the schedule, until 2030, for reduction in the maximum allowable daily amount of residential water usage.
   
• AB 252 (R.Rivas) would establish a grant program at Department of Conservation for funding for alternative multi-benefit non-agricultural uses of agricultural-designated land.
   
• AB 350 (Villapudua) would direct Department of Food and Agriculture to establish a three-year program for providing SGMA technical assistance office, combined with implementation grants to GSAs managing critically over-drafted basins. 
   

Wildfire, Forest Resilience, and Natural Resources

• SB 396 (Dahle) seeks to facilitate utility removal of cut/felled trees at no expense to the property owner and clarify that utilities can access and remove material that may fall onto a power line and which is located outside of the boundaries of their easement.  While sharing the author’s objectives, RCRC reluctantly opposed SB 396 because late amendments eliminated some landowner protections and increased wildfire risk after utility vegetation management.  SB 396 is expected to be amended to address many stakeholder concerns in early 2022.
   

Workers Compensation

• SB 284 (Stern) would extend Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) workers' compensation presumption to State firefighters, public safety dispatchers, public safety telecommunicators, and emergency response communication employees and expand the list of peace officers who can claim the PTSD presumption. Public agencies, including RCRC, continue to be concerned with this measure and believe it is unnecessary to provide California employees fair access to the workers’ compensation system for psychiatric injuries. 
   
• SB 335 (Cortese) would fundamentally alter longstanding rules and timeframes for determining eligibility for workers’ compensation claims and move California outside of the mainstream compared to other states. RCRC, along with a collation of both public and private sector organizations, remain opposed. 

House Agriculture Committee Reconciliation Markup Pushback

On Monday, the House Agriculture Committee (Committee) advanced its portion of the reconciliation package by a vote of 27-24. While the Committee was able to pass $66.4 billion in funding directed toward climate programs and forest restoration, the bill was missing $28 billion for farmer and rancher conservation provisions.  These provisions were not included in the Committee’s bill because the language had yet to be given a score by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which provides cost estimates for legislation.  The Committee was given a cap of $89.1 billion to spend on its portion of the reconciliation package. With only $23 billion remaining after the passage of the $66.4 billion version, it remains to be seen what will be cut from the $28 billion farmer conservation provision.

House Agriculture Chair David Scott (D-Georgia) has promised to include the provision in the final package before the full House votes; however, the late addition has caused some anger amongst Republicans from both chambers. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Arkansas) criticized the late addition of the conservation provisions because House members would not be given an opportunity to debate or propose potential amendments to the provisions. On Wednesday, Ranking Member Boozman stated that “It’s a terrible precedent…we’re going to have a situation where future farm bills, future agriculture decisions, are going to be written by administrations.”

Meet RCRC’s 2021 Annual Meeting Registration Sponsors Anthem Blue Cross and Charter Communications

Anthem Blue Cross

Anthem Blue Cross has been serving the health insurance needs of California residents since 1937. Anthem Blue Cross provides health care services to more than 8.2 million health plan members in California, including a broad network of more than 65,000 providers. Watch this brief video to learn more, and be sure to connect with Anthem Blue Cross at RCRC’s 2021 Annual Meeting in Monterey County. For more information, visit https://www.anthem.com/ca. Also, follow Anthem on Twitter or Facebook.

Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 31 million customers in 41 states through its Spectrum brand. Over an advanced communications network, the company offers a full range of state-of-the-art residential and business services including Spectrum Internet(r), TV, Mobile and Voice. Be sure to connect with Charter Communications at RCRC’s 2021 Annual Meeting in Monterey County.

BULLETIN BOARD

Announcements regarding hearings, grants, and public comment notices of importance to California's rural counties.

 

Local Government WOTUS Scoping Comments Due to EPA October 4

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the Federalism Consultation comment period for its revision of the definition of “Waters of the United States,” often referred to as the WOTUS rule, to October 4, 2021. The revision is taking place in light of changes made to the WOTUS rule during the Trump Administration, and EPA is seeking comments from local governments on the potential impacts further changes to WOTUS could have on locally-controlled infrastructure. 

The National Association of Counties (NACo) has developed a Waters of the U.S. Action Center portal, which includes full information on the rulemaking and a template for writing comments. The portal can be accessed here. 

 

Career Opportunities - Shasta County

Shasta County is seeking a Deputy County Exeuctive Officer. The position closes October 1, 2021 at 5 p.m. For more information, click here.

The County is also seeking a Public Information Officer. The position closes September 20, 2021 at 5 p.m. For more information, click here. 

 

California Air Resources Board Offers Webinars on Regulatory Compliance Training

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is offering a variety of training webinars for regulatory compliance on issues affecting public fleets such as Off-Road Regulations, Truck and Bus Rules, and Diesel Truck Rules. 

The In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleets Regulation (Off-Road Regulation) requires fleet owners to report to CARB, label their off-road vehicles, and reduce emissions from older equipment.  This course provides detailed information to help fleet owners understand and comply with the Off-Road Regulation: 

Date:        October 14, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

Date:        December 9, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

The Compliance Overview: Truck & Bus Rule, Off-Road Regulation, and Portable Equipment course include the following topics:

Truck and Bus Regulation:

• Regulation Applicability
• Engine Model Year Schedule
• Exemptions & Extensions
• How to Report for Regulation Flexibilities
• Broker and Dispatcher Requirements
• DMV Registration

Periodic Smoke Inspection Program (PSIP):

• Regulation Applicability
• Program Updates

Advanced Clean Truck (ACT)

• Manufacturers ZEV Sales Requirements
• One-Time Reporting
• Future ZEV Rules

In-Use Off-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulation:

• Regulation Applicability
• Requirements Currently in Effect
• Future Compliance Deadlines

Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP) & Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM):

• PERP Eligibility
• Program Requirements
• ATCM Program & Updates
• Enforcement & Inspections

Date:        December 16, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

CARB is also offering a new course to provide an overview of several new programs and they associated regulations that will help the state reach carbon neutrality:

Date:        September 28, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

Date:        October 12, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

Date:        October 26, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

Date:        November 11, 2021
Time:        1:00 p.m.
Webinar:   Register

 

California Climate and Energy Collaborative to Host Virtual Policymakers Session - Rebounding Resiliency

The California Climate & Energy Collaborative (CCEC) is hosting an exclusive virtual session for California policymakers and elected officials on key energy and climate priorities as a part of the 12th Annual CCEC Forum, on Thursday, September 30th, from 1:00 to 2:30 P.M. Policymakers across California face difficult decisions about how to best rebound from the hardships of 2020 and 2021 in ways that support their broader energy, climate, and equity goals. This session will provide elected officials the opportunity to hear relevant policy updates from featured experts who will also facilitate deeper discussions through subsequent breakout sessions. Breakout sessions are designed to allow attendees to ask questions directly to featured experts and forge connections with other jurisdictions by exchanging knowledge and best practices with fellow local policymakers.

Featured speakers and breakout room facilitators include:

• Erik de Kok, Deputy Director at California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research
• Alana Mathews, Director of Policy Resources and Training at Prosecutors Alliance of California

Date:  September 30, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Register

 

U.S. Treasury Announces ARPA Reporting Deadline Extensions for Counties Impacted by Wildfire or Technical Difficulties

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced some important ARPA reporting deadline extensions for counties impacted by wildfire and technical glitches on the Treasury reporting website. You can find details and important links below:
 
COUNTIES EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH ARP REPORTING: The U.S. Treasury understands that some recipients have had technical problems that have made it difficult for them to submit their reports on time. Treasury continues to assist individual recipients and hopes to resolve remaining technical issues as soon as possible. Those recipients who made a reasonable effort to file before the deadline will not be counted as late if they experienced technical issues in the reporting system that prevented them from filing on time. 
 
IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE U.S. TREASURY FOR COUNTIES IMPACTED BY WILDFIRES: The U.S. Treasury recognizes that some local jurisdictions and tribal governments may be unable to timely submit reports due to health and public safety concerns in their area. Any jurisdiction that is covered by a Governor or Tribal declared state of emergency and remains unable to submit the report due to emergency conditions should notify Treasury, providing a clear explanation of why the report has not been submitted, and proposing a specific date by which the report will be ready for submission. Treasury will document this information in its reporting system so that such jurisdictions would not be included in any public reporting by Treasury about jurisdictions that failed to submit reports in a timely manner. This request and related explanation should be sent to SLFRP@treasury.gov. The Interim Report and the Recovery Plan Performance Report (Recovery Plan), if applicable, should be submitted through Treasury’s State, Local, and Tribal Support portal via the following link: https://portal.treasury.gov/cares/s/slt.

 

TuCARE Hosting Annual Forest Tour and Summit

Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and Environment (TuCARE) is hosting its annual forest tour on October 7th and summit on October 8th  in Sonora, California to engage the community and responsible agencies in a dialogue about the pertinent issues relative to natural resources. This year’s theme is “Making our Communities Safe” and will feature a variety of speakers discussing what it takes to make communities truly fire safe. The summit is open to the public while the forest tour is limited to elected officials and groups who advocate for vegetation management for wildfire prevention. Information on the summit is available here and the tour registration form is available here. 

 

FEMA Announces Application Period for 2021 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will begin accepting applications on September 30, 2021 for $1.16 billion in FY 2021 Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants, providing localities the opportunity to receive Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) pre-disaster mitigation grants. These grants recognize the growing hazards of extreme weather events and the need for risk mitigation activities to promote climate adaptation and resilience. The financial assistance through the BRIC program may fund state and local government pre-disaster capability and capacity building activities, mitigation projects, and cover management costs.

FEMA informational webinars can be accessed here, and more information can be viewed here or at www.grants.gov. The FEMA application period closes on January 28, 2022. 

 

Access the State Grants Portal for a Multitude of Funding Opportunities

Billions of dollars are up for grabs to public agencies and other entities, including tribes and businesses. Grant seekers can access a centralized portal of grant and loan opportunities here, or sign up to receive new grant opportunities delivered straight to your inbox.