SRA Fee – Board of Forestry Emergency Regulations

As you will recall, the Governor signed ABX1 29 into law as part of the budget package. This bill sets up an annual, ongoing fee-per-structure to provide wildfire prevention services in CA. The funds collected from this fee must be used to pay the cost of collection and be distributed back to the direct benefit of the structure owners paying the fee, and may only support fire prevention costs by a number of entities including Cal Fire and Board of Forestry (Board), local Fire Safe Councils, local government, and other non-profits. 

Pursuant to ABX1 29, the Board at its August 10 meeting directed staff to move forward with drafting emergency regulations to impose the SRA fee. The Board is expected to adopt the emergency regulations at a Special Meeting scheduled for August 22. The emergency regulations can be in effect for 180 days before permanent regulations are passed. A timeline for establishing permanent regulations has yet to be made available.

Counties are encouraged to submit comments on the emergency regulations to the Board prior to 5:00 p.m. on August 22. Comments may be addressed to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, Attn: George Gentry, Executive Officer, P.O. Box 944246, Sacramento, CA 94244-2460. Comments may also be faxed to (916) 653-0989 or emailed toboard.public.comments@fire.ca.gov. Comment letters and emails should have SRA Fees in the subject line.

Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy Committee Meeting

The CSAC Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee will meet on Thursday, August 18th from 2:30- 3:30 pm. The meeting will take place in the CSAC first floor conference room, located at 1100 K Street, Sacramento, CA. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the proposed voluntary Draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). CSAC & RCRC have been working to develop a strategy to help counties create a better working relationship with the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). As part of this strategy, staff is negotiating with the USFS and the BLM to create a statewide voluntary MOA, outlining a structure under which counties and federal public land management agencies consent to communicate and work with one another. 

An update on the SRA Fee will also be provided. The meeting will be an in-person meeting, with no conference call line provided. If you have not already done so, please RSVP to Cara Martinson at cmartinson@counties.org, or 916-327-7500 ext. 504 if you plan on attending

Solid Waste

SB 833 (Vargas) – Oppose 
As Amended April 25, 2011

AB 833, by Assembly Member Juan Vargas, would place specific restrictions on the construction of solid waste facilities in San Diego County. Specifically, SB 833 prohibits a person from constructing a solid waste facility in San Diego County if it is within 1,000 feet of the San Luis Rey River, or within 1,000 feet of a site that is considered to be sacred land to a Native American tribe. CSAC is opposed to this bill because it would establish a dangerous precedent when dealing with the siting and permitting of solid waste facilities. CSAC believes that the existing permitting process is the appropriate channel for this debate to occur. 

Overriding existing laws and regulations related to the siting and construction of a solid waste facility would jeopardize the process the Legislature created exactly for this purpose. This bill will be heard on August 17, 2011 in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Weights & Measures

SB 744 (Wyland) – Oppose
As Amended July 13, 2011

SB 744, by Senator Mark Wyland, would remove the legal requirement that only licensed sealers of weights and measures, or licensed service agents can test and place into commercial service a weighing, measuring, or counting device, with particular reference to water sub-meters. The bill would allow any water sub-meter tested by a manufacturer to be deemed tested, sealed and approved for commercial use. Recent amendments now require manufacturers to notify the county sealer of water sub-meters at the time a meter is installed or otherwise placed in service. If a manufacturer fails to provide notice, a civil penalty of not more than $1000 may be applied. Despite these amendments, CSAC remains opposed to the bill. This bill will be heard on August 17, 2011 in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Energy

SB 790 (Leno) – Support
As Amended July 12, 2011

SB 790, by Senator Mark Leno, would amend the statutes that authorize local governments to implement Community Choice Aggregation, a program that allows communities to pool, or aggregate, the electric load of their residents, businesses and other institutions in order to procure and generate electricity on their behalf (2002 Stats., ch. 838). California law allows for community choice aggregation; however, several issues have prevented local governments and their utility partners from coming to agreement on and implementing CCA. CSAC supports SB 790 because it would provide legislative clarification, greater market parity and more clearly defined rules for Community Choice Aggregation. This bill will be heard on August 17, 2011 in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.