Solid Waste

AB 845 (Ma) – Neutral
As Amended August 14, 2012

AB 845, by Assembly Member Ma, is now in the Assembly for concurrence. This bill is the new version of last year’s AB 1178. As you might recall, this bill would prohibit an ordinance enacted by a city or county, including an ordinance enacted by initiative by the voters of a city or county, from otherwise restricting or limiting the importation of solid waste into a privately owned solid waste facility in that city or county based on place of origin. The bill does not otherwise limit or affect the land use authority of a city or county. AB 845 contains the same language as its predecessor, AB 1178 regarding the exemption for public landfills. Therefore, CSAC will remain neutral on the bill. 

Weights & Measures

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

SB 744, by Senator Mark Wyland, moved off the Assembly floor and is now in the Senate for concurrence. This bill 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. In addition, the bill would 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. CSAC remains opposed to the bill because we feel that allowing manufacturers to test and seal their own devices would allow for inaccurate and incorrect devices to be placed into commercial service. CSAC encourages counties that took an oppose position on the bill to reiterate their opposition to their legislative delegation.

Flood Control

SB 1278 (Wolk) – To Enrollment
As Amended August 20, 2012

SB 1278, by Senate Lois Wolk, is on its way to the Governor’s desk for signature. As previously reported, this is the legislative vehicle for proposed changes to SB 5 (Machado, Chapter 364, Statutes of 2007), one of a six-bill flood protection package signed into law in 2007. SB 5 requires each city and county in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley to comprehensively address flood management and flood risk issues within their general plans and zoning ordinances following the adoption of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP). The law also prohibits, after the CVFPP takes effect, a city or county in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley from entering into a development agreement, approving any permit, entitlement or subdivision map in a flood zone unless the city or county makes a finding that ensures the attainment of, or progress towards, a 200-year level of flood protection. CSAC supports this bill because it would address significant implementation challenges associated with SB 5, making it more workable for local governments.

Forestry

SB 455 (Pavley) – Oppose
As Amended August 22, 2012

SB 455, by Senator Fran Pavley, would require timberland conversion projects to mitigate environmental and greenhouse gas impacts through reforestation and other specified forest related activities. Specifically, this bill would prohibit the approval of an application for conversion of timberlands of three or more acres unless the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection makes a number of findings, including: environmental impacts of the conversion on wildlife, habitat and forest type are mitigated; mitigation occurs on nonfederal timberland; and, mitigation fully mitigates the loss of carbon in above-ground and below-ground biomass and the loss of future ongoing carbon sequestration. CSAC is opposed to SB 455 because we feel it infringes on local control by requiring a county that adopts a timberland conversion and mitigation ordinance to demonstrate that it meets or exceeds specified requirements set by the Board of Forestry. This bill is currently on the Assembly floor.