Cap and Trade

AB 1532 (Perez) – Support
Chapter Number 807, Statutes of 2012

AB 1532, by Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, was signed by the Governor last week. This bill directs the Department of Finance, in consultation with the California Air Resources Board to develop the investment plan for Cap and Trade funds and does include public agencies as eligible recipients for Cap and Trade funds. The bill states that the expenditure of auction revenues may be available for funding of local government investments in a variety of different sectors, including local and regional sustainable infrastructure projects, including transportation and housing, land and natural resource management programs, water use and supply, forestry, and sustainable agriculture. As previously reported, CSAC took a support position on the bill and had been negotiating with the author’s staff to include a local government funding component in the bill. 

Solid Waste

AB 845 (Ma) – Neutral
Chapter Number 526, Statutes of 2012

AB 845, by Assembly Member Ma, was signed by the Governor last week. 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 took a neutral on the bill. 

Flood Control

AB 1965 (Pan) – Support
Chapter Number 554, Statutes of 2012

AB 1965, by Assembly Member Richard Pan, was signed by the Governor this week. This bill makes non-substantive/clean-up amendments to Senator Lois Wolk’s SB 1278, which was also signed by the Governor. SB 1278 addresses outstanding issues concerning the implementation of SB 5 (Machado, Chapter 364, Statutes of 2007) — one of a six-bill flood protection package signed into law in 2007. AB 1965 merely corrects a mistake in the drafting of the definition of “urban level of flood protection” that was included in SB 1278. This correction was agreed upon by CSAC, the League of Cities, RCRC, the American Planning Association and the Department of Water Resources.

Food & Agriculture

AB 1616 (Gatto) – Concerns
Chapter Number 415, Statutes of 2012

AB 1616, by Assembly Member Mike Gatto, was signed by the Governor this week. This bill regulates the production and sale of certain foods prepared in a home kitchen, referred to as cottage food operations. CSAC expressed concerns with the bill, specifically with respect to the provision that moves enforcement of the bill from the local health departments to local planning departments, which has raised a number of concerns for cities and counties. The author’s office has agreed to discuss outstanding concerns with the bill in the coming months.

Fish & Game

AB 2443 (Williams) – Support
Chapter Number 485, Statutes of 2012

AB 2443, by Assembly Member Das Williams, was signed by the Governor. This bill imposes a Quagga and Zebra mussel infestation prevention fee on boater registrations to fund a grant program for implementation and administration of dreissenid mussel infestation inspection and prevention programs. CSAC supports this bill because it will help to offset local government and state agency costs by establishing a new source of revenue to help protect California’s vulnerable waters from Quagga and Zebra mussel infestation.

Metal Theft

SB 1387 (Emmerson) – Support
Chapter Number 656, Statutes of 2012

SB 1387, by Senator Bill Emmerson, was signed by the Governor. This bill prohibits junk dealers and recyclers from possessing fire hydrants, manhole covers or backflow devices without proper certification. In addition, this bill provides that possession of stolen fire hydrants, manhole covers or backflow devices by persons engaged in the salvage, recycling, purchase or sale of scrap metal shall be punishable by an additional fine up to $3000.

Emergency Management

AB 2559 (Buchanan) – Watch
Chapter Number 486, Statutes of 2012

AB 2559, by Assembly Member Joan Buchanan, was signed by the Governor. This bill requires a city or county to expedite permitting for a public utility for a ministerial pipeline project permit, in accordance with a pipeline integrity management plan (which is limited to projects that mainly identify and minimize hazards and risks) within a public street or highway or any other public right-of-way within 10 business days of determining that an application for the pipeline project is complete. Or, if not within 10 days, the local government shall give a written timeline indicating the time in which it shall occur. CSAC and the League had been discussing an alternative proposal with staff from the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and representatives of the Utility Company to deal with utility concerns regarding permit requirements. However, this proposal did not make it into the final version of the bill. 

Land Use/ Fire Safety

SB 1241 (Kehoe) – Neutral
Chapter Number 311, Statutes of 2012

SB 1241, by Senator Christine Kehoe, was signed by the Governor. CSAC was successful in obtaining amendments to SB 1241, by Senator Christine Kehoe, that allowed us to remove our opposition. This bill requires cities and counties to review and update their General Plan’s Safety Element to address fire risks on land classified as State Responsibility Area (SRA) and very high fire hazard severity zones. The Senator agreed to amendments that addressed our concerns with the costs associated with its implementation, linkage with the housing element update, and duplicative requirements.