Solid Waste Management

SB 515 (Corbett) – Support
Two-Year Bill

SB 515, by Senator Ellen Corbett, would create a product stewardship program for batteries by requiring manufacturers of household batteries to submit and implement a stewardship plan to recycle batteries.

SB 568 (Lowenthal) – Watch
Two-Year Bill

SB 568, by Senator Alan Lowenthal, would phase out the use and distribution of Styrofoam containers by food vendors in California starting in 2016.

SB 833 (Vargas) – Oppose
Vetoed

SB 833, by Assembly Member Juan Vargas, was vetoed by the Governor. This measure would have prohibited 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 opposed this bill because it would have established a dangerous precedent when dealing with the siting and permitting of solid waste facilities.

The Governor vetoed SB 833 on October 10, 2011. In his veto message the Governor stated, “I am deeply concerned about the objections raised with respect to the sacred site, but I don’t believe it is appropriate for the Legislature to now intervene and overturn this hard fought local land-use decision.”

AB 341 (Chesbro) – Neutral
Chapter No. 476, Statutes of 2011

AB 341, by Assembly Member Wesley Chesbro, establishes a state policy goal that 75% of solid waste generated be diverted from landfill disposal by 2020; requires a commercial waste generator to arrange for recycling services; and, requires local governments to implement commercial solid waste recycling programs designed to divert solid waste from businesses. 
AB 341 was signed into law on October 6, 2011.

AB 525 (Gordon) – Support
Chapter No. 573, Statutes of 2011

AB 525, by Assembly Member Richard Gordon, extends the sunset date of the Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery’s (Cal Recycle) Tire Recycling Program to June 30, 2015. The bill also provides increased grant opportunities to local agencies for projects that use waste tires and make technical clean up amendments to the Architectural Paint Stewardship Program.

AB 525 was signed into law on October 8, 2011

AB 1149 (Gordon) – Support
Chapter No. 486, Statutes of 2011

AB 1149 extends and expands Cal Recycle’s plastic market development program, which provides Bottle Bill funds to support recyclers and manufacturers using empty plastic beverage containers.

AB 1149 was signed into law on October 6, 2011.

AB 1178 (Ma) – Neutral
Two-Year Bill

AB 1178, by Assembly Member Fiona Ma, 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.

Energy

SB 16 (Rubio) – Watch
Chapter No. 311, Statutes of 2011

SB 16, by Senator Michael Rubio and sponsored by Kern County, expedites the Department of Fish and Game’s process for the issuance of incidental take permits for solar thermal and photovoltaic power plants.

This bill was signed into law on September 22, 2011. As an urgency measure it became effective upon that date.

SB 136 (Yee) – Oppose
Chapter No. 698, Statutes of 2011

SB 136, by Senator Leland Yee, expands the definition of ‘public works’ to include work done under private contract in connection with the construction or maintenance of renewable energy generating capacity or energy efficiency improvements for the purposes of prevailing wage requirements. This bill mandates private companies to pay prevailing wage for their renewable energy generation and efficiency work performed on state or local property. 
This bill was signed into law on October 9, 2011.

SB 226 (Simitian) – Oppose
Chapter No. 469, Statutes of 2011 

SB 226, by Senator Joe Simitian, allows several large scale renewable energy projects under consideration at the California Energy Commission to convert from solar thermal to photovoltaic technology, without the need to file an entirely new application for certification or notice. SB 226 also makes changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) comment process and would make streamlining changes for rooftop solar. For information on the CEQA changes related to infill projects, please see the Housing, Land Use & Transportation article in this same issue of The CSAC Bulletin.

SB 226 was signed into law on October 4, 2011. See his signing message for more details.

SB 267 (Rubio) – Watch
Chapter No. 588, Statutes of 2011

SB 267, by Senator Michael Rubio, exempts solar photovoltaic and wind projects from the requirement to prepare a SB 610 water supply assessment. This exemption only applies to such projects that demand no more than 75 acre-feet of water per year.

SB 267 was signed into law on October 8, 2011. As an urgency measure its provisions became effective on that date.

SB 618 – Watch
Chapter No. 596, Statutes of 2011

SB 618, by Senator Lois Wolk, allows owners of property subject to Williamson Act contracts to rescind their contracts immediately in order to enter in a so-called “solar-use easement,” under which the property owner agrees to use the land for solar PV facilities for at least 10 or 20 years. Like a Williamson Act contract, a solar-use easement is automatically renewed annually. A solar-use easement can be terminated by nonrenewal; cancellation, which is subject to paying a fee; or entering into a new Williamson Act contract. The solar-use easement option is available only for land that has significantly reduced agricultural productivity as a result of soil conditions, topography, drainage, or other physical reasons.

SB 618 was signed into law on October 8, 2011.

SB 790 (Leno) – Support
Chapter No. 599, Statutes of 2011

SB 790, by Senator Mark Leno, clarifies and strengthens existing laws governing the formation and administration of Community Choice Aggregators.

This bill was signed into law on October 8, 2011.

AB 512 (Gordon) – Support
Chapter No. 478, Statutes of 2011

AB 512, by Assembly Member Richard Gordon, increases the capacity of a powerplant from 1 megawatt (MW) to 5 MW that would be eligible for a local government program that allows a municipality to generate electricity at one location to offset electricity usage at another municipal location.
AB 512 was signed into law on October 6, 2011.

Climate Change

AB 752 (Brownley) – Oppose
Two-Year Bill

AB 752, by Assembly Member Julia Brownley, would require a local trustee of granted public trust lands to give management priority to, and take all reasonable actions that are necessary for, the preparation of a sea level action plan for all of its granted public trust lands by July 1, 2013, if the land’s gross revenues exceed $250,000.

Conservation

SB 328 (Kehoe) – Watch
Chapter No. 589, Statutes of 2011

SB 328, by Senator Christine Kehoe, requires a person seeking to acquire, by eminent domain, a property subject to a conservation easement to give the holder of the conservation easement a notice containing specified information and an opportunity to comment on the acquisition.

This bill was signed into law on October 8, 2011.

Mining 

AB 742 (Lowenthal) – Oppose
Two-Year Bill

AB 742, by Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal, would prohibit a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for an aggregate products operation if the operation is located on or within 2,000 yards of the external boundaries of an Indian reservation and is on or within 5,000 yards of a Native American sacred site, and is on or within 4,000 yards of the Santa Margarita River or an aquifer that is hydrologically connected to the river, unless the tribe whose reservation is nearest the operation consents to the operation.

Weights & Measures

SB 744 (Wyland) – Oppose
Two-Year Bill

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.