Groundwater Management

SB 1168 (Pavley) – Removed Opposition/Neutral 
Chapter 346, Statutes of 2014

SB 1319 (Pavley) – Neutral 
Chaptered 348, Statutes of 2014

AB 1739 (Dickinson) – Removed Opposition/Neutral 
Chapter 347, Statutes of 2014

The sustainable groundwater management bills, SB 1168 and SB 1319, by Senator Fran Pavley, and AB 1739, by Assembly Member Roger Dickinson, were signed by the Governor on September 16. Together these measures include provisions requiring the establishment of groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) and adoption of groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) in specified areas, and provides for implementation tools and enforcement authorities at the state and local levels. Details regarding the bills, including a timeline and summary, are available on the CSAC website at http://www.counties.org/groundwater.

Water Bond

AB 1471 (Rendon) – Support
Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014

AB 1471, by Assembly Member Anthony Rendon, replaces the 2009 $11.1 billion bond measure that was slated for the November ballot with the “Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act”, a $7.54 billion bond measure. The new bond, Proposition 1 on the November 2014 ballot, provides funding for regional water reliability, groundwater management and cleanup, water recycling, watershed protection, water conservation, flood management and funding to enhance local, regional and state water quality and supply. A summary of Proposition 1 is available on the CSAC website at http://www.counties.org/water-bond.

Proposition 218 – Water

AB 2403 (Rendon) – Support
Chapter 78, Statutes of 2014

AB 2403, by Assembly Member Anthony Rendon, was signed by the Governor on June 28. The Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act (the Act) currently defines “water” to mean “any system of public improvement intended to provide for the production, storage, supply, treatment, or distribution of water.” AB 2403 clarifies that the Act’s current definition of “water” includes improvements for producing, storing, supplying, treating, or distributing of water from “any source.”

Water Efficient Landscapes

AB 2104 (Gonzalez) – Watch
Chapter 421, Statutes of 2014

SB 992 (Nielsen) – Watch
Chapter 434, Statutes of 2014

Two measures that address Homeowner Association (HOA) landscaping requirements were signed by the Governor. AB 2104, by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez, provides that architectural or landscaping guidelines or policies of a HOA are void if they prohibit the use of low water-using plants and other water conservation measures. AB 2104 becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2015 and does not require a drought-emergency in order for the water-friendly plants to be allowed.

SB 992, by Senator Jim Nielsen, SB 992, which does not apply in HOA neighborhoods that use recycled water, prohibits HOAs from fining homeowners that reduce or discontinue lawn watering during a statewide drought emergency. This law goes into effect immediately.

Flood Protection/Land Use

AB 2108 (Eggman) – Support
Failed Passage

AB 2108, by Assembly Member Susan Eggman, would have addressed an outstanding issue concerning the implementation of the current prohibition on a city or county approving projects in an area that does not meet the 200-year level of flood protection.

Solid Waste

SB 498 (Lara) – Support
Chapter 746, Statutes of 2014

SB 498, by Senator Ricardo Lara, is the CSAC/ LA County co-sponsored measure on conversion technology. This bill expands the biomass definition to include non-combustion thermal conversion technology facilities that utilize biomass feedstock and makes them eligible for the same incentives and regulatory certainty provided to traditional combustion facilities. In addition, SB 498 allows biomass facilities to produce fuels in addition to electricity and includes reporting requirements for all biomass facilities.

AB 1826 (Chesbro) – Support
Chapter 727, Statutes of 2014

AB 1826, by Assembly Member Chesbro, establishes a commercial organics recycling program in California. CSAC worked extensively with the author and other stakeholders over the last six months to develop language that is workable for local governments, including a phased-in approach and flexibility for rural jurisdictions. Specifically, this bill requires large generators of organic waste to arrange for recycling services. This bill also requires local governments to develop an organics program, providing outreach and education to effected entities.

AB 1594 (Williams) – Neutral
Chapter 719, Statutes of 2014

AB 1594, by Assembly Member Das Williams, eliminates the solid waste diversion credit for green waste used as Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) at a solid waste landfill. ADC is the cover material other than earthen material placed on the surface of the active face of a solid waste landfill at the end of each operating day to control vectors, fires, odors, blowing litter, and scavenging. Cal Recycle has approved a list of acceptable ADC materials, which includes green material, such as lawn and tree trimmings. Currently, jurisdictions receive solid waste diversion credit for the use of green material as ADC. This bill eliminates the solid waste diversion credit for the use of green waste as ADC at landfills by 2020. While CSAC has traditionally opposed bills that remove diversion credit for ADC, we recognize that counties will not need this tool to reach their 50% diversion in 2020. CSAC had a concerns position with the bill based the $1.40 fee disposal fee that would be imposed on ADC after 2020. An exemption from this fee has since been included in the bill. The Governor did include a signing message for AB 1594 that states his concerns with the exemption from the fee and encourages the Legislature and stakeholders to work with the Department to ensure that this law does not hamstring their efforts.

Energy

AB 2188 (Muratsuchi) – Oppose
Chapter 521, Statutes of 2014

AB 2188, by Assembly Member Muratsuchi, creates a special class of permit for rooftop solar for systems under 10 kw. Specifically, this bill requires cities and counties to adopt an ordinance to create an expedited permitting for rooftop solar. CSAC, along with our local government partners RCRC and the Urban Counties, opposed this bill based on the premise that AB 2188 creates a bad precedent by placing rooftop solar in front of all other permit requests — legislating specific requirements for different types of local permits.

AB 2145 (Bradford) – Oppose
Failed Passage

AB 2145, by Assembly Member Bradford, would have established new limitations on the ability of communities to adopt Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs.

AB 2363 (Dahle) – Support
Chapter 610, Statutes of 2014

AB 2363, by Assembly Member Brian Dahle, requires the Public Utilities Commission to consider the full cost of producing renewable energy. A wide variety of renewable resources are available, including wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Each of these resources provides valuable contributions to the State’s RPS goals, and each has different operating characteristics and costs. This new standard would apply to all forms of renewable energy and would take a significant step toward creating a level playing field for competition among the various sources.

AB 2597 (Ting) – Support
Chapter 614, Statutes of 2014

AB 2597, by Assembly Member Ting, promotes Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs by helping to make PACE financing available for more middle-income homeowners, by modifying the PACE underwriting standards outlined in California.

Williamson Act

SB 1353 (Nielsen) – Support
Chapter 322, Statutes of 2014

SB 1353, by Senator Jim Nielsen, repeals the January 1, 2015 expiration date in AB 1265 (Nielsen, Statutes of 2011) that provides counties with an alternative funding mechanism for the Williamson Act.

Medical Marijuana

SB 1262 (Correa) – Oppose Unless Amended
Failed Passage

SB 1262, by Senator Lou Correa, would have established within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) a new Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation to license dispensing facilities and cultivation sites and processing facilities that provide, process, and grow marijuana for medical use subject to local ordinances.

AB 1894 (Ammiano) – Oppose Unless Amended
Failed Passage

SB 1894, by Assembly Member Tom Ammiano, would have established within the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control a Division of Medical Cannabis Regulation and Enforcement that would have been required to enact and enforce regulations governing the cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing, transportation, distribution, and sale of commercial medical cannabis.

Fairs

AB 1647 (Bigelow) – Support
Failed Passage

AB 1647, by Assembly Member Frank Bigelow, would have alleviated some of the existing cost pressures on fairs across the state by repealing the requirements for an annual report on courtesy passes, an annual conference on exhibits, and exhibit funding.

AB 2490 (Eggman) – Support
Chapter 342, Statutes of 2014

AB 2490, by Assembly Member Susan Eggman, would modify the District Agricultural Association’s (DAAs) requirements for activities needing prior approval by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and/or the Department of General Services (DGS) and recasts language expanding duties. These changes would move DAAs away from the requirement to adhere to state accounting rules, reporting requirements, and state laws, in operating their respective fairs.

Department of Fish and Wildlife – PILT Payments

SB 1410 (Wolk) – Support
Failed Passage

SB 1410, by Senator Lois Wolk, would have appropriated $19 million from the State’s General Fund to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to make payments to counties for outstanding obligations under the DFW Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program and to resume the annual PILT payments.

Mining

SB 1270 – Oppose Unless Amended
Failed Passage

SB 1270, by Senator Fran Pavley, would have made numerous amendments to the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA).

Farmland Conservation

AB 1961 (Eggman) – Oppose Unless Amended
Failed Passage

AB 1961, by Assembly Member Susan Eggman, would have required each county with significant agricultural land resources to develop a sustainable farmland strategy.

CEQA

SB 674 (Corbett) – Support
Chapter 549, Statutes of 2014

SB 674, by Senator Ellen Corbett, makes a simple change to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) infill exemption. In 2002, SB 1925 (Sher) created a number of new provisions to encourage the development of affordable housing for agricultural workers, as well as infill projects in urbanized areas. Included in these provisions was the infill exemption for housing projects that meet certain size and location criteria, as well as relying on a specified level of previously adopted environmental review. The approved criteria also allowed for the inclusion of a limited amount of neighborhood-serving goods, services and retail uses up to 15% of the total floor area. This bill simply increases the current maximum total floor area from 15% to 25% maximum of the total building square footage. Counties have been unable to use this tool in the past because the criteria are too stringent to be realistically implemented. This bill helps counties take advantage of this tool, making the exemption more feasible for smart growth projects.