Groundwater

AB 1739 (Dickinson) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended August 7, 2014

AB 1739, by Assembly Member Roger Dickinson, would establish a comprehensive statutory groundwater management framework aimed at achieving sustainable groundwater management across the state. CSAC continues to have concerns with a number of technical aspects of the bill, including the backstop language. CSAC, along with RCRC continue to work with the author and have proposed specific amendments to the bill. To see a copy of our letter, and our requested amendments, visit the CSAC website. This bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee this week.

SB 1168 (Pavley) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended August 6, 2014

SB 1168, by Senator Fran Pavley, is identical to AB 1739. It also establishes a comprehensive statutory groundwater management framework. CSAC and RCRC are seeking the same amendments to the Senate version of the bill. This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations Committee this week.

Medical Marijuana

SB 1262 (Correa) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended August 4, 2014

SB 1262, by Senator Lou Correa, would establish 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. SB 1262 also requires security measures for facilities; places restrictions on doctors that write recommendations; provides a civil fine for violations; and, includes explicit county taxing authority. While the bill does respect a jurisdiction’s ability to regulate or ban medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation activities, there are certain elements of the bill that we believe undermine local control. This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

Energy

AB 2145 (Bradford) – Oppose 
Proposed to be Amended

AB 2145, by Assembly Member Bradford, would establish new limitations on the ability of communities to adopt Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs. CSAC had learned of the author’s intention to amend the bill in the Appropriations Committee and include language that would have further limited a CCA’s ability to form, removing the section that allowed for three contiguous counties to form a CCA. It is our understanding that this amendment was not taken. However, we are waiting to review language once it is in print. This bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee this week.

Solid Waste Management

SB 270 (Padilla) – Watch
As Proposed to be Amended

SB 270, by Senator Padilla, would prohibit retail stores from providing single-use carryout bags to customers. The bill also includes standards and incentives for plastic bag manufacturers to transition to making reusable bags. This bill passed out of Assembly Appropriations Committee this week with amendments.

CalEPA Finalizes Update of Environmental Health Screening Tool

CalEPA has released an updated version of California’s environmental health screening tool, CalEnviroScreen. The updated tool will be used to inform the investment of state cap-and-trade funds specifically targeted for disadvantaged communities. CalEPA also plans to use the tool to administer its Environmental Justice Small Grant Program.

CalEnviroScreen 2.0 provides more detail than previous versions of the statewide screening tool, creates scores for each of the state’s 8,000 census tracts, instead of using ZIP code data, and adds new indicators for drinking water contaminants and unemployment rates.

Developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) CalEnviroScreen identifies the California communities most burdened by pollution from multiple sources and most vulnerable to its effects.

Details regarding CalEnviroScreen 2.0 are available at: http://www.oehha.ca.gov/ej/ces2.html.