Sept. 6, 2018

CSAC Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources staff took active positions on the following enrolled bills. These bills are currently being reviewed by the Governor for signature or veto. If you have any questions please contact Nick Cronenwett at Ncronenwett@counties.org or 916-224-9133 or Cara Martinson at cmartinson@counties.org or 916-327-7500, ext. 504.

Request Signature

AB 1933 (Maienschein)
This bill would revise the Department of Recycling and Resources Recovery’s (CalRecycle) organic waste and recycling grant program funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to include the recovery of food for human consumption and food waste prevention. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

AB 2020 (Quirk) 
This bill would authorize the Bureau of Cannabis Control to issue a temporary state license to provide on-site sales and consumption of cannabis at a temporary event located at a fair ground, district agricultural association event, or at another venue expressly approved by a local jurisdiction. CSAC and a coalition of local government associations has a Support position on this bill.

AB 2050 (Caballero)
This bill sets up a process for failing public water systems that serve less than 10,000 people or less than 3,000 service connections to come into compliance, or be absorbed into a new Small System Water Authority created by the State Water Board and the applicable Local Agency Formation Commission. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

AB 2441 (Frazier)
This bill would require the State Lands Commission (SLC), by July 1, 2019, to develop a plan for the removal of abandoned commercial vessels  in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

AB 2908 (Berman)
This bill would create the Tire Recycling Incentive Program to increase tire recycling and reduce the illegal dumping of waste tires. AB 2908 will place a fee on the sale of new tires to fund recycling incentives to cover regulatory costs associated with waste and used tire management. Local governments could use these recycled tires in laying down rubberized pavement. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

AB 3178 (Rubio)
Requires CalRecycle, when evaluating a jurisdiction’s good faith effort to implement its source reduction and recycling element (SRRE), to consider the jurisdiction’s efforts to reduce contamination and improve the quality of recycled materials and whether the lack of an available market has prevented the jurisdiction from fully implementing its SRRE.  This bill also requires CalRecycle, until January 1, 2022, to consider whether certain foreign import policies caused an absence or loss of market for recyclable materials that necessitated the disposal of those materials as a temporary measure to avoid a public health threat. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 212 (Jackson)
This bill would establish producer funded take back programs to provide safe and convenient disposal options for unused home-generated drugs and medical sharps waste. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 819 (Hill)
This bill prohibits an electrical corporation from recovering a fine or penalty through a rate approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).  This bill also prohibits an electrical corporation or gas corporation from recovering through an approved rate costs or expenses resulting from damages caused by the utility’s electric facilities or gas facilities, if the CPUC determined that the electrical corporation did not act reasonably in the construction, maintenance, or management of its facilities. The bill also clarifies that the CPUC is authorized to apportion costs between ratepayers and shareholders. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 821 (Jackson)
This bill would authorize counties to enter agreements that give access to the contact information of resident accountholders through the records of public utilities, water service, waste, recycling services, or other property-related service providers for the sole purpose of enrolling county residents in a county-operated public emergency warning system. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 824 (Lara)
This bill would prevent insurance companies from non-renewing or canceling insurance policies of customers living in areas where a state of emergency and wildfire have occurred for one year after the declaration with certain exceptions. The bill would also require major insurance companies to submit wildfire risk data to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) to create a report every two years regarding wildfire risk in residential insurance policies. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 833 (McGuire) This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to develop voluntary guidelines and practices for alerting and warning the public in the event of an emergency. It also would allow OES to use the voluntary guidelines as application conditions for distributing grants, and would require OES to provide training about the federal Wireless Emergency Act (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS) to county emergency managers. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 1035 (Jackson)
This bill would require a local planning agency to review and, if necessary, revise the safety element upon revisions of a housing element or local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP) to identify new information relating to flood and fire hazards and climate adaptation and resiliency strategies applicable to the city or county that was not available during the previous revision of the safety element. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 1079 (Monning)
This bill would authorize Cal FIRE to issue advance payments of local assistance fire prevention grants and Cal FIRE’s forest health grants to nonprofits, special districts, Native American tribes, and local agencies. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 1260 (Jackson)
This bill would improve fire protection in California by enhancing the ability to utilize prescribed burning operations to abate a fire hazard. The bill includes provisions that enhance training, education, and outreach about prescribed burning and makes changes to liability for prescribed burns. In addition, SB 1260 would also require a local planning agency in counties that contain a State Responsibility Area (SRA) or a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to refer adoptions or amendments of a general plan’s safety element to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and to local fire protection agencies that protect territory where the amendment or adoption will occur. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

SB 1459 (Cannella)
This bill would allow state licensing agencies to issue provisional commercial cannabis licenses to businesses that hold a temporary state license for the same premises and the same activity, and that have an application pending with a local jurisdiction. CSAC has a Support position on this bill.

Request Veto

AB 626 (Garcia)
This bill would establish ”microenterprise home kitchens (MHKs)” as a new category of retail food facility that cities or counties would have discretion to authorize and permit to be operated by a resident in a private home subject to specified requirements. The bill limits MHKs to selling food directly to consumers, but allows for the sale of food through an Internet food service intermediary and establishes requirements on these intermediaries. CSAC has an Oppose position on this bill.

SB 1215 (Hertzberg)
This bill would allow California’s regional water boards to mandate the provision of sanitary sewer services to disadvantaged communities without giving adequate consideration to the expensive realities of designing, building and operating sewer systems. CSAC has an Oppose position on this bill.