This week, the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) posted preliminary draft guidelines for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. Written comments will be accepted on this draft until Friday, October 31, 2014. The SGC has acknowledged several outstanding issues to be resolved prior to its planned adoption of the Final Guidelines in December.
A sampling of these issues include:
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Coordination and partnership between Metropolitan Planning Organizations/regional agencies and the State to ensure effective implementation of the goals of this Program;
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Geographic distribution of funds throughout the state;
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ARB Guidance on GHG reductions quantification ; and,
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Specific point values for scoring criteria.
RCRC is concerned that it will be difficult for rural counties to compete for these funds, especially if they adopt the CalEnviroScreen as the sole tool for selecting “disadvantaged communities.” RCRC is soliciting comments from our member counties. For additional information please contact RCRC Regulatory Affairs Advocate Mary Pitto at mpitto@rcrcnet.org.
The draft guidelines can be accessed here. Four public workshops on the guidelines will be held later this month in Merced, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento. The Sacramento workshop will be a live webcast, and a recording of this workshop will be posted to its website shortly after the meeting. Advance registration is required to attend workshops. The specific dates, times, and location of the workshops can be accessed here.