Several RCRC-sponsored measures passed their first policy over the last two weeks while two others will be heard after the Legislature returns from Spring Break.
AB 993 (Hadwick) expands eligibility for CalEPA’s Rural Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Reimbursement program and increases the maximum annual award to account for inflation. In particular, the bill enables an additional twelve counties to access the reimbursement program and increases the maximum annual award from $60,000 to $100,000. AB 993 passed the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee on April 8 and will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The measure is co-sponsored by RCRC and the California Association of Environmental Health Administrators and a letter in support can be found here.
AB 632 (Hart), passed out of the Assembly Local Government Committee on April 9th. This bill will strengthen local enforcement of State housing law, fire safety regulations, and unlicensed cannabis activities by expanding penalty collection options to deter the most serious violators. In addition, the measure clarifies existing law to allow local governments to utilize ordinary real property liens as a tool to collect fines and penalties. AB 632 was referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee and will be heard on May 6th. RCRC’s letter of support can be found here. RCRC requests that counties send letters of support to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary no later than Tuesday, April 29th at 5:00 p.m. A template is available here.
SB 496 (Hurtado) ensures disaster service workers are able to effectively respond to emergency situations. The bill creates an Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Appeals Advisory Committee through which local agencies may request a review of Air Resources Board ACF exemption request denials. The bill also updates the emergency vehicle exemption to allow vehicles that respond to and support critical operations related to emergencies and disasters to continue to protect our communities. SB 496 passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on April 2 and will next be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee. RCRC’s support letter can be found here.
RCRC’s other sponsored measures, AB 998 (Hadwick) regarding household hazardous waste and SB 607 (Wiener) regarding the California Environmental Quality Act will be heard in their respective policy committees later this month. Letters for those measures can be found here: AB 998 & SB 607.
If you have questions on any of the above measures, contact the RCRC Policy Advocate found on the corresponding letters above.