Advocacy News

Stay up to date with the latest news from RCRC’s advocacy team. Your source for legislative and regulatory news impacting California’s rural counties.

ESJPA – December 2024 Update

ESJPA – December 2024 Update

Dec 19, 2024 |

The Rural Counties’ Environmental Services Joint Powers Authority honored outgoing Chair, Siskiyou County Supervisor Michael Kobseff. Supervisor Kobseff has served as ESJPA’s Chair since 2013 and has guided the organization through several new mandates and initiatives, including SB 1383 organics recycling mandates and SB 54 single-use plastic regulations. Supervisor Kobseff is stepping down from the Chair position in anticipation of his retirement from the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors at the end of 2026. ESJPA elected long-time Vice Chair Supervisor Lori Parlin, El Dorado County, as the new Chair for 2025 and Supervisor Rhonda Duggan, Mono County, as Vice Chair.

read more
SGMA Implementation

SGMA Implementation

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

Groundwater management law in California previously authorized certain local agencies to adopt and implement a groundwater management plan. Local agencies seeking state funds from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) for groundwater projects and groundwater quality projects were required to prepare and implement a groundwater management plan that included basin management objectives.

read more
Secure Rural Schools

Secure Rural Schools

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

Adopted in 1906, federal law requires the U.S. Forest Service to provide counties and schools with 25 percent of the revenues generated on federal forest lands from a variety of activities including timber harvesting, mining, and recreational activities. In 2000, Congress enacted the Secure Rural Schools & Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) to provide funding for rural counties and school districts to replace revenue from dwindling forest receipts due to a national decline in timber harvesting.

read more
Endangered Species Act (ESA)

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

The Federal Endangered Species Act (FESA) was passed by Congress in 1973 to protect and recover at risk species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. In 1984, California followed when the Legislature passed the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), the provisions of which were designed to mirror the FESA.

Both Federal and State ESAs offer special protections to wildlife and plants deemed in danger of extinction by both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW). At times, those protections can prevent the development of rural economies through restrictions on critical habitat that slow or halt recreational use and development. The USFWS has proposed several amendments to the FESA to reform the way species listings account for economic impacts and other important criteria.

RCRC actively engages in the rulemaking processes which list specific species as endangered when they impact RCRC member counties. RCRC also regularly works to ensure that proposed changes to critical habitat regulations will have minimal impact on development and tourism in rural communities.

read more
Water: Supply and Demand

Water: Supply and Demand

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

Nearly 75 percent of California’s available water originates in the northern one-third of the state (north of Sacramento), while more than 70 percent of the demand occurs in the southern two-thirds of the state and coastal areas. Much of the available runoff eventually flows into the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, both of which flow through the Central Valley and meet in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta (Delta). The Delta is the heart of the state’s surface water delivery system. In any given hydrological year, the state’s water supply can be affected by circumstances from extreme drought to flooding. California’s unpredictable climate has led the state to invest in one of the most sophisticated water delivery and flood management systems in the world so this crucial resource can be made available to the communities, industries, habitats, and farms it supports.

read more
About Rural Transportation

About Rural Transportation

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

California’s State and local transportation infrastructure is a complex system of interstate and intrastate highways, freeways, and city and county-maintained streets and roads. California’s rural transportation system serves to connect rural and remote communities to employment and population centers, health care and social services, and educational opportunities, and provides the general public access to many of California’s recreational opportunities and tourist attractions – two key economic drivers for rural counties.

read more
About Solid Waste Management

About Solid Waste Management

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

Solid waste management is an important function for municipal governments. For many counties, the management of landfills is a key component. These management functions fall under the regulatory purview of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), which issues permits for a number of solid waste facilities and activities including landfills, transfer stations, and various diversion programs (i.e. composting). CalRecycle has also imposed a portfolio of new regulatory obligations on local governments with respect to solid and organic waste recycling and reporting. Other state agencies are also extensively involved in the management of solid waste activities, including the State Water Resources Control Board, the Air Resources Board, and the Department of Toxics Substance Control, in addition to regional water quality control boards and local air pollution control districts.

read more
Corrections

Corrections

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

County Boards of Supervisors, in conjunction with County Sheriffs, District Attorneys, Public Defenders, and Chief Probation Officers, are responsible for law enforcement, the operation of a variety of county public safety facilities (county jails and juvenile halls), and the overall administration of public safety services and community corrections. The funds to provide these public safety programs and services are primarily met with county general fund monies. However, the 2011 Criminal Justice Realignment scheme that supports the cost burden incurred from housing and supervising low-level felons is funded through a combination of constitutionally protected state sales tax proceeds and monies from state vehicle license fees. In limited instances, county corrections programs can be funded by special grants from a variety of sources.

California’s rural counties have varying degrees of issues with respect to their local correctional facilities. Some counties currently have “excess” jail capacity, and use those beds to contract with either state or federal corrections authorities, while others have facilities that are in dire need of rehabilitation, and/or face judicially-imposed caps on their inmate population. The overwhelming majority of rural counties do not have adequate population or revenue streams to construct county jails without significant state assistance.

RCRC has historically supported various state legislative proposals that support state lease revenue bond financing for the construction, reconstruction, and renovation/rehabilitation of local correctional facilities. RCRC will continue to support state funding streams for county jails to address the recent realignment of criminal justice programs. Additionally, RCRC will work closely with the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to implement jail construction funding programs, including efforts that provide dedicated funding for small counties, and flexibility to meet state match requirements.

read more
Protecting Local Communities

Protecting Local Communities

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

California’s rural counties play a critical role in protecting their local communities. The California State Constitution requires each county to hold elections to elect both a County Sheriff and District Attorney. Both the County Sheriff and the District Attorney are charged with enforcing the State’s criminal justice laws, and upholding local ordinances prohibiting specified activities as approved by the County Board of Supervisors. The Probation Chief has taken on an increasing set of responsibilities in the wake of criminal justice system reforms including the realignment of youthful offenders from the State to local jurisdictions under SB 823 (2020). That position serves both the local Board of Supervisors and the local superior court.
Most counties maintain local jail detention facilities, administer and offer recidivism reduction programs and anti-gang services, supervise individuals in the community following their release from jail or prison, administer mental health and rehabilitative treatment programs, as well as prosecute crimes and provide defense services to the indigent associated with violations of various state statutes and local ordinances. While the Sheriff and District Attorney are both independently elected, funding for these two county departments must, in general, be approved by County Boards of Supervisors. In addition to the more commonly known county performed public safety services, many counties also provide fire protection services and other disaster management activities.

read more

Veterans Affairs

Dec 10, 2024 |

California is home to nearly 1.8 million veterans, with that population expected to increase significantly over the next five years. RCRC supports policies that ensure veterans receive the resources and services they have earned through their military service. Access to healthcare, education, housing, and employment assistance are all critical to a veteran’s successful transition into civilian life.

Specialized military training, including firefighting and law enforcement, often are not recognized when veterans are attempting to transition into the civilian workforce. RCRC supports changes to law that would allow specialized training completed during military service to qualify as training for non-military employment to speed up re-integration of veterans into communities without having to bear the cost of duplicative state-mandated training.

RCRC is dedicated to the ideal that each county should have the right to support their military and veteran families in the way that best suits the needs of their communities, including reducing or waiving permit fees, incentivizing veteran-owned businesses, or through other means devised by the individual counties without restriction from the State. Additionally, RCRC supports continuous state funding for County Veterans Service Officer programs which provide important services to military veterans and their families.California is home to nearly 1.8 million veterans, with that population expected to increase significantly over the next five years. RCRC supports policies that ensure veterans receive the resources and services they have earned through their military service. Access to healthcare, education, housing, and employment assistance are all critical to a veteran’s successful transition into civilian life.

Specialized military training, including firefighting and law enforcement, often are not recognized when veterans are attempting to transition into the civilian workforce. RCRC supports changes to law that would allow specialized training completed during military service to qualify as training for non-military employment to speed up re-integration of veterans into communities without having to bear the cost of duplicative state-mandated training.

RCRC is dedicated to the ideal that each county should have the right to support their military and veteran families in the way that best suits the needs of their communities, including reducing or waiving permit fees, incentivizing veteran-owned businesses, or through other means devised by the individual counties without restriction from the State. Additionally, RCRC supports continuous state funding for County Veterans Service Officer programs which provide important services to military veterans and their families.

read more

Telehealth

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

Access to healthcare in the most rural and remote parts of California have always been a concern.  RCRC supports increasing the availability of telehealth in rural areas as an alternative way for rural citizens to access healthcare, particularly specialty care. ...

read more

Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA)

Dec 10, 2024 |

The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) was signed into law in 1975, in an effort to limit non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.  RCRC has long supported the protection of the MICRA cap.  The cap on non-economic protects practitioners from...

read more

Health Access

Dec 10, 2024 |

RCRC seeks to ensure adequate and appropriate health care access for its member counties’ residents and the large population of visitors and tourists who recreate and vacation in our rural areas.  RCRC supports the expansion of telemedicine and teledentistry,...

read more

Forestry Reform

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

RCRC advocates strongly for increasing the pace and scale of forest management on California’s federal public lands.  Most of these areas suffer from extreme overstocking of timber, creating an unhealthy forest that is susceptible to disease, insect infestation, and...

read more

Fish and Wildlife

Dec 10, 2024 | ,

RCRC member counties have land use and public trust responsibilities over resource-related issues, including fish and wildlife. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are the two primary agencies responsible for fish and wildlife issues impacting rural counties and their citizens.

read more
POLICY LEADS
ADVOCACY NEWS
AGRICULTURE
AIR QUALITY
CEQA/NEPA
COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
COUNTY OPERATIONS
ENERGY
LEGISLATIVE TRACKING TOOL
FOREST & PUBLIC LANDS STEWARDSHIP
HEALTHCARE & SOCIAL SERVICES
PUBLIC SAFETY & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
TRANSPORTATION
WATER & WILDLIFE