In the last week of March, the Legislature’s environmental committees advanced a number of bills that are helpful for rural communities and local governments.
The Natural Resources committee approved RCRC-sponsored AB 909 (Hoover, R-Folsom), which expands CalRecycle’s existing Solid Waste Disposal Cleanup Program to fund the cleanup and proper disposal of illegally dumped hazardous waste and household hazardous waste.
The committee also passed AB 692 (Patterson, R-Fresno) that seeks to create a new CEQA exemption for the creation of secondary egress routes in high fire risk areas. RCRC sponsored a similar measure last year (AB 1154 (Patterson)) that stalled in the Legislature. It also passed AB 297 (Fong, R-Bakersfield) which extends the CAL FIRE’s ability to offer advance payments of up to 25 percent of the total grant reward from its Wildfire Prevention Grants program to January 1, 2034. AB 998 (Connolly, D-San Rafael) passed the committee and now goes to the Utilities and Energy Committee for consideration. This bill would require the Energy Commission to evaluate the potential to upgrade existing (and repower shuttered) biomass conversion facilities. The committee passed, but narrowed applicability of AB 704 (Patterson), which exempts wildfire rebuilds from the new Energy Commission solar roof mandate. A similar exemption for homes destroyed during pre-2020 wildfires expired on January 1 of this year. Governor Newsom vetoed a similar measure last year.
On the Senate side, the Environmental Quality Committee approved Senate Bill 642 (Cortese, D-San Jose) that RCRC is sponsoring in conjunction with Santa Clara County and the California State Association of Counties. SB 642 allows county counsels to enforce against violations of the state’s underground storage tank, aboveground storage tank, medical waste, and hazardous materials business plan laws.
The Environmental Quality Committee also approved SB 665 (Allen, D-Santa Monica) that avoids future local government solid waste management challenges by working to proactively to avoid regrettable substitutions as newer packaging materials and types are introduced into the marketplace.
In addition, the committee approved a narrowed version of SB 861 (Dahle, R-Bieber), which shortens the litigation review period for CEQA actions brought challenging water conveyance or storage projects. As approved, the bill only applies to five of the seven projects approved by the California Water Commission for Proposition 1 water bond funding, including: Chino Basin Conjunctive Use Environmental Water Storage/Exchange Program in San Bernardino County, Harvest Water Program in Sacramento County, Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project in Kern County, Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Project in Contra Costa County, and the Willow Spring Water Bank Conjunctive Use Project in Los Angeles County. Despite the author’s objection, the committee excluded from the bill the Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project in Santa Clara County and the Sites Reservoir Project in Colusa County.
Finally, the Environmental Quality Committee rejected SB 794 (Niello, R-Fair Oaks) that would expedited resolution of CEQA litigation for commercial, housing, and public works projects that address longstanding local needs and which would have shed more light on who contributes money to CEQA litigation. Despite rejecting SB 794, the committee previously approved SB 393 (Glazer, D-Contra Costa) that requires disclosure of persons who contribute more than $5,000 towards the cost of CEQA litigation challenging housing projects.
RCRC’s support letters can be found here. For more information, please contact RCRC Policy Advocates, John Kennedy or Staci Heaton.