Announcements regarding hearings, grants, and public comment notices of importance to California's rural counties.
Cannabis Cultivation Regulation Workshop Scheduled – UPDATED AGENDA
The California Association of Environmental Health Administrators, the California Environmental Health Association, and the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers will be sponsoring a workshop to discuss environmental and safety issues associated with cannabis cultivation on Thursday, May 30, in Murphys. The purpose of the workshop is to review and discuss environmental and safety issues related to regulated and illegal cultivation of cannabis.
The workshop will feature speakers from the Integral Ecology Research Center, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Water Quality Control Board, the Sonoma County Growers Alliance, and the Berkeley Department of Environmental Science. The workshop will be structured so that there will be plenty of time for discussion by attendees. Policy makers, regulators, law enforcement officers, and community members are encouraged to participate.
The workshop will be held Thursday, May 30, at the Ironstone Vineyards: 894 6 Mile Road, Murphys, California. Meeting materials, including agenda/registration form can be accessed here.
Department of Conservation Releases Working Lands and Riparian Corridors Program Guidelines and First Two Solicitations
California Natural Resources Agency has awarded $20 million in funding for Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program. Funded by Cap-and-Trade revenues through California Climate Investments, the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program aims to help communities prioritize, develop, and implement projects to strengthen fire resiliency, increase carbon sequestration, and facilitate greenhouse gas reductions. The program is one element of the state’s efforts to improve forest health, protect communities from wildfire risk and implement the California Forest Carbon Plan and Executive Order B-52-18. Projects funded through the program will build on priority projects identified by the Forest Management Task Force and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection through Executive Order N-05-19. The Program is administered by the Department of Conservation.
Six regional block grants are being awarded on a noncompetitive basis to support project implementation in the North Coast, Central Coast, Sierra Nevada, Klamath-Cascade, and Southern California Regions. In addition, two grants are being awarded to assist in implementing statewide efforts. Regional block grant recipients will oversee distribution of funding and collaborative planning with local entities including municipal and Tribal governments, nonprofits and community organizations, fire safe councils, land trusts, resource conservation districts, residents, private and public forest landowners and managers, businesses, and others to accomplish the program’s objectives. Block grant recipients were selected based on their history of implementing related projects, demonstrated capacity to work across regional partners, and ability to serve as fiscal administrators for the program. For more information on how to participate please contact your regional block grant recipient.
The block grant recipients by region include:
North Coast:
• The North Coast Resource Partnership, $4.25 million
Central California:
• California State Coastal Conservancy, $4.25 million
Southern California:
• Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, $1.5 million
• Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, $1.5 million
• Greater San Diego Resource Conservation District, $1.5 million
Sierra and Klamath-Cascade:
• Sierra Nevada Conservancy, $2 million
• Assembly Bill 2551 implementation (awardees to be determined), $2 million
Statewide:
• Watershed Research and Training Center in partnership with the California Fire Safe
Council, $3 million
NOFA: Senate Bill 2 Planning Grants Program
Click here