Jan 10, 2025
Advocacy | Forest and Public Lands Stewardship TORCH Act Introduced to Promote Healthy Forest ManagementOn January 3, the first day of the 119th Congress, Representative Doug LaMalfa (R-Butte) introduced the Targeted Operations to Remove Catastrophic Hazards (TORCH) Act, which aims to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health. The...
Jan 10, 2025
Advocacy | Forest and Public Lands Stewardship Bipartisan California Congressional Delegation Applauds President Biden’s Major Disaster Declaration for Los Angeles County FiresOn January 8, California’s U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff led 47 bipartisan members of the California Congressional delegation in urging President Biden to grant Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a major disaster declaration...
Jan 10, 2025
Advocacy | CEQA/NEPA RCRC Shares Perspective on Opportunities for State Permit ReformOn December 23, RCRC submitted extensive comments to the Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform, including several suggestions to improve the California Environmental Quality Act. In the letter, RCRC noted that local governments act as...
Jan 10, 2025
Advocacy | Forest and Public Lands Stewardship U.S. Forest Service Withdraws "Old Growth" ProposalOn Tuesday, the USDA Forest Service (USFS) announced the withdrawal of the notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the National Old Growth Amendment, which was first released in draft...
Jan 10, 2025
Advocacy RCRC’s Rural Rundown of Governor Newsom’s 2025-26 Proposed BudgetOn Friday, January 10th, Governor Newsom released his Administration’s 2025-26 Proposed Budget. This proposal begins the budget development process between the Governor and Legislature; with the onus on lawmakers who must pass a budget by June 15th for the...
Dec 19, 2024
Advocacy California Representative Huffman Named Ranking Member of House Natural Resources CommitteeOn December 17th, Representative Jared Huffman (D-Del Norte) was announced as Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee for the 119th Congress. Representative Huffman has served on the House Natural Resources Committee for the...
Dec 19, 2024
Advocacy Government Funding Package Defeated in U.S. House of Representatives Thursday NightOn Tuesday afternoon, December 17th, House Republicans released H.R. 10445, a continuing resolution aimed at averting a government shutdown, but the plan quickly unraveled due to opposition from Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump. The proposed...
Dec 19, 2024
Advocacy | Energy Feedback Requested to Inform Toolkit for Local Renewable Energy PermittingThe Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is seeking input from community members, developers, and local permitting agencies on the challenges associated with permitting large-scale renewable energy projects, including solar, wind, and battery...
Dec 13, 2024
Advocacy Adam Schiff Sworn in as California's Newest U.S. SenatorOn Monday, December 9, former U.S. Representative Adam Schiff was sworn in as California’s newest U.S. Senator. Senator Schiff replaces Senator Laphonza Butler, who was appointed in September 2023 to complete the term of the...
Dec 13, 2024
Advocacy | Forest and Public Lands Stewardship State Finalizes New Property Insurance Ratemaking RegulationsOn December 13th, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that the State had approved the final version of his proposed regulations on catastrophe modeling for insurance ratemaking, which are now in effect. The new regulations,...