Information related to the current status of legislation and regulations impacting California’s rural counties.

Assembly Bill 1080 (Gonzalez)/Senate Bill 54 (Allen): Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction. Assembly Bill 1080/SB 54 requires the state to reduce the waste associated with single use packaging and products 75 percent by 2030, requires the state to set standards for what is considered recyclable and compostable, and promotes the development of in-state manufacturing that uses recycled materials. Status: AB 1080 and SB 54 awaits consideration in the Senate and Assembly; respectively (Inactive File). RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 2076 (Bigelow): Public Lands: Wildfire Prevention Strategy: Assembly Bill 2076 requires the Director of Parks and Recreation to develop and implement a wildfire prevention strategy for all property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation that is located within a high or a very high fire hazard severity zone. Requires the wildfire prevention strategy to outline the department's fire prevention goals. Status: AB 2076 awaits consideration in the Assembly. RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 2178 (Levine): Emergency Services: Assembly Bill 2178 clarifies authority to declare a state or local emergency for a public safety power shutoff by adding deenergization events to the list of triggering events under the California Emergency Services Act. Status: AB 2178 passed in the Assembly awaits consideration in the Senate. RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 2323 (Friedman): California Environmental Quality Act: Exemption: Assembly Bill 2323 makes several changes to improve the utility of various CEQA exemptions while maintaining adequate environmental protections. Among other things, AB 2323 allows CEQA exemptions to be used on infill, low-income, and agricultural housing projects proposed within the boundaries of a state conservancy. Status: AB 2323 passed the Assembly and awaits referral in the Senate. RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 2421 (Quirk): Emergency Standby Generators: Assembly Bill 2421 requires local agencies to make the installation of an emergency standby generator within the physical footprint of a macro cell tower site that meets specified requirements a permitted use subject only to local agency administrative review. Status: AB 2421 awaits consideration in the Assembly. RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 2459 (Bigelow): Alcoholic Beverage Licenses: County of Mariposa: Assembly Bill 2459 would authorize the Alcoholic Beverage Control to issue up to 10 additional new original on‑sale alcoholic beverage licenses to bona fide public eating places in Mariposa County that have a seating capacity for 50 or more persons.  Status: AB 2459 gained passage in the Assembly and now awaits consideration in the State Senate.  RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 2539 (Bigelow): Electrical Corporations: Deenergization Events: Assembly Bill 2539 requires electrical corporations to work with local elections officials and mitigate the impact pf Public Safety Power Shutoff events on elections. Status: AB 2539 was pulled before being considered in the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee; however, the author urged the California Public Utilities Commission to administratively ensure that elections are not impacted by PSPS events. RCRC Status: Support/Sponsor

Assembly Bill 2612 (Maienschein): Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Recycling: Appropriation Assembly Bill 2612 sought to annually appropriate $200 million to fund in-state solid and organic waste recycling programs to reach the state’s environmental goals. Status: AB 2612 was pulled before being considered in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. RCRC Status: Support/Sponsor

Assembly Bill 3012 (Wood): Residential Property Insurance: Assembly Bill 3012 requires, for a total loss of a furnished residence related to a declared state of emergency, a residential property insurer to provide a payment for contents of no less than a certain percent of the policy limit without requiring an itemized claim. Requires a notice of nonrenewal for a policy to be accompanied by certain information, including information about the Home Insurance Finder and FAIR plan policies. Status: AB 3012 has passed in the Assembly awaits consideration in the Senate.  RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 3074 (Friedman): Fire Prevention: Wildfire Risk: Defensible Space: Assembly Bill 3074 Relates to defensible space. Requires more intense fuel reductions between 5 and 30 feet around the structure, and to create an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of the structure, as provided. Status: AB 3074 has passed in the Assembly awaits consideration in the Senate. RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 3164 (Friedman): Fire Prevention: Wildland Urban Interface: Assembly Bill 3164 requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop a wildland urban interface wildfire risk model to determine the risk for a community or parcel within a local responsibility area or state responsibility the department to establish, and consult with, an advisory workgroup, with specified members, to develop the model. Requires the department to update the model and guidelines when fire hazard severity zones are revised. Status: AB 3164 has passed in the Assembly awaits consideration in the Senate. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 182 (Beth Jackson): Local Government: Planning and Zoning: Wildfires: SB 182 creates a structure of increased fire risk strategies to be used by local governments to plan and permit for housing development in a VHFRA, defined as state, local and locally designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZ). This bill adds reducing development pressure in VHFRA as an objective of the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) plan through considering allocating a lower portion of housing to a jurisdiction, if appropriate, due to the risk to life and safety to catastrophic wildfire. Status: SB 182 has passed out of the Senate and awaits consideration in the Assembly. RCRC Status:  Support

Senate Bill 350 (Hill):  The Golden State Energy Act:  Senate Bill 350 authorizes the creation of a non-profit public benefit corporation to acquire Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Corporation in the event of certain future conditions.   Status:  SB 350 passed the Assembly and awaits referral in Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Status:  Watch.

Senate Bill 431 (McGuire): Mobile Telephony Service Base Transceiver Station Tower:  Senate Bill 431 requires the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, to develop and implement performance reliability standards for all mobile telephony service base transceiver station towers, commonly known as "cell towers," located within a commission-designated Tier 2 or Tier 3 High Fire Threat District. Status: SB 431 awaits consideration in the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 755 (Rubio): Insurance: Residential Property Insurance: Senate Bill 755 requires specified insurers who fail to renew or offer renewal of a policy of residential property insurance to make certain notifications to a policyholder regarding other options the policyholder may have, including information about the FAIR plan. Status: SB 755 awaits consideration from the Assembly Insurance Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 862 (Dodd): Planned Power Outage: Public Safety: Senate Bill 862 clarifies that public safety power shutoffs are included in the California Emergency Services Act and expands the universe of medically sensitive individuals for whom electrical corporations must mitigate public safety power shutoff event impacts and establishes minimum requirements for the locations, hours of operation and services provided by a Community Resource Center. Status: SB 862 on the Senate Floor.RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 872 (Dodd): Residential Property Insurance: State of Emergency: Senate Bill 872 relates to actions taken during a state of emergency. Requires an insurer of residential property to provide extensions to collect the full replacement cost of an insured acting in good faith and with reasonable diligence encounters delays in approval for, or reconstruction of, the property that are beyond the insured's control. Requires coverage for loss of use relating to a state of emergency to be for a specified period, plus an extension, as specified. Status: SB 872 awaits consideration in the Senate. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 952 (Nielsen):  Sales and Use Taxes: Exemption: Backup Electrical Generators: Deenergization Events:  Senate Bill 952 creates a sales tax exemption for the purchase of backup electrical resources by local governments for use during deenergization events.  Status:  SB 952 on the Senate Floor. RCRC Status:  Support

Senate Bill 1120 (Atkins): Subdivisions: Tentative Maps: Senate Bill 1120 amends the Planning and Zoning Law. Requires a proposed housing development containing two residential units to be considered ministerial, without discretionary review or hearing, in zones where allowable uses are limited to single family residential development. Requires ministerial approval of parcel map dividing a lot into two equal lots. Status: SB 1120 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Pending

Senate Bill 1130 (Gonzalez): Telecommunications: California Advanced Services Fund: Senate Bill 1130 make changes to the California Advanced Services Fund that would require broad band projects to provide high quality, future proof infrastructure to be eligible for state funding. Status: SB 1130 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 1191 (Dahle): Organic Waste: Reduction Goals: Local Jurisdictions: Senate Bill 1191 provides local governments with flexibility in complying with recently adopted organic waste laws. Status: SB 1191 was pulled before being considered by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. RCRC Status: Support/Sponsor

Senate Bill 1347 (Galgiani): Veterinary Medicine: Authorized Care: Senate Bill 1347 Expands the types of veterinary care, animal shelter, employees can provide to include first aid, the administration of nonprescription vaccinations to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and other activities pursuant to veterinarian writers protocol. Status: SB 1347 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 1385 (Caballero): Local Planning: Housing: Commercial Zones: Senate Bill 1385 establishes the Neighborhood Home Act which would deem a housing development project an authorized use on a parcel that is zoned for office or retail commercial use under a local agency's zoning code or general plan. Status: SB 1385 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Pending

Senate Bill 1431 (Glazer): Property Taxation: Reassessment: Disaster Relief: Senate Bill 1431 expands existing law relating to the reassessment of property damaged or destroyed in an area or region subsequently proclaimed to be in a state of disaster. Specifies that damage includes a diminution in the value of property as a result of any law, order, or rule, or regulation of the state or locality providing tenant protections in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Status: SB 1431 failed passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose