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

ACA 1 (Aguiar-Curry): Local Government Financing: Affordable Housing. ACA 1 would lower the vote threshold to 55 percent for approval of local bonded-indebtedness and specially dedicated taxes imposed for specified uses. Status: ACA 1 has been recently introduced and awaits consideration from the Assembly.  RCRC Status: Support

Assembly Bill 1 (C. Garcia): Hazardous Waste: Assembly Bill 1 Establishes several new governance, policy, and fiscal reforms to improve the Department of Toxic Substances Control, including significantly increasing several fees and repealing several important fee exemptions. Status: AB 1 is awaiting consideration by the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. RCRC Status: Pending

Assembly Bill 14 (Aguiar-Curry): Communications: broadband services: California Advanced Services Fund: Assembly Bill 14 establishes the State Department of Education in state government and vests the department with specified powers and duties relating to the state’s public-school system. This bill would authorize local educational agencies to report to the department their pupils’ estimated needs for computing devices and internet connectivity adequate for at-home learning. Status: AB 14 awaits referral to a policy committee. RCRC Status: Pending

Assembly Bill 33 (Ting): Natural Gas: Prohibits new public buildings from having natural gas connections and utilities from subsidizing natural gas line connections. Status: AB 33 is awaiting consideration in the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.  RCRC Status: Watch

Assembly Bill 318 (Legine): Hazardous waste: Assembly Bill 318 excludes from classification as hazardous waste green waste that has not been contaminated by a hazardous or toxic chemical during production, harvest, or processing.  Allows those green wastes to be disposed in a permitted solid or hazardous waste landfill or composting operation.  Status:  AB 318 awaits referral to a policy committee in the Assembly.  RCRC Status:  Pending

Assembly Bill 322 (Salas): Energy: Electric Program Investment Charge program: Assembly Bill 322 requires the Energy Commission to allocate at least 20% of all funds appropriated for the Electric Program Investment Charge program (roughly $25 million annually) to bioenergy projects for biomass conversion. Status: AB 322 has been recently introduced.  RCRC Status: Pending 

Assembly Bill 332 (ESTM): Hazardous waste: treated wood waste: Assembly Bill 332 seeks to reestablish a statutory pathway for the alternative management and disposal of treated wood waste in a landfill.  STATUS:  AB 332 awaits referral to a policy committee in the Assembly.  RCRC Status:  Support.

Senate Bill 4 (Gonzalez): Communications: California Advanced Services Fund. Senate Bill 4 would modernize and increase the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) by exploring ways to facilitate streamlining of local land use approvals and construction permit processes for projects related to broadband infrastructure deployment and connectivity. Status: SB 4 awaits consideration from the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 7 (Atkins): Jobs and Economic Improvement Environmental Leadership. Senate Bill 7 requires a lead agency to prepare a master environmental impact report (EIR) for a general plan, plan amendment, plan element, or specific plan for housing projects where the state has provided funding for the preparation of the master EIR. Allows for limited review of proposed subsequent housing projects that are described in the master EIR if the use of the master EIR is consistent with specified provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. Status: SB 7 awaits consideration by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. RCRC Status: Watch

Senate Bill 12 (McGuire): Local government: planning and zoning: wildfires: Senate Bill 12 requires that the Office of Planning and Research, among other things, coordinate with appropriate entities, including state, regional, or local agencies, to establish a clearinghouse for climate adaptation information for use by state, regional, and local entities, as provided. This bill would require the safety element, upon the next revision of the housing element or the hazard mitigation plan, on or after July 1, 2024, whichever occurs first. Status: SB 12 awaits consideration by the Governance and Finance and Natural Resources Committee.  RCRC Status: Pending

Senate Bill 29 (Umberg): Elections: Vote by Mail Ballots: Senate Bill 29  Current law required county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for the November 3, 2020 and also required county elections officials to use a specified Secretary of State vote by mail tracking system or a system that meets the same specifications. SB 29 extends these requirements to all elections conducted prior to January 1, 2022. Status: SB 29 has passed in the Senate Appropriations Committee and awaits consideration from the Assembly. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 30 (Cortese): Building Decarbonization: Senate Bill 30 prohibits state agencies from designing or constructing a state facility that is connected to the natural gas grid and prohibits state agencies from funding projects for the construction of residential and nonresidential buildings that are connected to the natural gas grid. Status: Senate Bill 30 awaits consideration by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee. RCRC Status: Watch

Senate Bill 38 (Wieckowski): Beverage Containers: Senate Bill 38 replaces the existing Beverage Container Recycling Program (Bottle Bill) with a new recycling program administered by beverage container manufacturers and increases the CRV from $0.05 to $0.10 per container if the state fails to achieve specified recycling rates. Status: SB 38 awaits consideration by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. RCRC Status: Pending

 Senate Bill 42 (Wieckowski): Department of Toxic Substances Control:  Senate Bill 42 establishes a new Board of Environmental safety to oversee the Department of Toxic Substances Control, consider permit appeals, and propose regulatory changes and establishes an ombudsperson to make and receive public complaints and suggestions. Status: SB 42 awaits consideration by the Senate Environmental Quality committee. RCRC Status: Pending

Senate Bill 45 (Portantino): Wildfire Prevention, Safe Drinking Water Bond Act: Senate Bill 45 enacts the Wildfire Prevention, Safe Drinking Water, Drought Preparation, and Flood Protection Bond Act of 2022, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in a specified amount pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for a wildfire prevention, safe drinking water, drought preparation, and flood protection program. Status: SB 45 awaits consideration in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. RCRC Status: Pending

Senate Bill 52 (Dodd): State of Emergency: Power Outages. Senate Bill 52 clarifies that deenergization events (also known as PSPS events) qualify as events for which a state of emergency or local emergency can be declared under the California Emergency Services Act. Status: SB 52 awaits consideration in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 55 (Stern): Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone: Development. Senate Bill 55 would prohibit all retail, commercial, industrial, or residential development in specified fire-prone areas of the state. Status: SB 55 has been recently introduced and awaits referral to a policy committee.  RCRC Status: Oppose

Senate Bill 99 (Dodd): Community Energy Resilience Act of 2021: Senate Bill 99 requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop and implement a grant program for local governments to develop community energy resilience plans. Sets forth guiding principles for plan development, including equitable access to reliable energy and integration with other existing local planning documents. Status: SB 99 awaits consideration in the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.  RCRC Status: Pending

Senate Bill 207 (Dahle): Photovoltaic Recycling Advisory Group: Senate Bill 207 seeks to spur the recycling and reuse of solar photovoltaic panels by requiring an advisory group to make recommendations to ensure that, to the extent possible, all solar photovoltaic panels in the state are reused or recycled at the end of their lives in a safe and cost-effective manner. Status: SB 207 awaits referral to a policy committee in the Senate. RCRC Status:  Support

Senate Bill 219 (McGuire): Property Tax Payments: Shelter-in-Place Order. Senate Bill 219 codifies a county tax collector’s ability to cancel late payment penalties for taxpayers who have experienced financial hardship due to shelter-in-place orders. Status: SB 219 awaits consideration in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. RCRC Status: Support

Senate Bill 244 (Archuleta): Lithium-ion batteries: illegal disposal: fire prevention: Senate Bill seeks to prevent lithium-ion battery fires by requiring the state to develop training and best practices for the detection, safe handling, and suppression of fires that originate from discarded lithium-ion batteries in solid waste collection vehicles, transfer and processing stations, and disposal facilities.  Status: SB 244 awaits referral to a policy committee in the Senate.  RCRC Status:  Pending

Senate Bill 252 (Wiener): Bears: take prohibition: Senate Bill 252 Would make it unlawful to hunt, trap, or otherwise take a bear of the genus Euarctos or the species Ursus americanus, except under specified circumstances, including under a depredation permit. The bill would authorize the Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt regulations to implement these provisions. The bill would remove the designation of game mammal for bears, thereby designating a bear as a nongame mammal, and would eliminate bear tags. Status: SB 252 awaits referral to a policy committee. RCRC Status: Oppose