Information related to the current status of legislation and regulations impacting California’s rural counties.
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 local government fee exemptions. Status: AB 1 awaits consideration by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Concerns
Assembly Bill 9 (Wood): Fire safety: wildfires: fire adapted communities: Assembly Bill 9 seeks to codify the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) program, which creates a new regional approach to collaboratively planned strategies for wildfire risk reduction project development. Status: AB 9 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 32 (Aguiar-Curry): Assembly Bill 32 requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2021, to specify that coverage is provided for health care services appropriately delivered through telehealth on the same basis and to the same extent as in-person diagnosis, consultation, or treatment. Status: AB 32 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 246 (Quirk) Contractors: disciplinary actions. Assembly Bill 246 allows the Contractors State Licensing Board to take disciplinary actions against a contractor who violates state or local laws prohibiting illegal dumping. Status: AB 246 awaits referral by the Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 267 (Valladeres): California Environmental Quality Act: Assembly Bill 267 extends until 2026 exemptions from the requirements of CEQA prescribed fire, thinning, or fuel reduction projects undertaken on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 that are being performed using state funds or as part of a Good Neighbor Authority agreement. Status: AB 267 awaits consideration in the Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 297 (Gallagher) Fire Prevention. Increases funding for forest health improvement and wildfire risk reduction projects and makes other substantive changes to help expedite project completion. Status: AB 297 has become a two-year bill. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 318 (Levine) Hazardous waste: Assembly Bill 318 requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to provide guidance to certified unified program agencies on how to characterize green waste under hazardous waste control laws. Status: AB 318 is awaiting consideration by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Watch
Assembly Bill 322 (Salas): Energy: Electric Program Investment Charge program: Requires the Energy Commission to consider bioenergy projects for biomass conversion when awarding funds under the Electric Program Investment Charge program. Status: AB 322 is awaiting consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 332 (ESTM): Hazardous waste: treated wood waste: Reestablishes a statutory pathway for the alternative management and disposal of treated wood waste in a landfill. Status: AB 332 is awaiting consideration on the Assembly Floor (Third Read File). RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 339 (Lee): Local government: open and public meetings. Assembly Bill 339 requires all open and public meetings to include an in-person public comment opportunity, except in specified circumstances during a declared state or local emergency. The bill would require all meetings to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on proposed legislation in person and remotely via a telephonic or an internet-based service option, as provided. Status: AB 339 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose
Assembly Bill 361 (Rivas): Open meetings: local agencies: teleconferences. Assembly Bill 361 authorizes a local agency to use teleconferencing without complying with the teleconferencing requirements imposed by the Ralph M. Brown Act when a legislative body of a local agency holds a meeting for the purpose of declaring or ratifying a local emergency. Status: AB 361 awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 428 (Mayes): Assembly Bill 428 requires each county to have a board of supervisors and provides for the organization and powers of the board of supervisors. Current law allows the board of supervisors of any general law or charter county to adopt or the residents of the county to propose, by initiative, limit or repeal a limit on the number of terms a member of the board of supervisors may serve on the board of supervisors. Status: AB 428 awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 431 (Patterson): Forestry: timber harvesting plans: defensible space: exemptions: Assembly Bill 431 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Status: AB 431 is awaiting consideration from the Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 648 (Fong) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Healthy Forest and Fire Prevention: Appropriation. Continuously appropriates $200 million annually for forest health improvement and wildfire risk reduction projects. Status: AB 648 has become a two-year bill. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 792 (Flora): Forestry: prescribed burning agreements. Assembly Bill 792 authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to enter into an agreement for prescribed burning or other hazardous fuel reduction for specified purposes, such as vegetation management and forest improvement. Status: AB 792 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 819 (Levine) California Environmental Quality Act: notices and documents: electronic filing and posting. Requires lead agencies to post California Environmental Quality Act notices and documents on their internet websites and to submit CEQA documents to the State Clearinghouse in electronic form. Status: AB 819 awaits referral by the Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Status: Watch
Assembly Bill 1078 (Patterson) Energy: building standards: photovoltaic requirements. Exempts residential buildings damaged or destroyed in a disaster during the 2020 calendar year from having to install solar energy systems under the California Energy Commission’s recently adopted building requirements. Status: AB 1078 has become a 2-Year bill. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 1179 (Carrillo): Employer provided benefit: backup childcare: require an employer to provide an employee, on or after January 1, 2022, who works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment, with up to 60 hours of paid backup childcare benefits, to be accrued and used as provided. Status: AB 1179 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose
Assembly Bill 1311 (Wood) Recycling: beverage containers: certified recycling centers. Makes modest changes to the Beverage Container Recycling Act to increase consumer access to redemption opportunities. Status: AB 1311 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 1344 (Arambula) State Department of Public Health: Needle and Syringe Exchange Services. Exempts needle and syringe exchanges services from the California Environmental Quality Act. Status: AB 1344 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committees. RCRC Status: Neutral
Assembly Bill 1403 (Levine) Emergency Services. Assembly Bill 1403 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: AB 1403 awaits referral by the Senate Rules Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 1431 (Fraizer): Forestry: forest carbon plan: state goals: Assembly Bill 1431 codifies various portions of the 2018 California Forest Carbon Plan, and requires the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency, on or before January 1, 2023, to submit a report to the appropriate policy and budget committees of the Legislature on the positions and resources needed to achieve those state goals. Status: AB 1431 awaits consideration from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: RCRC Sponsored Bill
Assembly Bill 1454 (Bloom) Beverage Container and Litter Reduction Act. Assembly Bill 1454 makes several changes to the Beverage Container Recycling Program, including creation of a new $25,000 startup loan for the creation of new recycling centers in unserved or underserved areas. Status: AB 1454 Awaits consideration by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support if Amended
Assembly Bill 1458 (Fraizer): Fish and wildlife protection and conservation: lake and streambed alteration agreements: Assembly Bill 1458 exempts vegetation management or fuels treatment projects undertaken, carried out, or approved by a state or local governmental agency necessary to prevent or mitigate the threat or intensity of a wildfire from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lake and Streambed Alteration agreement requirements. Status: AB 1458 awaits consideration on the Assembly Floor (2-Year). RCRC Status: RCRC Sponsored Bill
Senate Bill 11 (Rubio): The California FAIR Plan Association: basic property insurance: Senate Bill 11, which would remove certain barriers to enable homes and structures used to conduct business on farmland to be covered through the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan. Status: SB 11 has passed in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Consent Calendar. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 30 (Cortese): Building Decarbonization: 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 is now a 2-Year bill. RCRC Status: Oppose Unless Amended
Senate Bill 38 (Wieckowski): Beverage Containers: 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. Repeals the $10.5 million annually set aside for payments to cities and counties to address recycling and litter. Status: SB 38 awaits consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose Unless Amended
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 local emergency can be declared under the California Emergency Services Act. Status: SB 52 awaits referral by the Assembly Rules Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 54 (Allen) Plastic Pollution Producer Responsibility Act. SB 54 requires manufactures of single-use, disposable packaging and food service ware to ensure that those products sold, distributed, or imported into the state are either recyclable or compostable. Status: SB 54 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support in Concept.
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. Status: SB 99 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
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 consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 208 (Dahle):Sierra Nevada Conservancy: Sierra Nevada Region: subregion: Senate Bill 208 requires the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to make an annual report to the Legislature and to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency regarding expenditures, land management costs, and administrative costs. This bill would modify areas listed under the definitions of the “Sierra Nevada Region” and its “subregions,” as specified, for these purposes. Status: SB 208 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee (Suspense File). 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 secured passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 244 (Archuleta): Lithium-ion batteries: illegal disposal: fire prevention: Senate Bill 244 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 consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 261 (Allen) Regional Transportation Plans: Sustainable Communities Strategies. Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction targets for incorporation into the sustainable communities’ strategies prepared by the state’s 18 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Status: SB 261 is now a two-year bill. RCRC Status: Oppose
Senate Bill 264 (Min): Firearms: state and county property: Senate Bill 264 prohibits the sale of firearms and firearm components on state property, most notably District Agriculture Associations-operated fairs. Status: SB 264 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose
Senate Bill 286 (Min): County Officer Elections Top-Two Advance. Senate Bill 286 would require the top-two vote-getters seeking election to a county office to face-off in a General Election. Status: SB 286 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose
Senate Bill 335 (Cortese) Workers’ compensation: liability: Senate Bill 335 prohibits a claim for workers’ compensation from being maintained unless within 30 days after the occurrence of the injury, the injured person, or in case of the death, a dependent, or someone on the injured person’s or dependent’s behalf, serves notice of the injury upon the employer. Status: SB 335 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose
Senate Bill 341 (McGuire) Makes several changes to increase oversight and accountability of telecommunications service outages. Status: SB 341 awaits consideration on the Senate Floor. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 456 (Laird) Fire prevention: forest health: action plan: reports. Senate Bill 456 requires the department to be responsible for, among other things, fire protection and prevention, as provided. The former Governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr., issued an executive order relating to, among other subjects, the streamlining of permitting for landowner-initiated projects for the improvement of forest health and the reduction of forest fire fuels on their properties. Status: SB 456 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 462 (Borgeas): Disaster relief: Creek Fire: allocation to local agencies: Senate Bill 462, which would add the Creek Fire of 2020 in Madera County and Fresno County to the emergencies eligible for the state to pay up to 100 percent of the costs out of the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) fund. Status: Awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 533 (Stern) Electrical corporations: wildfire mitigation plans: deenergization events: microgrids. Requires electrical corporations to ensure electrical transmission and distribution systems achieve the highest level of safety, reliability, and resiliency by modernizing, upgrading, replacing, hardening, or undergrounding any portion of its transmission and distribution wires or poles that experiences a specified number of recurring deenergization events. Requires the CPUC to create a database of critical facilities, infrastructure, and circuits located in high fire threat districts. Status: SB 533 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 592 (Dahle) Fish and wildlife: working group: catastrophic wildfires: Senate Bill 592 require the Director of Fish and Wildlife to establish a working group, composed of the director or the director’s representative, the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or their representative, and a county government representative from each county impacted by any catastrophic wildfire being studied by the workgroup, as described below. Status: SB 592 awaits consideration from Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 619 (Laird) Organic waste: reduction regulations. Will seek to provide local governments with additional flexibility to achieve the state’s organic waste recycling requirements. Status: SB 619 awaits consideration from the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 709 (Dahle) Senate Bill 709 eliminate extensions for timber harvesting plans approved by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection from January 1, 2010, to August 31, 2012, inclusive, and instead allow for a timber harvesting plan that is approved by the department from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2015, inclusive, to be extended for an additional 2 years if certain conditions are met. The bill would make other no substantive changes to these provisions. Status: SB 709 awaits consideration on the Senate Floor. RCRC Status: Support