RCRC members are encouraged to share letters addressed to state and federal representatives and regulatory bodies with RCRC’s Government Affairs staff.
Assembly Bill 134 (Bloom): Safe, Clean, Affordable, and Accessible Drinking Water. Assembly Bill 134 would require funding from a Safe Drinking Water Fund or Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund to be displayed in the Governor's annual budget and requires at least every five years the Legislative Analyst Office's to provide an assessment of the effectiveness of expenditures. Status: AB 134 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Watch
Assembly Bill 217 (Garcia, E.): Safe and Affordable Drinking Water. Assembly Bill 217 establishes the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and provides that moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Water Resources Control Board to provide a stable source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. Status: AB 217 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Pending
Assembly Bill 247 (Dahle): Disaster Relief: Carr and Klamathon Fires. Assembly Bill 247 provides that the state share for disaster project allocations to local agencies is up to 100% of total state eligible costs connected with the Klamathon fire that started on July 5, 2018, in the County of Siskiyou, and the Carr Fire that started on July 23, 2018, in the County of Shasta. Status: AB 247 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 297 (Gallagher): Emergency Average Daily Attendance. Assembly Bill 297 would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to extend the period during which it is essential to alleviate continued reductions in average daily attendance attributable to a state of emergency declared by the Governor in November 2018, for a school district where no less than five percent of the residences within the school district or district facilities were destroyed by the qualifying emergency. Status: AB 297 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 343 (Patterson) Forestry: Biomass Energy. Assembly Bill 343 would require the California Natural Resources Agency to create and implement a program to offset the costs of transporting fuels to a biomass energy facility. Status: AB 343 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 394 (Obernolte): California Environmental Quality Act: Exemption: Fire Safety. Assembly Bill 394 expedites fire safety improvements for subdivisions that are at significant fire risk and lack a secondary escape route. Status: AB 394 awaits consideration in the Senate Environmental Quality and the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 616 (Patterson) California Forest Carbon Plan: Report. Assembly Bill 616 would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Agency and California Environmental Protection Agency, to prepare and submit to the Legislature and appropriate legislative policy and budget committees, on or before January 1, 2021, and by January 1 of each year thereafter, until January 1, 2025, a report on the progress made and policies and resources needed to achieve specified wildland fire prevention goals for fuel treatment and vegetation management. Status: AB 616 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 883 (Dahle) Fish and Wildlife: Catastrophic Wildfires: Report. Assembly Bill 883 would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in consultation with Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, on or before a certain date, and by certain day of each year and thereafter, to study, investigate, and report to the Legislature on the impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat resulting from any catastrophic wildfire that occurred during that calendar year. Status: AB 883 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1080/Senate Bill 54 (Gonzalez): Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction. AB 1080/SB 54 would establish the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, which would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to adopt regulations to source reduce and recycle 75 percent of single use packaging and products sold or distributed in California by 2030. Status: AB 1080/SB 54 await consideration in their respective Appropriations Committees. RCRC Status: Support if Amended
Assembly Bill 1111 (Friedman): Office of Sustainable Outdoor Recreation. Assembly Bill 1111 would stablish the Office of Sustainable Outdoor Recreation in state government. Requires the office to undertake certain activities, including supporting the outdoor recreation economy of the state by engaging in specified activities. Requires the office to create an advisory committee to provide advice, expertise, support, and service to the office. Authorizes the office to receive the assistance and funds from public and private sources. Status: AB 1111 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1144 (Friedman): Self-Generation Incentive Program. Assembly Bill 1144 requires the California Public Utilities Commission to establish pilot projects to install energy storage systems to back up critical infrastructure in high-fire threat districts. Status: AB 1144 67 awaits consideration in the Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1236 (Lackey): Public Resources: Greenhouse Gases. Assembly Bill 1236 seeks to increase in-state recycling and help local governments comply with Senate Bill 1383 organic waste recycling mandates by, among other things, requiring CalRecycle to develop a program environmental impact report for compost facilities, thereby reducing costs, delays, and the risk of litigation for those projects. Status: AB 1236 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1356 (Ting): Cannabis: Local Jurisdictions: Commercial Cannabis. Assembly Bill 1356 provides that if more than 50 percent of the voters of a local jurisdiction voted in favor of Proposition 64, these local jurisdictions must issue a minimum number of licenses authorizing retail cannabis activity within that jurisdiction. Status: AB 1356 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose
Assembly Bill 1375 (Bigelow): Disaster Relief: Dead and Dying Tree Removal. Assembly Bill 1375 would provide that the state share for removal of dead and dying trees in connection with the Governor's Proclamation of a State of Emergency issued on October 30, 2015, is not more than a certain percentage of total eligible costs. Status: AB 1375 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1486 (Ting): Local Agencies: Surplus Land. Assembly Bill 1486 adds more specificity to the types of agencies subject to the Surplus Land Act, by adding sewer, water, utility, and local and regional park districts, joint powers authorities, successor agencies to former redevelopment agencies, housing authorities, and other political subdivisions of this state to the list of agencies that are mandated to follow certain requirements before disposing of surplus land. AB 1486 also redefines and substantially broadens the term “dispose of” to include the sale, transfer, or other conveyance of any interest in real property. Status: AB 1486 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Oppose Unless Amended
Assembly Bill 1516 (Friedman): Fire Prevention: Defensible Space Fuel Reduction. Assembly Bill 1516 would make various changes to improve California’s fire prevention policies including its defensible space requirements. Status: AB 1516 awaits consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 66 (Aguiar-Curry): Officer Natalie Corona Memorial Highway. ACR 66 would designate a portion of Interstate 5 in the County of Colusa as the “Officer Natalie Corona Memorial Highway.” Status: ACR 66 awaits consideration in the Senate Transportation Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 73 (Bigelow): California Fairgrounds Appreciation Month. ACR 73 would designate May 2019 as the California Fairgrounds Appreciation Month. Status: ACR 73 awaits consideration in the Assembly Rules Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 19 (Dodd): Water Resources: Stream Gages. Senate Bill 19 requires the California Department of Water Resources to develop a plan to deploy a network of stream gages that includes a determination of new needs as well as opportunities for reactivating existing gages. Status: SB 19 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 45 (Allen): Wildfire, Drought, and Flood Protection Bond Act 2020. Senate Bill 45 enacts the Wildfire, Drought, and Flood Protection Bond Act of 2020, which, if approved by voters, authorizes the issuance of bonds to finance projects to restore fire damaged areas, reduce wildfire risk, create healthy forests and watersheds, reduce climate impacts on urban areas and vulnerable populations, protect water supply and water quality, protect rivers, lakes and streams, reduce flood risk, protect fish and wildlife from climate impacts, and protect coastal lands and resources. Status: SB 45 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 62 (Dodd): Endangered Species: Accidental Take. Senate Bill 62 extends the sunset date on a provision allowing an “accidental take” of candidate, threatened, or endangered species resulting from acts that occur on a farm or a ranch in the course of otherwise lawful routine work. Status: SB 62 passed out of the Senate, and now awaits action in the Assembly. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 67 (McGuire): Cannabis: Temporary and Provisional Licenses. Senate Bill 67 would extend the time-period for which a temporary license is valid when issued by state cannabis licensing entities, and would ease the process for cannabis operators to obtain a provisional cannabis license as a step toward full licensure. Status: SB 67 awaits consideration in the Assembly Agriculture Committee and the Assembly Business & Professions Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 190 (Dodd): Fire Safety: Building Standards. Senate Bill 190 creates a model defensible space program for local governments and requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to provide training resources for local building officials, builders, and fire service personnel to improve building fire safety standards. Status: SB 190 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 200 (Monning): Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. Senate Bill 200 establishes the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and provides that moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Water Resources Control Board to provide a stable source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. Status: SB 200 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Pending
Senate Bill 209 (Dodd): California Wildfire Warning Center: Weather Monitoring. Senate Bill 209 would establish the California Wildfire Warning Center, a statewide network of automated weather and environmental monitoring stations to conduct fire weather forecasting and threat assessment to aid in wildfire prevention and response. Status: SB 209 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 462 (Stern): Community Colleges: Forestland Restoration Workforce. Senate Bill 462 would require the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, working in collaboration with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, to establish a model curriculum for a forestland restoration workforce program that could be offered at campuses of the California Community Colleges. Status: SB 462 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 669 (Caballero): Water Quality: Safe Drinking Water Fund. Senate Bill 669 establishes the Safe Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury Status: SB 669 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Pending
Senate Bill 724 (Stern): California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter. Senate Bill 724 makes a number of changes to the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (commonly known as the Bottle Bill). In addition to providing regulatory relief to retailers, the bill adjusts payments and incentives to stabilize existing recycling businesses and bring more recyclers to rural and unserved areas. Status: SB 724 awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support