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Agriculture and Natural Resources
For more information, contact Karen Keene at 916/327-7500, ext. 511, or e-mail kkeene@counties.org or Cara Martinson at 915/327-7500, ext. 504, or email cmartinson@counties.org.
Fire
SB 1500 (Kehoe) – Oppose
As Proposed to be Amended
SB 1500, by Senator Christine Kehoe, passed out of Assembly Natural Resource and Local Government Committees after agreeing to take several amendments. The committee chair, Assembly Member Anna Caballero, also asked the senator to work with stakeholders to address outstanding concerns with the bill. SB 1500 would continue to require a county that is considering a project in a State Responsibility Area (SRA) to notify the State Fire Marshall (SFM) when the application for a project is deemed complete.
Amendments taken in committee specify the SFM would evaluate within 60 days whether the project should remain in SRA or become a local responsibility. Amendments also specify a density requirement that would change the designation of SRA land to Local Responsibility Area (LRA) land if the residential density exceeds three residential dwelling units per acre. If the SFM determines that the land will remain as SRA, the proposed amendments would prohibit the county from acting on the proposed project until the county obtains certification from each of the appropriate fire protection agencies that there is or will be sufficient structural fire protection for the project provided by either a county, city, special district, or political subdivision of the state; or the department by contract.
CSAC and the Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC) continue to have concerns with the bill. In particular, the proposed amendments fail to include a default provision in the event that the SFM does not provide certification within the 60-day time frame; we have concerns with the SFM making a potentially subjective determination of what is “sufficient “ fire protection; and the bill fails to include volunteer fire departments as one of the entities that would provide fire protection. This bill has been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 1764 (Kehoe) – Oppose Unless Amended
As Amended on June 19, 2008
SB 1764, by Senator Christine Kehoe, passed out of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee this week. This bill would require that on, or after January 1, 2010, a local agency must obtain an annual certification by the State Fire Marshal (SFM) in order to be eligible to receive a percentage for a state share of eligible disaster related costs in excess of 75%. A local agency must provide proof of fire protection to be eligible for a higher share of state share of cost, by providing proof of its own structural fire protection services, or a contract with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide structural protection services, or structural fire protection from another local agency.
Existing law, requires that a city, county general plan contain a safety element for the protection of the community from specified safety risks, and authorizes a city, county, or a city and county to adopt with its safety element a federally specified local hazard mitigation plan that includes specified elements. As recently amended, this bill would eliminate the requirement that adoption of the federally specified local hazard mitigation plan include required specified elements.
While recent amendments to SB 1764 were a step in the right direction, CSAC continues to oppose SB 1764 unless it is amended to address outstanding concerns. CSAC urges you to take a close look at this bill as it would restrict, if not curtail, local agency access to 100% state reimbursement of disaster related costs.
AB 2447 (Jones) – Oppose
As Amended on June 26, 2008
AB 2447, by Assembly Member David Jones, passed out of the Senate Local Government Committee this week. This bill would require a county to deny the approval of a tentative map, or a parcel map if the proposed map is in a state responsibility area (SRA) land, or a very high fire hazard sensitivity zone unless the county makes specified findings and obtains written verificationfrom each relevant fire protection agency that there is, or will be sufficient structural fire protection for thelots created by the subdivision. Although AB 2447 is tagged as a fiscal bill, it has bypassed the Senate Appropriations Committee, and moved straight to the Senate third reading file. While this may be an oversight, affected counties are urged to contact their Senate delegation to express opposition to AB 2447. CSAC will post an update regarding the status of this bill in the next Legislative Bulletin.
Solid Waste
AB 2866 (De Leon) – Oppose
As Amended on June 17, 2008
AB 2866, by Assembly Member Kevin De Leon, passed out of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on June 23, 2008. As reported in previous Bulletins, this bill would increase the state tipping fee on solid waste to $2 per ton and would require that $0.60 of that fee go towards a variety of programs, including: compost projects, the commercialization of hybrid trucks for the collection of recyclables, yard waste, and garbage and a Post Closure Trust Fund, among other things. CSAC is opposed to this bill primarily because we are concerned with any increase in the tipping fee, which is used to address matters outside the purview of the Waste Board. Amendments were taken in committee to address the post closure issue, but CSAC remains opposed until we are able to more fully analyze the recent amendments.
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION
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