CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION

These California bills are worth following. For bill language, analysis and history, please go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html. If there are additional bills that you feel worthy of being tracked at this website, please let us know: info@c-win.org.   C-WIN is not a lobbying organization; this list is for informational purposes only. 
 
AB 5 (Wolk) - offers financial incentives for Central Valley communities to adopt flood control measures.

AB 70 (Jones) - would make cities and counties partially liable for flood damage if they approved new development on floodplains.

AB 162 (Wolk) - would require local governments to consider flood risks before permitting development.

AB 258 (Krekorian) – would require the State Coastal Commission to convene a multi-agency task force for the purpose of implementing a statewide marine debris reduction effort and regulate the shipping and handling of pre-production plastic pellets, known as "nurdles."

AB 424 (Gaines) – would require the DFG, before approving a wetlands mitigation bank (WMB), to send a notice to any cities and counties affected by the WMB site and, conversely, requires a local agency to notify the DFG of the local agency's approval of a proposed zoning ordinance or other land use change that may affect wetlands habitat located in the local agency's jurisdiction.

AB 740 (Laird) – would expand the marine invasive species program, administered by the State Lands Commission (SLC), by requiring specified inwater cleaning and record keeping for vessels that visit a California port or place, and requires SLC to develop regulations governing the management of hull fouling on vessels by January 1, 2012.

AB 904 (Feurer) - would enact the Plastic and Marine Debris Reduction, Recycling, and Composting Act which would prohibit a food provider from distributing disposable food service packaging to a consumer, unless the food service packaging is either compostable packaging or recyclable packaging, and imposes penalties and fines that would be deposited in a Marine Debris Reduction Account.

AB 923 (Wolk) - would direct DFG to implement California's Wildlife Action Plan and require that implementation include broad stakeholder involvement to assist in the prioritization process and ensure support for DFG's work.

AB 938 (Calderon) – would allow cities, counties, and special districts that provide water, sanitation, or refuse collection services to impose user-based or regulatory fees to construct, operate, and maintain facilities that divert, intercept, or collect surface runoff, treat pollutants, and return the water to water bodies.

AB 976 (Calderon) - would prohibit cities and counties from adopting laws, regulations or ordinances that would bar landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants (Senate Third Reading)

AB 1056 (Leno) – would authorize the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) in consultation with the California Ocean Science Trust (COST), to establish a science advisory team to assist the OPC (Senate Natural Resources and Water: 6/26/07)

AB 1066 (Laird) – would require a local coastal government and those lying within the San Francisco Bay to, beginning on January 1, 2009, consider the impacts of sea-level rise when amending its general plan.

AB 1338 (Huffman) - would require a local coastal government to include a nonpoint source (NPS) pollution prevention element in its Local Coastal Program (LCP) when adopting or amending an LCP for approval by the California Coastal Commission (Senate Environmental Quality: 6/26/07)

AB 1406 (Huffman) - would approve the use of reclaimed water for toilet flushing in condominiums. It is now approved for apartments.

AB 1489 (Huffman) - proposes a broad array of policies to address the expenditure of bond funding for water programs approved in Prop 84.

AB 1420 (Laird) - would require demand management measures in order to be eligible for state grants.

AB 1452 (Wolk) - establishes funding priorities for flood control

SB 5 (Machado) - spells out the roles and responsibilities of those managing flood risk, would require the updating of flood maps, and improve facilities and partnerships with other agencies.

SB 27 (Simitian) - has been amended to fund a study of alternatives to restore the delta. It would also require a determination of how much water is needed to maintain the delta.

SB 178 (Steinberg and Kuehl) - would require reporting on groundwater extractions

SB 187 (Ducheny) – would provide funds from Prop 84 for a Salton Sea restoration project.

SB 59 (Cogdill) - would authorize bonds to build Sites and Temperance Flats Reservoirs.

SB 412 (Simitian) - would require the state Energy Commission to assess whether the state needs to import liquefied natural gas (Assembly Utilities and Commerce: 7/2/07)

SB 732 (Steinberg) - would provide a comprehensive statutory framework to implement new programs under Proposition 84 and creates the Sustainable Communities Council to coordinate the activities of various state agencies that aim to improve air and water quality, natural resource protection, affordable housing, and transportation (Assembly Parks and Wildlife: 6/26/07)

SB 898 (Simitian) – would address derelict fishing gear and expands recycling labeling to bioplastics.

SB 899 (Simitian) – would ban the use of toxic compounds in plastic packaging and ban the use of plastic and polystyrene food packaging products (Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials: No Hearing Date)

SCA 12 (Torlakson) - would exempt property-related fees and charges for stormwater and surface water drainage from the requirements for either a majority vote of affected property owners or a 2/3rds vote of the electorate.


FEDERAL LEGISLATION

HR 24 - would approve and fund the settlement agreement that would rewater the San Joaquin River.