PCL Insider: News from the Capitol

FIRINGS, FLOODS, AND FOREST FIRES– AN ACTION PACKED WEEK IN CALIFORNIA

Already shell shocked by the forth of July fireworks? Get ready for even more epic drama with our action-packed rundown of the week's environmental news from the state Capitol!

BANG: Firing Dustup at the Air Board

Governor Schwarzenegger surprised many Capitol insiders last week when he fired the chair of the California Air Resources Board, Dr. Robert Sawyer, after the Board took a controversial vote on how to implement the first stage of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Within several days thereafter, Catherine Witherspoon, the ARB's Executive Officer, also stepped down, and several days after that the Governor appointed a new ARB Chair, Mary Nichols, a person highly regarded in the environmental community, and who had previously headed the ARB under former Governor Jerry Brown.

Today, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to review these events, and to ponder their relationship to the implementation of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Representatives of the Governor said that the Governor is fully committed to prompt and effective action on global warming. Both Witherspoon and Sawyer testified that this is exactly opposite to the message that they got from the Governor's staff, which both painted as trying to "micromanage" the agency from the Governor's office, and to benefit "industry" at the expense of "public health."

At the hearing, Sawyer and Witherspoon called for measures to make the ARB more independent, asking the Legislature to impose fixed terms for the members of the ARB. Witherspoon also called for an "independent science advisor" on the Governor's staff, intimating that the advice that the Governor has been getting, at least recently, is more political than scientific.

Because of the controversy of the past week, the new ARB Chair is stepping into a difficult situation, as if the implementation of AB 32 weren't difficult enough.  PCL is committed to the type of aggressive implementation program that both "sides" in the recent controversy say they want. From the reaction of the legislators in attendance at the hearing today, and from public reaction generally, it's pretty clear that the public as a whole is in that same position.

There's a lot at stake. We'll keep you updated as the Air Board shifts from firing to hiring.

SPLASH: Bills to Reform California's Flood Policies Churn through the Legislature

On the heels of the New Orleans floods, strong flood policy reform bills such as Assemblymember Lois Wolk's AB 1899 moved through the legislative process in 2006, but negotiations on a final package imploded, just prior to the final floor votes. 

Naturally, the issue has not gone away and this year flood protection is again on the legislative front burner. With backing from the legislative leadership and the Governor's office, California may well get a package of flood bills signed into law this fall.

As part of our service to you, dear reader, the PCL Insider officially announces the launch of a new series to follow the flood policy negotiations through the end of the 2007 legislative session.

PART I: The Legislative Landscape

PCL is vigorously working on a substantive piece of the current flood package – AB 5 – authored by Assemblymember Wolk. 

AB 5 would:

-- Create guidelines for a comprehensive Central Valley Flood Protection Plan;
-- Direct funding from last November's flood bond to local agencies that have shown an active commitment to flood hazard management;  and,
-- Ensure that there will be adequate flood protection for new developments.

Other key flood bills include:  AB 70 (Laird), AB 156 (Laird), AB 162 (Wolk), AB 1452 (Wolk), SB 5 (Machado), and SB 17 (Florez).

Timeline
AB 5 and other components of the flood package are being heard in policy committees over the next two weeks. All of the key flood bills must get out of their policy committees and into Appropriations Committee by the July 13th deadline.

What's around the corner?
Senator Darrell Steinberg, Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, has been tapped to coordinate negotiations among the authors of the key flood bills.  Under the Senator's leadership, we anticipate that a unified plan for flood protection will be hashed out during the legislative recess.

Next Week:  Summary of flood bills still in play and strategic update.

CRACKLE: Only You Can Prevent Embarrassing Fire Policy

With the South Lake Tahoe area having burst into flames, we took a moment to reconsider California's fire policy, and as we reviewed the past, we were reminded of a key role that PCL has played in reducing fire risk to homes while protecting the environment in California.

As recently as 2003, we joined with Sierra Club California to sponsor SB 1369 (Kuehl), which increases the area of defensible space required around legal structures in high fire risk areas from 30 feet to 100 feet.

Paul Mason, Legislative Representative for Sierra Club California notes, "The best fire science indicates that this amount of defensible space will usually be adequate to prevent a home from igniting." That has certainly proved true in the Angora fire.

If you've got some free time, read the Guidelines that were created by SB 1369.

To learn about legislation that makes it easier and more cost effective to thin overstocked forests, check out  AB 2420 (La Malfa) from 2004.The bill's provisions sunset this year unless the Legislature passes AB 1515 (La Malfa).

AND: Check out next week’s PCL Insider for more answers to your burning questions!