PCL Insider: News from the Capitol

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MAKES CLEAN SWEEP ON BILLS TO CLEAN DIRTY AIR

On Monday, the Assembly Transportation Committee won accolades for supporting several high profile environmental bills that seek to reduce the toxic emissions spewing from various tailpipes across California. 

Since this committee is anything but a slam dunk for environmental advocates, Monday's hearing started like any other, full of uncertainty about the fate of our bills. 

One of PCL's top priority bills, SB 974 (Lowenthal) – the Clean Ports Investment Bill – came up early on Monday's agenda after being "put over" by a week (Insider lingo for "delayed").

The bill would provide funds for air quality improvements at California's three largest ports, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland, and would invest an equal amount in port-related infrastructure projects to relieve congestion related to goods movement – all through collection of $30 from each container processed at the ports. Since pollution from our goods movement system is responsible for 2,400 premature deaths in California each year, this solid revenue stream to fight air pollution would be a critical step to address what has become a public health emergency.

Since we knew that Assembly members Anthony Portantino and Jose Solorio were going to be key swing votes on this committee, PCL and other allies, including the California League of Conservation Voters, the American Lung Association, and the Union of Concerned Scientists pulled out all the stops to ensure that these two members knew their constituents cared about SB 974. For example, Insider readers in Portantino and Solorio's districts received an Action Alert two weeks ago and some even received phone calls from PCL volunteers to make sure they urged their Assembly members to vote "Yes."

Our efforts paid off; both Assembly members got the message loud and clear. In fact, after Mr. Lowenthal presented SB 974, Mr. Solorio praised the bill and asked to be added as a coauthor.  Hats off to Mr. Solorio for representing his district and making clean air a high priority!

Committee members Mark DeSaulnier, Betty Karnette, and Wilmer Amina Carter all proudly mentioned they were already co-authors, and SB 974 passed out of the committee without a fuss. 

The committee also made the right call on SB 375 (Steinberg), which would reduce greenhouse pollution by rewarding local and regional governments with federal and state transportation dollars if they cut the number of "Vehicle Miles Traveled" (VMT) in their communities.

Local jurisdictions can achieve VMT reductions and reduce commute times by encouraging more compact development when revising their General Plans, funding public transit, and implementing other land use initiatives.  This sort of smart planning is essential to help meet the goals of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

SB 375 eventually won enough votes to pass out of the committee, but not without a fight. Kudos to Senator Steinberg and his supporters who convinced Assembly member Cathleen Galgiani, a Democrat from Tracy, to support the bill.

Senator Kehoe was also able to move SB 140 and SB 210, which promote alternative fuels as a way to combat global warming.  Both of these measures stalled in the same committee the previous week – one vote shy of passing. The extra week allowed Senator Kehoe and supporters to convince Mr. Solorio to support both measures giving them the needed eight votes to pass.

As the committee room at the Capitol cleared out, the environmental community had reason to celebrate. After weeks of hard work, several key pieces of legislation had cleared this difficult hurdle on their journey to the Governor's desk. Stay tuned next week for more!

A FLOOD OF GOOD NEWS...FOR NOW

Last week the PCL Insider launched our summer “Flood Series” which follows the twists and turns of several key bills as they navigate their way through the legislative waters.

Stay tuned, and put your helmets on – some of these bills may be in for a wild ride!
 
PART II:  Safe so far, but already scouting the next rapid

Tuesday marked the successful passage of AB 5 (Wolk) and AB 70 (Jones) out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

As mentioned in the PCL Insider last week, AB 5 provides a mechanism to ensure flood protection is in place at the time homes are built. While AB 5 has registered opposition from building interests, this public safety measure drew little opposition in committee. 

AB 70 would require local governments to share liability for flood damages that are the result of local planning decisions.  By holding local governments legally accountable, AB 70 creates a strong incentive to consider carefully the flood risks to lives and property when making development decisions.  AB 70 also protects California taxpayers from bearing the full brunt of costs resulting from poor local decisions and inadequate flood management.

Unlike the smooth sailing of AB 5, AB 70 faced a tough headwind.  Despite the clear role that local land use decisions play in creating flood risks, groups including the California Chamber of Commerce and the League of California Cities oppose the idea of shared liability.

Both AB 5 and AB 70 will face challenges getting off the floor and through to the Governor’s desk – we’ll keep you in the loop and may request your help if you live in certain swing districts.

On Wednesday, another key flood bill, Assemblymember Wolk’s AB 162, passed out of the Senate Local Government Committee to the Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote: three Democratic AYES (Senators Negrete-McLeod, Kehoe, and Machado) to two Republican NOES (Senators Cox and Harman).  AB 162 requires that cities and counties incorporate flood hazards in their General Plans, ensuring that planning decisions are informed by flood risks. 

Whew!  All of the key flood bills -- AB 5 (Wolk), AB 70 (Laird), AB 156 (Laird), AB 162 (Wolk), AB 1452 (Wolk), SB 5 (Machado), and SB 17 (Florez) -- have now safely made it to Appropriations before the Friday policy committee deadline.

Next Week:  Wrapped up in an Oxbow?  The PCL Flood Package:  Flood Priorities Worth Fighting For.

PCL WELCOMES TRACI SHEEHAN VAN THULL

The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) and the PCL Foundation (PCLF) are delighted to announce that Traci Sheehan Van Thull has been appointed as the PCL-PCLF Chief Operating Officer.

Traci brings significant new capacity to PCL and PCLF at the top management level. Most recently she served as a consultant on water policy for Yolo County. Prior to that, she was the Director of the California Wild Heritage Campaign – an effort to provide permanent protection to millions of acres of wilderness and thousands of miles of wild rivers in California. As head of the Wild Heritage Campaign, Traci was instrumental in the passage of the Big Sur Wilderness Act and the Northern California Wild Heritage Act – legislation that established the Big Sur and the Lost Coast as federally-designated Wilderness.

You can welcome Traci to the PCL family at tsheehan@pcl.org or 916-313-4511.

FREE SCREENING OF ARTIC TALE

As the California affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, PCL often gets the inside scoop on costly political dealings. Sometimes we also get a head's up on free soft cuddly things too. Thanks to NWF, if you live in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento or Los Angeles you can get free tickets to an advance screening of Arctic Tale, a great new movie about Arctic wildlife that explores the vast world of the Great North and the threat it now faces from climate change.

Visit www.arctictalemovie.com and click on "Go to a Free Screening." Fill out the form, print your tickets, and you're ready to go! (Rated G – for you big softies)