Planning & Conservation League Insider: August 9, 2007

PCL Insider: News from the Capitol

TO ERR IS HUMAN; TO CLEAN AIR, DIVINE:
LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS

Friends, Romans, Countrymen (and women): over the next few weeks, as we head into the final days of this legislative session, the PCL Insider will be highlighting several key bills which will undoubtedly require a bit of heavy lifting. Here are two that, if passed, would make our disposition so sunny “that birds would sing and think it were not night” (Romeo and Juliet Act II, Scene 2).

SB 375: The Next Frontier in the Fight against Global Warming

In the global warming debate we often hear a call for new technological fixes like low carbon fuels, advanced solar energy production, and hydrogen fuel cells. To these wonders of modern science we raise an emphatic, resounding “YES! AND...”

To comply with AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California has to cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020. That means we’re going to have to use all the tools we have available. In addition to new technologies, there’s a way we can fight global warming right now, without waiting for any life-cycle analyses or cost-effectiveness studies. It’s called Smart Growth.

In fact, the California Climate Action Team, established by the Schwarzenegger Administration, has identified smart land use policy and better transportation as one of the largest potential sources of greenhouse gas emission reductions.

SB 375 (Steinberg) would help make that smart growth possibility a reality. This legislation provides incentives for better planning to promote more compact development, greater transportation and housing choices, and the conservation of important farmland and habitat. By encouraging better development patterns, which result in fewer vehicle miles traveled per household, SB 375 would reduce fossil fuel consumption, and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The result would be better planned communities that improve our quality of life and decrease our impact on the environment.
SB 375 is facing incredibly tough opposition from the builders and developers that want to continue with business as usual, i.e. more sprawl, longer commutes, and in increase in greenhouse gas pollution. ("Lord, what fools these mortals be!" - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Act III, Scene 2). Senator Steinberg needs all of our support to fight off their barrage of vitriol. Stay tuned for more!

SB 719: Cleaning Up the San Joaquin Valley Air Board

The San Joaquin Valley is one of the most polluted regions in the United States, often beating out the Los Angeles air basin for the nation’s worst air quality. In the Valley, more than 1,200 premature deaths occur each year due to particulate matter pollution. One out of five children and one out of eight adults living in the San Joaquin Valley suffer from asthma. And high levels of exposure to harmful ozone and particulate matter are estimated to cost Valley residents $3.2 billion annually in health costs from heart and lung disease.

The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District is responsible for addressing this public health crisis, thereby improving not only the health of the Valley's economy, but more importantly, the health of the Valley’s children and communities. Unfortunately, progress on improving air quality in the region has been egregiously slow, largely due to inaction on the part of the Air District’s governing board.

SB 719 (Machado) seeks to address this institutional paralysis by reforming the Air District’s governing board. The bill would expand representation on the board from urban and rural areas, as well as from the public health sector, growing the Board’s membership from eleven to fifteen members.

The Central Valley Air Quality Coalition (CVAQ), of which PCL is an active member, has been educating Valley residents about the health threats posed by air pollution and advocating that the Valley’s Air Board be more representative of the region’s population and more responsive to its pressing health needs.

A large majority of San Joaquin Valley residents agree something that must be done. According to a Public Policy Institute of California poll taken just last month, seven in ten San Joaquin Valley residents believe that air pollution is a serious health threat to themselves and their families. Seven in ten would also favor more robust air pollution regulations on commercial and industrial activities and half of Valley residents would favor stricter air pollution standards on agriculture and farm activities – even if it made it more costly for businesses to operate. And giving a decisive nod to the reform proposals contained in SB 719, eight in ten Valley residents favor the inclusion of health and environmental professionals on the Valley Air Board. That’s an unbelievable demonstration of community support.

SB 719 is a step forward for the San Joaquin Valley’s 3.7 million residents and for the Air District. As one of the poorest but most rapidly growing regions in nation, the Valley struggles daily with the need to balance economic opportunity with the protection of public health. By expanding community representation and enhancing the scientific capacity of the District Board, SB 719 will help ensure this balance is achieved.

Stay tuned for more on SB 375 and SB 719. We’ll be calling on those of you whose legislative representatives remain reluctant to support sound environmental policy. Get ready for more Insider updates and Action Alerts. And now, “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow!” (Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene 2).

FACTOIDS FOR FLOODS!

Why is the PCL Insider staff so anxious to get a strong flood policy package signed into law this year? Check out these startling flood factoids about the risks that California faces!

Part IV: Flood by the numbers

1: Ranking of Sacramento’s flood risk compared to other metropolitan areas in the U.S.
http://www.safca.org/floodRisk/floodThreat.html

1 in 4: Chances of a home in a 100 year floodplain flooding within the term of a 30 year mortgage.

High: Rating of the flood risk at the main PCL Office (1107 9th St., Sacramento, CA 95814). http://www.floodsmart.gov

2600: Miles of levees in the Central Valley

1600: Miles of levees for which the State and California taxpayers hold financial liability.
(California taxpayers are liable for any damages resulting from failure of State owned levees. In 2005, taxpayers paid $500 million in damages resulting from a 1986 levee failure in rural Northern California)
http://www.publicaffairs.water.ca.gov/newsreleases/2005/01-10-05flood_warnings.pdf

4.5: The number of times greater the capacity of the Yolo Bypass is compared to the Sacramento River. The Yolo Bypass has a capacity to handle a flow of 500,000 cubic feet per second. That’s reeeeeeeeal big.
http://www.yolobasin.org/text/chapter_2.pdf

$576,000: Median home price in California:
http://www.lao.ca.gov/2006/cal_facts/2006_calfacts_econ.htm#economy

$250,000: Maximum coverage for flood damage to a structure provided by the national flood insurance program
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/nfip/summary_cov.pdf

And finally, to end on a positive note...

Class 1: The City of Roseville’s rating under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA’s) Community Rating System. As of May 2007, Roseville is the only community in the nation with a Class 1 rating. Besides bragging rights, a Class 1 rating provides Roseville property owners a discount of up to forty-five percent on their flood insurance premiums. While it certainly helps that only seven percent of the City is located in a floodplain, it also helps that much of Roseville’s floodplain has not been developed. http://www.roseville.ca.us/pw/engineering/floodplain_management/flood_facts.asp http://www.fema.gov/pdf/nfip/manual200705/19crs.pdf

Next week: With the Legislature reconvening on August 20th, we sure hope that we know more next week than we know now about the state of negotiations on the flood package! And as soon as we know more, we’ll let you know as well!

PATTON RALLIES TROOPS AT SIERRA NEVADA ALLIANCE CONFERENCE

Last weekend, over 230 environmentalists and more than 70 environmental organizations attended the 14th Annual Sierra Nevada Alliance Conference in Lake Tahoe. Because the Sierra Nevada Alliance is a longtime PCL organizational board member, PCL Insider staff made the trek up to Tahoe to report on the event.

Here are a few highlights:

PCL’s Executive Director Gary Patton brought the house down with a theologically-inspired keynote speech on “sustainability,” urging us to remember that Nature and its law sustains us, not the other way around. Other exceptional speakers included acclaimed author Linda McMillan and ninety-one-year-old conservationist Martin Litton.

Representatives from each organization presented their past year’s efforts in the region, including our own Charlotte Hodde, who discussed PCL’s work to safeguard Sierra watersheds by protecting downstream areas, especially the California Delta. The weekend’s events also included workshops and seminars on local land use victories, the Endangered Species Act, CEQA, watershed health, and grant writing.

Throughout the conference we heard about the need for greater representation of Sierra Nevada environmental concerns at the state level. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Sierra Nevada Alliance to ensure that state-wide policies address the environmental issues that residents of the “Range of Light” care about most.

If your organization would like to be listed in our upcoming Sierra Nevada Grassroots Directory, contact Jason Avina, PCL’s Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Member, at javina@pcl.org.

PCL’S RENÉ GUERRERO APPOINTED TO WEST SACRAMENTO PLANNING COMMISSION

We’re very proud to announce that City of West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon recently appointed one of PCL’s star legislative advocates, René Guerrero, to the city planning commission.

René brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to his new position. After leading several projects at PCL and the PCL Foundation, including our successful Lead Safe Sacramento campaign, René has become a fixture at the State Capitol, lobbying to improve air quality, clean up California’s toxics policy, and protect the state’s most vulnerable populations from global warming. He also knows West Sacramento as a family man, and recently purchased his first home there with his wife Rosario and two children Elías and Camilo.

René, whose term runs through December of 2008, is excited about this new opportunity: “It is an honor to serve the city of West Sacramento. As a lifelong resident I have experienced the growth of the area and now look forward to addressing very important issues that the city and the region will be facing.”

Congratulations, René, and good luck!

PCL IN THE NEWS...TOTALLY TUBULAR!