PCL Insider: News from the Capitol
WITH EVERY END COMES A BEGINNING...
As the regular legislative session came
to end in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, batting .500
didn't seem to be all that great! Some really important
bills are headed to the Governor's desk, some great bills were
held back to be considered next year, and some other really
needed measures died.
Don't forget that we still need your
help in convincing the Governor to sign key bills! Please
watch for PCL Action Alerts between now and October 14th (the
last day for the Governor to sign or veto
bills).
Leaving us no time to celebrate the wins or to
lick our wounds, the Governor promptly called a special
session of the legislature to consider California's water supply
needs along with health care reform. Our focus has now
shifted to ensure that California's natural resources and tax
dollars are not squandered in a rush to build costly,
unnecessary dams. Stay tuned for a special bulletin on the
Special Session and PCL's efforts to influence the water
discussion.
SOME HARD FOUGHT WINS IN AIR AND WATER!
Two measures headed to the Governor’s desk
are worth calling out here because the environmental community
has spent several years working on them and this year, so far,
seems to be the year that they’ll get the support
they need!
SB 719 (Machado) expands the San
Joaquin Valley Air Board membership from 11 to 15 members, to
include additional representation from urban areas, rural areas
and public health experts. Advocates from the Valley and
throughout the state have been championing this initiative for
five years and will pull out every stop to earn a signature from
this Governor, who has committed to speeding up the progress of
cleaning up the Valley’s air. PCL’s Rene Guerrero
was right in the thick of the great work that was done on this
bill, and will be rallying support for a signature from Governor
Schwarzenegger.
SB 220 (Corbett) improves
oversight and regulation of bottled and vended water and
increases inspections, labeling and consumer right-to-know
requirements. Since many communities rely on bottled and
vended water as their only supply of clean, drinkable water,
advocates had for several years pushed for stronger standards to
ensure the water these communities pay for is worth the
price. Finally, this year, the bill moved to the
Governor’s desk.
TOXICS MEASURES TANK!
2007 should have also been the year of toxics
reform, but of the many important bills seeking either to reform
how we address toxic chemicals in the products we produce and
buy or to eliminate particularly hazardous chemicals, all but
one stalled or died. The Governor will consider only one
measure in this suite of reform bills, AB 1108
(Ma) which prohibits the use of phthalates in children's
toys.
Some bills we'd particularly like to have gotten
to the Governor:
AB 558 (Feuer) the Toxic Use
Reduction Act, sought to begin the process of developing a
comprehensive program to reduce our use of the most hazardous
chemicals. However, despite claims that the Legislature
and Governor wanted to consider a more comprehensive approach as
opposed looking at these chemicals one at a time, this measure
died in the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this
week.
Other toxics bills we brought to your attention,
AB 514 (which called for a ban on diacetyl, a
food flavoring linked to popcorn-lung disease) and AB
515 (which called for permissible exposure limits to be
set for all substances that may cause cancer or reproductive
harm), both authored by Assemblymember Sally Lieber, will be
held over for consideration next year. Assemblymember Mark
Leno's bill, AB 706, which bans the use of
brominated and chlorinated fire retardants in furniture and
bedding, failed on the Senate floor Wednesday morning.
TWO OF THE BIGGEST ENVIRONMENTAL BILLS WILL
WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR
Two of the most significant environmental bills of
2007 were held over for consideration next year. Dedicated
Insider readers are familiar these bills: SB
974 (Lowenthal), the Clean Ports Investment Bill, and
SB 375 (Steinberg), Global Warming and Land Use
Planning.
SB 974, which collects $30 per cargo container
processed at California's three major ports to be invested in
air quality and infrastructure improvement programs, was held
back so that Senator Alan Lowenthal and supporters could work
with the Administration over the legislative break. Right
after the bill moved to the Assembly floor, the Governor and
Senator Lowenthal issued a statement to announce that the bill
would not move, and both committed to working together to make
SB 974 a reality early next year. Supporters are optimistic that
we can find common ground with the Governor, who vetoed a
similar measure last year, and pass this bill in early January
when the Legislature reconvenes.
SB 375, which seeks to reform land use decisions
to combat global warming, was also stalled in the
Assembly. This bill could be an important component in the
state's efforts to combat global warming, since land use
decisions can have either a positive or negative effect on
greenhouse gas emissions. So far, the Air Resources Board,
which is tasked with implementing AB 32 and reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, has not included land use in its plan to address
emissions.
In an unexpected turn of events,
despite no opposition from any group and the support of
many environmental organizations, AB 224 was
not passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
This bill requires State and local water agencies to incorporate
existing information on climate change into water plans and
requires the State to develop a report identifying water
management alternatives that will reduce the greenhouse gases
associated with water use. Such information would help the State
achieve the objectives of AB 32.
AB 224 will now have to wait until January to move
to the Senate floor. We will use the next several months
to build an even broader base of support for this common sense
measure and ensure that when the Legislature reconvenes in
January, AB 224 is one of the first bills to be sent to the
Governor's desk.
REFRESHING NEWS: DELUGE OF STRONG FLOOD
POLICY BILLS HEADS TO GOVERNOR
Last week the PCL
Insider reported that central elements of the flood policy
reform package – SB 5 (Machado) and
SB 17 (Florez) -- were already headed to the
Governor's desk for his signature, and that AB
162 (Wolk), and AB 156 (Laird) were
not far behind. We also alerted
you that AB 70 (Jones) would need extra support
to get the votes it needed. Here's the latest lay of the
land.
Flood Series Part IX: The Package
Emerges from the Legislature
Since last week the California legislature has
approved the last remaining bills of the flood legislation
package!
AB 70 was a nail biter to the very end. The bill
reduces the state's (and thus all California taxpayer's)
liability for flood damages to the extent that the damage was a
result of unreasonable decisions at the local level that put
people and property at risk. Jockeyed by Senator Mike Machado,
AB 70 successfully made it off the Senate floor Tuesday
afternoon and was sent for concurrence in the Assembly with
twenty-three AYE votes (including one from a Republican, Senator
Abel Maldonado) hurrying it on its way. Concurrence in the
Assembly did not come until well after midnight on Wednesday,
with PCL staff tending it all the way. To everyone
who called their legislators in support of AB 70 - thank
you!
Also, AB 162, which creates sensible guidelines on
how to integrate flood hazard zones into General Plans, was
passed by the Senate last week and received concurrence by the
Assembly on Tuesday. And as expected, AB 156, which would
promote flood safety planning at the local level, passed out of
the Senate Tuesday afternoon (twenty five AYES to fourteen NOES)
and received concurrence in the Assembly during the wee hours of
Wednesday morning.
Finally, we're also happy to report that
AB 5 also has made it to the Governor's desk
early Wednesday morning. Last week we mentioned that the key
provisions of AB 5 had been incorporated into SB 5. Now AB 5
contains provisions relating to the reform of the Reclamation
Board envisioned in Senator Florez's SB 17 and additional
provisions concerning the flood safety reforms in Assembly
Member Laird's AB 156.
The Governor could act on the bills that are part
of the flood package ANY DAY NOW.
Please call the Governor's
office (916-445-2841) TODAY to express your support for ALL
components of the flood package.
SAMPLE TALKING POINTS FOR
YOUR CALL
--I support all the flood
measures passed out of the Legislature this year.
--California needs a
comprehensive flood policy that includes all the measures
recently passed by the Legislature, including AB 70.
--Specifically, I urge the
Governor to sign: AB 5, AB 70, AB 156, AB 162, AB 1452, SB 5,
and SB 17.
PCL/NWF FEDERAL FARM BILL SUMMIT CULTIVATES
CONSERVATION CAMPAIGN
Yesterday, the Planning and Conservation League
and the National Wildlife Federation, working with Environmental
Defense, Defenders of Wildlife, and American Farmland Trust,
hosted a statewide summit in Sacramento to discuss conservation
funding opportunities in the upcoming reauthorization of the
federal farm bill. This well-attended event helped participants
understand the intricacies of conservation funding in the
mammoth agricultural subsidy measure, and presented strategies
to expand the bill's environmental benefits. The meeting also
helped "cultivate" a willingness to take action, in the next few
weeks, to harvest the benefits that will come with more
conservation funding.
Here are some highlights:
--Though most people don't know it, the "farm
bill" is not only about commodity subsidies. The farm bill is,
in fact, the largest single source of federal conservation
funding.
--California is a farm giant with a $32 billion
agricultural industry and more than $100 billion in activity
related to agriculture. However, the state ranks twelfth
nationally in receipt of conservation funds from the federal
Farm Bill. That's bad news for Californians hoping to
participate in these highly coveted conservation programs; four
out of five farmers who apply for conservation funds are turned
down due to lack of federal resources.
--The answer is simple - the federal Farm Bill
should not only expand its array of conservation programs but
also improve funding for existing programs like the Wildlife
Habitat Incentives Program, Conservation Reserve Program, and
Wetlands Reserve Program.
--There are only a few weeks before the Senate
mark-up of the farm bill (in the federal process, a "mark up"
means the committee consideration and amendment of a pending
legislative measure). Now is the time to target California
Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, as well as members
of the Senate Agriculture and Finance Committees, to advocate
for expanding the conservation elements of the farm bill.
If you're interested in joining the push for more
conservation dollars in California and nation-wide, email
Melanie Schlotterbeck (mschlotterbeck@pcl.org)
to learn how you can help.
Breaking News!
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED: FISH AND GAME
COMMISSIONER UNDER FIRE FOR ATTEMPTING TO DO HIS JOB
Thirty-four conservative legislators have sent a
letter to Governor Schwarzenegger asking him to remove Judd
Hanna from the California Fish and Game Commission. We may be
about to lose him! What a shame!!
A moderate Republican, Hanna is a retired
businessman and rancher, a sportsman, and was a carrier combat
pilot in Vietnam. He was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to
a six-year term last February.
The call for Hanna's head appears linked to the
National Rifle Association's opposition to a proposed ban on
lead ammunition. Lead ammunition can poison condors and other
wildlife, and the Commission will soon be considering a rule
that would prevent its use in certain geographic areas. Hanna
had the temerity to provide other members of the Commission with
information that he thought could help inform them of some of
the problems associated with lead ammunition.
Unless we speak up, by next week Hanna may no
longer be a Commissioner. To get involved or to find out more,
contact Barb Byrne at bbyrne@pcl.org.
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