PCL Insider: News from the Capitol

HOW YA’LL BEEN DOING? LEGISLATURE CONDUCTS OVERSIGHT HEARING ON STATE’S GLOBAL WARMING POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

Monday afternoon, policy committees from both houses of the California Legislature held a joint hearing on the State’s progress in implementing AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

AB 32 requires California to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and includes protections for disadvantaged communities.

Several state agencies involved in AB 32 implementation testified at the joint hearing, as well as Jane Williams, co-chair of the AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, Bill Magavern of Sierra Club California, Devra Wang of NRDC, and Stuart Cohen of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition.

The results of this hearing may influence the Legislature’s search for a stable funding stream for AB 32 implementation amidst the State’s growing budget crisis.

MADAM SPEAKER!

Congratulations to Assemblymember Karen Bass for her selection as Assembly Speaker to replace Fabian Núñez in 2008. Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas describes her as “a leader with whom we can thoroughly entrust our future. She will confidently and assertively promote policies, programs and perspectives to benefit the people of the State of California.” PCL is looking forward to working with the Speaker-elect to build on the recent successes we’ve had in combating global warming and poor air quality and addressing state’s pressing water concerns.

CRASH OF THE CLYDESDALE: FALL RUN CHINOOK JOINS PLUMMETING SALMON POPULATIONS; WATER AGENCIES CLAIM NO IMPACT

The Central Valley fall run Chinook salmon, long considered the healthy "workhorse" of the state's salmon populations, dropped to drastically low numbers according to recent counts by fisheries biologists.  This fall, scientists counted only 2,000 “jacks”, which are early returning salmon that are indicators of the health of the population.  Usually, the jack-count averages 40,000 and has never dipped lower than 10,000.

California salmon populations have been dramatically declining since the major dam building era. Yet the Central Valley fall run has historically been as reliable as Clydesdales on Superbowl Sunday, consistently returning in high numbers. In fact, it is the only California salmon run not listed on the Federal Endangered Species List. 2007 marks the second consecutive year of drastically low returns of fall run Chinook. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council, who decides if and when salmon fishermen will cast their rods and nets this year, meets later this month to decide how to respond to the latest bad news.

The Central Valley fall run Chinook rely on the watersheds that flow into the Bay Delta Estuary. Unfortunately, the salmon situation is remarkably similar to the collapse of fish that live year round in the Delta, now entering its eighth consecutive year. Scientists have determined that increased exports from the Northern California and the Delta are a primary contributor to the decline of those Delta fish. It is too soon to tell what is causing the low salmon returns, however the cocktail of declining ocean health and the impacts of climate change mixed with declining conditions in the Delta and its watersheds cannot be helping the struggling populations.

Despite the critical condition of the salmon and the continuing collapse of Delta fish, five northern California water districts are proposing to export another 162,000 acre-feet of Sacramento River water through the Delta pumps. While the Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) for these proposed additional water exports proclaim that these further increases in exports will not have negative impacts, the struggling salmon may have a different view. We will not know how the salmon respond to this additional stressor until we see how many Chinook are able to make their way through the Delta and into the Sacramento River this coming fall.

 
A DOSE OF SENSE: BILLS INTRODUCED TO REFORM PESTICIDE POLICY FOLLOWING AERIAL SPRAYING FOR LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH

In the fall of 2007, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) began a series of aerial pesticide applications in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties to control the spread of the invasive light brown apple moth. Following the sprayings, more than 600 reports of health problems emerged, including respiratory difficulties, eye irritation, dizziness, severe skin rashes and headaches, nausea and intestinal pain. Residents also reported deaths of birds, aquatic species, and otherwise healthy pets.

CDFA plans to expand its spraying to the San Francisco Bay Area this August and continue spraying three times per month until the moth is eradicated.

Blanket spraying contradicts environmentally responsible pest management practices, and infringes on California law that protects the environment and the public’s right to consent to spraying. Less toxic approaches include using naturally occurring predators, parasites, and insect diseases as well as stationary pheromone bait traps, allowing the ecosystem to respond to the pest, and cleaning up plant debris during dormancy.

In response to the proposed spraying, Senator Carol Migden has introduced Senate Committee Resolution 87, which would request that CDFA impose a moratorium on any aerial spraying that may be a part of the Department's eradication campaign of the light brown apple moth until it can demonstrate that the pheromone compound it intends to use is both safe to humans and effective at eradicating the light brown apple moth.

Several other bills have been introduced, including:
*AB 2760 (Leno), which would require an Environmental Impact Report when applying for the application of pesticide in an urban area;
*AB 2892 (Swanson), which would require holding an election to acquire the voters consent before pesticide application;
*AB 2763 (Laird), which would create a planning process on how to address non-native pest threats and requiring notification of the Governor, other governmental agencies and the public;
*AB 2764 (Hancock) which would not allow pesticide application for eradication without a proclaimed state of emergency; and
*AB 2765 (Huffman) would require public hearings, and a listing of every ingredient in the pesticide being sprayed.

You can get more information on these bills from the PCL website

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