GREEN BUILDING & WATER CONSERVATION:

AB 2928 – Green Building Guidelines

AB 2928 will provide for a statewide set of residential green building guidelines. The guidelines would be voluntary and designed to provide individuals and local jurisdictions with information on how to evaluate and encourage different green building strategies.

AB 1881 – Water Conservation: Urban Landscape

Through AB 2717 (Laird, 2004), the California Urban Water Conservation Council was asked to convene a task force to make recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor for improving the efficiency of water use in new and existing irrigated urban landscapes. AB 1881 is intended to conserve water in urban landscapes by implementing many of the Task Force’s recommendations, including an updated model local ordinance, designated meters for landscape use, and performance standards for irrigation equipment.

AB 2496 – Water Conservation: Improved Toilet Standards

Under existing law, new toilets sold in the state may not use more than 1.6 gallons per flush.  Under this bill, new toilets sold in the state may not use more than 1.3 gallons per flush. The bill would also establish a standard for dual-flush toilets: 1.6 gallons-solid and 1.1 gallons-liquid.  Currently, there are 85 models of toilets available that meet this standard. The bill would also change the standard for urinals from one gallon per flush to 0.5 gallons per flush. By the tenth year, the state is expected to save over 8 billion gallons of water per year, surpassing the total amount of bottled water that Americans consumed in all of 2005.

AB 984 – Tamarisk Eradication

AB 1466 would authorize the Department of Water Resources in collaboration with the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game, the Colorado River Board, other basin states and the federal government to develop a plan to control or eradicate non-native tamarisk in the Colorado River watershed. Removing or controlling tamarisk is one method to increase the water supply on the Colorado River, restore the environment and avoid interstate conflicts. This tamarisk eradication plan would include the reestablishment of native vegetation and the identification of federal and non-federal funding sources for plan implementation. AB 1466 also directs the Department of Water Resources in collaboration with the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game and the Colorado River Board to implement this tamarisk eradication plan within California upon the appropriation of funds for plan implementation.

WATER SUPPLY, FLOOD CONTROL & WATER QUALITY:

AB 2348 – Pajaro River Flood Control

AB 2348 would authorize the state to cost-share in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Pajaro River levee project. This $200 million federal project will require a 25 percent non-federal cost share. This bill would authorize the state to split the non-federal cost with local agencies, thereby lowering the local cost by about half.

AB 2500 – Levee Safety Plans

AB 2500 would prohibit the state from providing funding to upgrade state levees (so-called “project” levees in the Central Valley where the state has primary responsibility) that protect urban areas, unless the affected city or county agrees to develop a safety plan within two years. A safety plan would have to include the following elements: flood preparedness, high-water levee patrol, emergency work (“flood-fight”), flood-water removal, and evacuation.

AB 1665 – Flood Control

AB 1665, sponsored by the State Department of Water Resources, would give direction to the department and the State Reclamation Board to (1) assemble various reports on levees for which the state is responsible; (2) undertake field engineering investigations of levees, with any deficiencies being determined; (3) notify those whose property is protected by levees of the risk of levee failure and encouraging them to purchase flood insurance; and (4) prepare status reports on each levee, in part using information provided by local levee districts.

RESOURCE PROTECTION:

AB 2485 – Sea Otter Protection (jointly authored with Assemblymember Jones)

AB 2485 strengthens protections for sea otters by increasing fines, supporting research to reduce mortality rates and discouraging non-point source pollution that threatens sea otters.

AB 2497 – Resource Land Acquisition Oversight

Under existing law, state agencies responsible for resource protection and land acquisitions are overseen by different entities, often causing increased costs and delays in resource protection. This bill requires the Resources Agency and the Department of Finance to convene a workgroup to evaluate and recommend options for improving the state resource land acquisition responsibilities and organization.

AB 3028 – California Coastal Trail

AB 3028 increases opportunities to complete the California Coastal Trail, which is envisioned to stretch 1,300 miles along the entire California Coast.

AB 2930 – Conservation and Open Space Offers to Dedicate

This bill would require the California Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) to accept conservation and open space easements that have been offered as development mitigation 90-days prior to their expiration. Under current law, if no entity is found to take hold of the easement it expires and the state loses its opportunity to retain the easement for coastal and open-space preservation. This measure will help provide a stop gap to this loss of important environmental and conservation mitigation efforts with the intent of allowing the Conservancy to act as a custodian of these easements until a local government agency or nonprofit organization can be identified to take over the property.