AGENDA BOARD LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Friday, April 18, 2014 12:45 P.M., Peralta Oaks Board Room the Following Agenda Items Are Listed for Committee Consideration
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AGENDA BOARD LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Friday, April 18, 2014 12:45 p.m., Peralta Oaks Board Room The following agenda items are listed for Committee consideration. In accordance with the Board Operating Guidelines, no official action of the Board will be taken at this meeting; rather, the Committee’s purpose shall be to review the listed items and to consider developing recommendations to the Board of Directors. AGENDA STATUS TIME ITEM STAFF 12:45 p.m. 1. STATE LEGISLATION / ISSUES (R) A. NEW LEGISLATION Doyle/Pfuehler Plan Amendment 1. AB 1193 (Ting D-San Francisco) – New Class IV Bikeway Designation 2. AB 2193 (Gordon D-Menlo Park) – Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Act 3. ACR 96 (Olsen R-Merced) – The 150th Anniversary of the California State Park System (R) B. ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler 1. Drought Relief 2. SB 1183 (DeSaulnier D-Concord) – Local Bike Infrastructure Enhancement Act of 2014 3. SB 1086 (de Leon D-Los Angeles) – Park Bond effort Doyle/Pfuehler (R) II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. S. 2016 (Feinstein) and H.R. 4239 (Huffman) – Western States Emergency Drought Relief Act 2. H.R. 956 (Kind D-WI) – Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act of 2013 (R) B. ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler 1. Land and Water Conservation Fund Competitive Grant Program 2. Outdoors Alliance for Kids 3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Communities Program 4. Department of Labor 21st Century Conservation Service Corps 5. Child and Adult Care Food Program III. DISCUSSION ABOUT LOCAL BALLOT MEASURES IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS VI. ARTICLES (R) Recommendation for Future Board Consideration (I) Information Future 2014 Meetings: (D) Discussion May 16, 2014 August 15, 2014 November 21, 2014 Legislative Committee Members: June 20, 2014 September 19, 2014 December 19, 2014 Doug Siden, Chair, Ted Radke, John Sutter, July 18, 2014 October 24, 2014 Whitney Dotson, Alternate Erich Pfuehler, Staff Coordinator TO: Board Legislative Committee (Chair Doug Siden, Ted Radke, John Sutter and Alternate Whitney Dotson) FROM: Robert E. Doyle, General Manager Erich Pfuehler, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs Manager SUBJECT: Board Legislative Committee Meeting WHEN: Friday, April 18, 2014 - 12:45 p.m. Lunch will be served WHERE: Board Room, Peralta Oaks _______ Items to be discussed: I. STATE LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. AB 1193 (Ting D-San Francisco) – New Class IV Bikeway Designation Assembly Member Phil Ting has introduced legislation to add a new class of bikeways – Class IV (also known as ‘cycletracks’ or ‘protected bike lanes’) – which will require the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to develop minimum safety design criteria for bike lanes on or directly adjacent to existing roadways. Currently, Caltrans does not have standards or criteria for bike lanes to include physical barriers against traffic. Caltrans is responsible for establishing minimum safety design criteria for the planning and construction of bikeways and roadways where bicycle travel is permitted. These criteria are contained within the California Highway Design Manual (HDM). Because there are no criteria for physical barriers in the HDM, many California cities have refrained from developing protected bike lanes even though they are considered to be the safest design for cyclists. Common in some parts of Europe, the construction of cycletracks is on the rise in the United States (U.S.). In 2011, there were an estimated 62 cycletracks across the country. That number has now risen to at least 102 in 32 U.S. cities, with over 100 more planned in 2013. Several California cities have installed cycletracks, including Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Long Beach's cycletracks in the downtown area have been open for nearly three years. The lanes were installed as part of a federal experiment on these types of facilities. According to the city, the lanes have been "remarkably successful.” Since installing the separated facilities Long Beach has seen a greater than 50% increase in the number of bicyclists using the street, a dramatic drop in the number of bicyclists riding on the sidewalk, and a dramatic decrease in the number of both bike and vehicle related crashes. The number of vehicle related crashes has dropped from nearly 100 per year to fewer than 50. Long Beach is confident this drop is due to the traffic calming associated with the installation of the separated lanes. The California Bicycle Coalition is supporting this effort. District Trails Manager Jim Townsend supports the legislation, “we would be supportive of the formalization of the ‘cycletrack’ concept in the Highway Design Manual. Anything that encourages cycling as a transportation mode is good for us.” Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT 2. AB 2193 (Gordon D-Menlo Park) – Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Act AB 2193 is intended to create a transparent and straightforward process for the permitting of voluntary watershed ecosystem restoration projects (i.e. not required for mitigation), small (less than five acres in total size) and environmentally beneficial. Each approved project must be shown to be consistent with state/federal species recovery plans or other scientifically accepted strategies for restoration. AB 2193 removes barriers to entry for environmental restoration projects, making it easier for landowners to voluntarily restore habitats along streams without reducing the safeguards or assurances of existing environmental laws. This new process is modeled after successful streamlined permitting programs adopted by local ordinances which have demonstrated an increase in coastal watershed restoration projects that benefited declining fish populations. Over 350 wildlife and plant species in California are considered threatened or endangered under state and federal law. California law and the Department of Fish and Wildlife would benefit from an accelerated pathway for providing the environmental permits necessary for urgently needed projects. The bill creates a Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Account within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. Funding in this account would be used for restoration and enhancement projects. This fund could be beneficial to the District’s work on urban creek, Bay shoreline and Delta restoration projects. Land Acquisition Manager Liz Musbach helped bring this legislation to the Committee’s attention with a support recommendation. Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT 3. ACR 96 (Olsen R-Merced) – The 150th Anniversary of the California State Park System This measure would recognize the 150th anniversary of the California State Park System and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating this important anniversary. The first state park was conceived in California in 1862. Captain Israel Ward Raymond and California’s United States Senator John Conness wanted to have natural land areas at Yosemite set aside purely for the purpose of preservation and public enjoyment. At Raymond’s request, Senator Conness introduced a bill that quickly passed though both Congressional houses. President Abraham Lincoln signed The Yosemite Grant Act on June 30, 1864, which granted the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the State of California. Governor Frederick Low accepted the grant in September of that year. California’s state parks contain the largest and most diverse natural and cultural heritage holdings of any state agency in the nation. The Department of Parks and Recreation currently manages 280 park units, which include: underwater preserves, reserves and parks; redwood, rhododendron, and wildlife reserves; state beaches, recreation areas, wilderness areas and reservoirs; state historic parks, historic homes, Spanish era adobe buildings, including museums, visitor centers, cultural reserves and preserves; as well as lighthouses, ghost towns, waterslides, conference centers, and off-highway vehicle parks. These parks protect and preserve an unparalleled collection of culturally and environmentally sensitive structures and habitats, threatened plant and animal species, ancient Native American sites, historic structures and artifacts, and demonstrate the best of California’s natural and cultural history. Staff Recommendation: SUPPORT. B. ISSUES 1. Drought Relief On March 1, Governor Jerry Brown signed two drought relief bills, SB 104 focused on policy and SB 103 focused on drought relief funding. The legislation includes over $650 million from previously approved bond measures and other sources of existing state funds. Some highlights include: $472 million for the Integrated Regional Water Management Program. At least $200 million of these funds would be expedited for immediate drought-related projects. $77 million for multi-benefit Central Valley flood control projects that provide water supply, water quality, or ecosystem improvements. $40 million from cap and trade auction revenues for local, state, and agricultural water/energy nexus projects. $2.3 million for emergency fish and wildlife conservation efforts. The part of the package of most interest to the District is probably the $13 million set aside for the California Conservation Corps and Local Conservation Corps for water use efficiency and fire fuel reduction programs. Another possible category of interest might be $20 million in AB 32 auction revenues for the Department of Water Resources to improve water use efficiency, save energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from local water management. District staff and consultants are looking into whether