BOARD LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Friday, May 18, 2018 12:30 P.M
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BOARD LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Friday, May 18, 2018 12:30 p.m. EBRPD – Administrative Headquarters 2950 Peralta Oaks Court Oakland, California 94605 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. A copy of the background materials concerning these agenda items, including any material that may have been submitted less than 72 hours before the meeting, is available for inspection on the District’s website (www. ebparks.org), the Headquarters reception desk, and at the meeting. Public Comment on Agenda Items If you wish to testify on an item on the agenda, please complete a speaker’s form and submit it to the recording secretary. Your name will be called when the item is announced for discussion. Accommodations and Access District facilities and meetings comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If special accommodations are needed for you to participate, please contact the Clerk of the Board at 510-544-2020 as soon as possible, but preferably at least three working days prior to the meeting. AGENDA TIME ITEM STATUS STAFF 12:30 I. STATE LEGISLATION / OTHER MATTERS A. NEW LEGISLATION R Doyle/Pfuehler 1. AB 1956 – Fire Protection Working Group (Limon D-Santa Barbara) 2. AB 2551 – Forest and Wildland Health Improvement and Fire Prevention Program (Wood D-Santa Rosa) 3. SB 1079 – Fire Protection Grants (Monning D-Carmel) B. OTHER MATTERS I Doyle/Pfuehler 1. Prop. 68 Park Bond 2. Governor’s May Revise Budget 3. Other matters II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / OTHER MATTERS R Pfuehler A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. H.R. 5471 – American Gateway Communities (Cicilline D-RI) B. OTHER MATTERS I Pfuehler 1. Other Matters III. CONSIDERATION OF R Pfuehler/Baldinger MEASURE CC EXTENSION /Doyle IV. ARTICLES I Pfuehler V. OPEN FORUM PUBLIC COMMENT I Pfuehler Individuals wishing to address the Committee on a topic not on the agenda may do so by completing a speaker’s form and submitting it to the recording secretary. VII. BOARD COMMENTS (R) Recommendation for Future Board Consideration (I) Information (D) Discussion Legislative Committee Members Future Meetings: Dee Rosario (Chair); Dennis Waespi, Beverly Lane January 8 & 26 July 20 Colin Coffey, Alternate February – NO MTG August – NO MTG Erich Pfuehler, Government Affairs Manager *March 9 September 21 April 20 October 19 May 18 November – NO MTG June – NO MTG *December 14 TO: Board Legislative Committee (Chair Dee Rosario, Dennis Waespi, Beverly Lane, Alt. Colin Coffey) FROM: Robert E. Doyle, General Manager Erich Pfuehler, Government Affairs Manager SUBJECT: Board Legislative Committee Meeting WHEN: Friday, May 18, 2018 12:30 PM Lunch will be served WHERE: Board Room, Peralta Oaks _______ Items to be discussed: I. STATE LEGISLATION / OTHER MATTERS A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. AB 1956 – Fire Protection Working Group (Limon D-Santa Barbara) Assembly Member Limon’s bill would establish a fire prevention working group and a local assistance grant program to improve fire prevention in California. A key goal is to ensure fire prevention activities happen year-round. The bill would repeal the pre-fire working group and replace it with a fire prevention working group of 14 with diverse backgrounds including three representatives from local governments (county, city and resource conservation district). The working group will identify incentives for landowners to implement fire prevention activities in SRAs, identify new methods of fire prevention, and identify new sources and methods of financing fire prevention activities. It also requires CAL FIRE to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention activities. Local agencies are eligible for grants. Projects funded by the grants need to improve resiliency on the landscape, adapt landscapes to withstand increased frequency and intensity of large wildfires, and provide improved ecological outcomes. It is estimated CAL FIRE will spend over $2.5 billion on fire protection for the 2017-18 budget year. It is the largest expenditure in the Natural Resources Agency. Meanwhile, since 2011, CAL FIRE has spent nearly $500 million on fire prevention activities. Given that CAL FIRE is increasingly conducting fire suppression activities year-round, the working group established in this bill would generate new methods and ideas to improve fire prevention. The bill is supported by Save the Redwoods League and the Nature Conservancy among others. Staff Recommendation: Support 2. AB 2551 – Forest and Wildland Health Improvement and Fire Prevention Program (Wood D-Santa Rosa) Assembly Member Wood’s bill would authorize CAL FIRE to enter into an agreement with any public agency or natural resource management agency to conduct joint prescribed burning operations. The bill also requires CAL FIRE to develop and implement training programs that 1 use prescribed burns as a training opportunity, as well as a hazard reduction and ecological restoration tool. It requires not less than 18% of all money in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to be made available annually to CAL FIRE for projects that improve or restore forest and wildland health, fire resiliency and reducing GHG emissions cause by uncontrolled forest fires. The bill is supported by the California State Parks Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, National Parks Conservation Association, Save the Redwoods League, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, the Nature Conservancy and Trust for Public Land. Staff Recommendation: Support 3. SB 1079 – Fire Protection Grants (Monning D-Carmel) Assembly Member Monning’s legislation would allow the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) to provide up to 25% of a grant in advance. Current CDF policies require grant recipients to be reimbursed for their costs rather than receiving some portion of the grant in advance. Reimbursements typically take 60-90 days, which creates project performance and financial hardship issues. The bill is supported by Peninsula Open Space Trust, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, Save the Redwoods League and others. Staff recommendation: Support B. OTHER MATTERS 1. Prop. 68 Park Bond Proposition 68 is a general obligation bond that invests $4 billion in the coming years to address some of California’s most important park and natural resource needs. The state legislature passed the California Clean Water and Parks Act (SB 5) with bipartisan support, and it will appear on the June 5 statewide ballot. The District has been working on enacting a “true” statewide park bond for six years, and Prop. 68 is the culmination of those efforts. The General Manager, staff and Advocate Houston will provide a verbal update. 2. Governor’s May Revise Budget California anticipates $8 billion in higher revenues through 2018-19 compared to the January budget projection. Overall, the Governor has taken a characteristically conservative approach in directing $3.2 billion in additional funding to the Rainy Day Fund. He focuses much of the additional one-time expenditures on: 1. Infrastructure, mostly state facilities, universities and flood control - $2 billion 2. Homelessness, mostly to local governments - $359 million. 3. Mental Health Services, mostly to counties serving youth with mental illness - $312 million. As part of the Governor’s May budget revision, Governor Brown also issued an Executive Order to address wildfire and climate impacts. Key elements of the order include: • Doubling the land actively managed through vegetation thinning, controlled fires and reforestation from 250,000 acres to 500,000 acres. • Launching new training and certification programs to help promote forest health 2 through prescribed burning. • Boosting education and outreach to landowners on the most effective ways to reduce vegetation and other forest-fire fuel sources on private lands. • Streamlining permitting for landowner-initiated projects that improve forest health and reduce forest-fire fuels on their properties. • Supporting the innovative use of forest products by the building industry. • Expanding grants, training and other incentives to improve watersheds. The Governor’s May budget revision includes $96 million to support these actions. This $96 million comes in addition to $160 million proposed in January’s cap-and-trade expenditure plan to support forest improvements and fire protection. A Forest Management Task Force will be convened in the coming weeks to help implement this order and its accompanying Forest Carbon Plan, which was finalized this month following more than a year of development and public outreach. Eight of the state’s 20 most destructive fires have occurred in the past four years. Last winter’s Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties was the largest in recorded history. Since convening a Tree Mortality Task Force in 2015, more than 1.2 million dead or dying trees have already been removed from the state’s forests. Recently, the California Environmental Protection Agency released new findings on the significant and growing impacts of climate change in California, noting that fires, drought, sea level rise and record heat pose an immediate and escalating danger to California’s ecosystems, wildlife, public health and economy. 3. Other matters II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / OTHER MATTERS A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. H.R. 5471 – American Gateway Communities (Cicilline