AGENDA BOARD LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Friday, October 16, 2015 12:30 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 STAUS TIME ITEM STAFF 12:30 p.m. 1. STATE LEGISLATION / ISSUES (R) A. NEW LEGISLATION – N/A Doyle/Pfuehler (I) B. ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler 1. Year-end review: AB 665 (hunting), AB 746 (San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority), AB 495 (General Manager contract authority), AB 549 (state parks), SB 204 (state parks), SB 317 (park bond), etc. 2. Update on Transportation and Infrastructure Conference Committee 3. Drones (SB 167 and SB 168) 4. Update on Cap-and-Trade Proceeds Second Investment Plan and Climate Adaptation Strategy (AB 1482 and SB 246) 5. Other Issues (R) II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. H.R. 1721 National Women’s Rights History Project Act (Slaughter, D-NY) 2. H.R. 2983 Drought Recovery and Resilience Act of 2015 (Huffman, D-CA) 3. S. 1894 California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2015 (Feinstein, D-CA) 4. S. 1995 Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Grant Program Act of 2015 (Schumer, D-NY) (I) B. ISSUES Doyle/Pfuehler 1. Land and Water Conservation Fund update 2. Federal budget update (R) III. PORT OF OAKLAND COAL EXPORTS Doyle/Pfuehler (I) IV. SAN FRANCISCO BAY RESTORATION AUTHORITY Doyle/Pfuehler V. PUBLIC COMMENTS VI. ARTICLES (R) Recommendation for Future Board Consideration (I) Information (D) Discussion Future 2015 Meetings: None Legislative Committee Members: Diane Burgis, Chair, Whitney Dotson, Dennis Waespi, Ayn Wieskamp, Alt. Erich Pfuehler, Staff Coordinator Distribution/Agenda Only Distribution/Full Packet Distribution/Full Packet District: District: Bob Nisbet AGMs Director Whitney Dotson Carol Johnson Sharon Clay Director Beverly Lane Bruce Kern David Zuckerman Director Diane Burgis Mona Koh Connie Swisher Director Doug Siden Dr. George Manross Mimi Waluch Director John Sutter Jim O’Connor Kristina Kelchner Director Dennis Waespi Carol Victor Xiaoning Huang – Local 2428 Director Ayn Wieskamp Sukari Beshears Distribution/Agenda Only Distribution/Full Packet Distribution/Full Packet Public: District: Yolande Barial Knight Norman LaForce Robert Doyle Peter Rauch Tim Anderson Bruce Beyaert Pat O’Brien Mark Pearson – Local 2428 Afton Crooks Debra Auker Eri Suzuki – Local 2428 Stana Hearne Tyrone Davis Judi Bank Mark Ragatz Michael Kelley Jeff Rasmussen Rick Rickard Sean Dougan TO: Board Legislative Committee (Chair Diane Burgis, Whitney Dotson, Dennis Waespi and Alternate Ayn Wieskamp) FROM: Robert E. Doyle, General Manager Erich Pfuehler, Government Affairs Manager SUBJECT: Board Legislative Committee Meeting WHEN: Friday, October 16, 2015 - 12:30 p.m. Lunch will be served WHERE: Board Room, Peralta Oaks _______ Items to be discussed: I. STATE LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION – N/A B. ISSUES 1. Year-end review Advocate Doug Houston, General Manager Robert E. Doyle and Government Affairs Manager Erich Pfuehler will provide a summary of the District’s work in Sacramento this year. There were a number of successes both proactive and defensive. For example, the District maintained the ability to enforce a 150 yard buffer distance for hunting in proximity to District trails adjacent to navigable waters of the state by opposing AB 665 (Frazier, D-Oakley). The District was able to ensure an elected official from a Special District is eligible to chair the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority by amending AB 746 (Ting, D-San Francisco). The District also was successful in raising the General Manger purchasing liming from $25,000 to $50,000 by passing AB 495 (Gordon, D-Menlo Park), ensuring a state park bond measure was introduced with per capita and funding for regional park agencies SB 317 (de Leon, D-Los Angeles), and supporting implementation of Parks Forward recommendations AB 549 (Levine, D-Marin County) and SB 204 (Pavely, D-Agoura Hills). 2. Update on Transportation and Infrastructure Conference Committee The Governor’s call for a special session to address California’s transportation funding backlog ended without an agreement. The Governor had sought to implement a $65 highway user fee, an 11 cent excise tax on diesel fuel, indexing the exiting gasoline tax to inflation, $500 million from cap-and-trade and a $100 million from Caltrans (which the legislative analyst has said is overstaffed. Ultimately, the legislature failed to act on SBX1 1 or any comprehensive transportation measure because there was no will by Republicans for new taxes. The Special session remains in effect, however, until the end of 2016. The Conference Committee is scheduled to meet on October 16th for informational purposes, presumably to establish ground rules. In an interesting twist, Assembly Member Kevin Mullin replaced Jim Frazier as chair of the Conference Committee even though Frazier is chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee. 3. Drones (SB 167 and SB 168) With the increased use of hobby drones for posting images / video on social media, some footage of wildfires in California emerged. The Legislature considered a number of bills to put some parameters on drone use – particularly instances which could interfere with the performance of police officers, firefighters, emergency personnel or military personnel when they are coping with an emergency. One effort, SB 167 by Senators Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado) and Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) essentially makes it a misdemeanor of disorderly conduct to operate a drone in any manner that interferes with the extinguishment of a fire. SB 167 was referred to the public safety committee, but SB 168, also by Senators Gaines and Jackson, was enrolled and presented to the Governor. The Governor, however, vetoed the measure on October 3, along with eight other bills which created new crimes. He cited prison overcrowding and the need for criminal justice reform. SB 168 increased fines for unmanned aircraft (UAS) interference with firefighting activities and granted civil immunity to public entities. It would have made it a misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to six months jail time and up to $5,000 in fines, to use a UAS in a way that interferes with firefighting. There were a number of other bills dealing with drones and unmanned aircraft introduced. Setting parameters on the use of these aircraft is sure to be a continued debate next year. By December 31, 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration is statutorily required to develop and implement requirements for the operation of public unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace system. Once those requirements are in place, the state may take other steps to ensure drone use protects both civil liberties and public safety. 4. Update on Cap-and-Trade Proceeds Second Investment Plan and Climate Adaptation Strategy (AB 1482 and SB 246) The California Air Resources Board (CARB), California Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Finance are in the initial phases of developing the second investment plan for Cap-and-Trade proceeds. Every three years, the 40% that isn’t automatically allocated to specific program areas receives a fresh look from the agencies and legislature. Since Cap-and- Trade revenue is now in the multi-billions, it seems like a good opportunity for the District and agencies which protect lands that sequester carbon. The District participated in two of the public workshops this August providing input into the new draft investment plan. The CARB held a public hearing on the funding guidelines September 24 and 25. The next step is for the CARB to release the updated version of the concept paper / three year expenditure plan, which could happen any day. There will be another opportunity to provide feedback after the CARB release. The agencies are charged with presenting a proposed investment plan and funding guidelines to the legislature by the end of the year. The legislature will ultimately include the investment plan and guidelines in the next budget adopted in June of 2016. AB 1482 was authored by Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park). It requires the California Natural Resources Agency (NRA) to update its climate adaptation strategy by July 1, 2017, and every three years thereafter. It calls for identifying vulnerabilities, prioritizing actions to reduce risks, educating the public, encouraging regional collaboration, promoting a drought-resilient water system, building resilient communities by developing urban greening projects, and protecting and enhancing habitat. This is mostly the legislative response to Governor Brown’s Executive Order calling for a statewide climate adaptation strategy. AB 1482 was approved and Chaptered on October 8. SB 246 was authored by Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont). It establishes the “Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program” through the Office of Planning and Research to coordinate efforts with state climate adaptation strategies. It essentially provides a framework with which California local governments can adapt to the impact of climate change. The goal is to avert unnecessary and redundant costs resulting from the absence of proper coordination and adoption of best practices. It is a complementary effort to AB 1482 and is also a legislative response to Governor Brown’s Executive Order which calls on OPR to establish a technical, advisory group to help agencies coordinate their planning and investment decisions. SB 246 was approved and Chaptered on October 8. 5. Other Issues II. FEDERAL LEGISLATION / ISSUES A. NEW LEGISLATION 1. H.R. 1721 National Women’s Rights History Project Act (Slaughter, D-NY) The National Women’s Rights History Project Act was signed into law in 2009 after nearly a decade of work by Representative Louise Slaughter and former New York Senator Hillary Clinton. It preserves and promotes historic sites around the country – and in particular upstate New York – which are significant to the women’s rights movement and its role in the history of our democracy.