BOARD MEETING DATE: March 4, 2005
AGENDA NO. 23
Legislative Committee
SYNOPSIS:
The Legislative Committee held its regular meeting on Friday, February 11, 2005. The next Legislative Committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 11, 2005, at 8:00 a.m., in Conference Room CC8.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and file this report
Beatrice J.S. LaPisto-Kirtley, Chair
Legislative Committee
Attendance [Attachment 1]
The Legislative Committee met on February 11, 2005. Present were Vice-Chair Jane Carney and Committee Member Gary Ovitt; in attendance via videoconference were Committee Chair Beatrice LaPisto-Kirtley and Committee Members Roy Wilson, Michael Antonovich and Jan Perry.
Federal Report/Update
Lynn Jacquez, AQMD federal legislative consultant, reported that the House Appropriations Committee is reorganizing its subcommittees in order to streamline and expedite the appropriations process. The House plans to consolidate thirteen subcommittees into ten. The three subcommittees that will be eliminated are VA/HUD, District of Columbia, and Legislative Branch. Additional subcommittee changes include the expansion of the Interior Committee to include U.S. EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (renamed the Interior and Environment and chaired by Congressman Charles Taylor, R-NC); the expansion of the Transportation Treasury subcommittee to include Housing and the Federal Judiciary (renamed the Transportation, Treasury and Housing subcommittee and chaired by Congressman Joseph Knollenberg, R-MI); and the shifting of energy-related accounts previously handled by the Interior subcommittee to the Energy and Water subcommittee (chaired by Congressman David Hobson, R-OH).
Ms. Jacquez also reported that a Transportation Reauthorization Bill was introduced by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on February 9. This bill is essentially the same legislation that passed the House last year; it would authorize $284 billion in spending over six years, from FY 2004 to FY 2009. Mark-up of the bill is expected the week of March 2, with possible floor action the week of March 7.
With regard to comprehensive energy legislation, Ms. Jacquez stated that the bill has been held up due to the possible budget and tax implications of the bill. Leaders in the House are planning to discuss how to address energy industry tax incentives, the total cost of the bill, and whether or not budget offsets will be necessary.
Ms. Jacquez reported that the President's Budget was released on February 7. She said that now that the budget is released, AQMD can begin to review the President's budget requests, specifically in the areas that AQMD could receive funding.
Sacramento Update
Oscar Abarca reported that authors for AQMD's proposed legislation have been identified. Senator Gloria Romero will be authoring the Locomotive Emission Mitigation Fee Bill; Assembly Member David Jones will be authoring the Remote Sensing Legislation; Assembly Member Hector De La Torre will be authoring the Railyard Retrofit Equipment Bill. He reported that there are a number of legislators that have expressed an interest in authoring the Joint Resolution, but that a decision has not been made yet.
He also reported that Assembly Member Tom Harman has extended an invitation to AQMD to attend and provide a presentation at a meeting of the Bipartisan Group. This group consists of members from both political parties who want to find common ground on policy issues and want to work with the administration. Railroad representatives have also been invited to join AQMD staff at this meeting. In addition, the Speaker's Office has arranged for AQMD staff to provide a presentation on its legislative proposals to the Latino Legislative Caucus. This caucus is made up of 28 legislators from both the Senate and the Assembly. Assembly Member Gloria Negrete McCleod is working with AQMD in co-hosting a State of the Air Quality briefing to policy makers in San Bernardino County. Finally, Assembly Member Ed Chavez has invited AQMD staff to provide a presentation to the San Gabriel Valley Legislator's Caucus on February 18 in Sacramento.
Allan Lind, AQMD state legislative representative, reported that this is the beginning of a two-year legislative session and bill introductions are still occurring. He said that we have only seen a small fraction of the bills that are anticipated to be introduced. He reported that on February 22, the Senate Energy Committee will have a hearing on the 2005 Summer Energy Outlook. This hearing will focus on the contingency plans of the electric utilities developed in case power shortfalls occur this coming summer. AQMD staff will be attending this meeting. On February 23, there will be a hearing regarding the Carl Moyer Funding Program in which AQMD staff will be providing testimony. On March 2, the Senate and the Assembly will have a joint committee hearing on the "State of the California Environment."
Mr. Lind said that the state budget was submitted a month ago and is now under review by the Legislative Analyst's Office and a report should be available soon. He said that the state budget did not significantly alter air quality funding from last year. The subvention funds that air districts receive will be sustained at the same level as the previous year. With regard to the California Performance Review Report, the Governor is in the process of determining which recommendations he wishes to implement.
Mr. Lind said that a bill that may be of interest to AQMD is SB 44, introduced by Senator Christine Kehoe, which will require all local governments to periodically revise their General Plans to incorporate clean air strategies. Dr. Wallerstein said that staff has been developing a draft guidance document and that he has spoken to Mayor Loveridge who is very enthusiastic about this bill. The mayor has requested that Dr. Wallerstein communicate to the Senator that he would like to personally help her work with the League of Cities regarding this proposed legislation.
Dr. Wallerstein said that in addition to SB 44, SB 109 introduced by Senator Deborah Ortiz regarding the prosecution of violations; and AB 32 introduced by Assembly Member Fran Pavley regarding the greenhouse gas registry will be brought before the next Legislative Committee for discussion and recommendation.
Dr. Wallerstein also reported that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is proposing a bill that will be directed at broadening their latitude on how AB 2766 funds are spent. He said that unlike the South Coast where we can spend some of the funds as grants to private-sector companies, the Bay Area doesn't have this flexibility. He said that although this bill would be restricted to the Bay Area, it may initiate a statewide discussion on how AB 2766 funds are spent.
Aside from AQMD's legislation, Dr. Wallerstein briefly updated the committee on the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association's (CAPCOA) three proposed pieces of legislation. One bill on Carl Moyer funding will be authored by Senator Nell Soto and co-authored by Assembly Member Judy Chu. The second bill, which relates to inspections and fees associated with portable engines, will be authored by Assembly Member David Jones. Dr. Wallerstein reported that these engines are major NOx sources that need to be adequately controlled. This bill would propose to give the air district boards the authority to require hour meters on the engines, to require earlier notification as to when an engine comes into an air district or moves out of an air district, and to allow the air districts to recover actual costs for enforcement. The third bill is the Diesel Magnet Source Bill which will be authored by Assembly Member Jenny Oropeza. This bill will be directed at airports, marine ports, railyards and large warehouse operations.
Oscar Abarca thanked Senior Policy Advisor Peter Greenwald for his support on legislative matters. Jane Carney commended Oscar Abarca and his staff, and Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein for work that they are doing on legislative initiatives. She felt that staff has been very focused on new approaches to reducing emissions. Chair Beatrice LaPisto-Kirtley concurred and also commended the committee and the legislators who are supporting AQMD's legislation.
Other Business.
None
Public Committee
None
Attendance Roster
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