DATE: March 6, 2019 TO: Legislative and Policy Committee
DATE:
March 6, 2019
TO: Of FROM:
Legislative and Policy Committee Workshop
SUBJECT:
March Legislative Activity
Kristeen Farlow, Manager of Water Use Efficiency / External Affairs
This report highlights state and federal legislative activity for February 2019. Background Each month, staff will provide the Committee with an update on Federal and State Legislative highlights. This information is provided by the District’s lobbying firms: Innovative Federal Strategies in Washington D.C. and Gualco Group in Sacramento.
Additionally, included with this month’s legislative update is a summary of the Best, Best & Krieger Top Insights for 2018 (Attachment 3) as requested by Director Navarro. Federal Legislative Highlights In mid-February, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute that challenges an appeals court’s ruling that pollution discharged into groundwater that later flows into a navigable waterway can constitute a violation of the Clean Water Act. (This controversy is separate from the ongoing debate over the EPA’s Waters of the United States Rule.) Depending on the outcome from the Supreme Court, millions of water pollution sources would be subject to strict new rules about where they put waste and how to treat it. On February 26, 2019, the Federal Lands Bill cleared the House of Representatives and is on its way to the President’s desk for signature. The measure is the largest public lands bill approved
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by Congress in more than a decade. It contains a number of California-specific provisions, including the compromise desert protection legislation and the Santa Ana River Wash Plan Land Exchange Act. State Legislative Highlights Some big news in California was the Governor’s recommendation to move forward with a single tunnel for the California Water Fix. This was proposed during Governor Newsom’s State of the State address. The Governor also signed two early action bills- AB 72 and AB 73- that provide urgent assistance for communities that have contaminated and unsafe water and also support communities that have been affect by the California wildfires.
The final day to submit legislation for consideration during the new legislative session was February 22, 2019. On that day, an additional 743 bills were introduced, bringing the total proposed laws to 2,576. This could be a record number of bills introduced in a single year.
Recommended Action Review and provide feedback. Attachments Matrix of current Federal legislation (Attachment 1) Matrix of current State legislation (Attachment 2) Best, Best & Krieger Top Insights for 2018 Summary (Attachment 3)
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March 6, 2019
TO: Of FROM:
Legislative and Policy Committee Workshop
SUBJECT:
March Legislative Activity
Kristeen Farlow, Manager of Water Use Efficiency / External Affairs
This report highlights state and federal legislative activity for February 2019. Background Each month, staff will provide the Committee with an update on Federal and State Legislative highlights. This information is provided by the District’s lobbying firms: Innovative Federal Strategies in Washington D.C. and Gualco Group in Sacramento.
Additionally, included with this month’s legislative update is a summary of the Best, Best & Krieger Top Insights for 2018 (Attachment 3) as requested by Director Navarro. Federal Legislative Highlights In mid-February, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute that challenges an appeals court’s ruling that pollution discharged into groundwater that later flows into a navigable waterway can constitute a violation of the Clean Water Act. (This controversy is separate from the ongoing debate over the EPA’s Waters of the United States Rule.) Depending on the outcome from the Supreme Court, millions of water pollution sources would be subject to strict new rules about where they put waste and how to treat it. On February 26, 2019, the Federal Lands Bill cleared the House of Representatives and is on its way to the President’s desk for signature. The measure is the largest public lands bill approved
1
by Congress in more than a decade. It contains a number of California-specific provisions, including the compromise desert protection legislation and the Santa Ana River Wash Plan Land Exchange Act. State Legislative Highlights Some big news in California was the Governor’s recommendation to move forward with a single tunnel for the California Water Fix. This was proposed during Governor Newsom’s State of the State address. The Governor also signed two early action bills- AB 72 and AB 73- that provide urgent assistance for communities that have contaminated and unsafe water and also support communities that have been affect by the California wildfires.
The final day to submit legislation for consideration during the new legislative session was February 22, 2019. On that day, an additional 743 bills were introduced, bringing the total proposed laws to 2,576. This could be a record number of bills introduced in a single year.
Recommended Action Review and provide feedback. Attachments Matrix of current Federal legislation (Attachment 1) Matrix of current State legislation (Attachment 2) Best, Best & Krieger Top Insights for 2018 Summary (Attachment 3)
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