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9 A -,6 Legislative Bill Action ................................ ............................... SB 20 passed both th -a Assembly Natural Resources Committee the Assembly Environmen- tal Safety and Toxic Materials Committee this week. It will be heard next in the Assembly Appro- priations Committee. The author agreed to a number of amendments proposed in the commit- tees. They are not yet in print, but the language is expected to be available in the next few days. The League continues to support SB 20 and remains involved in discussions with the author's office and other interested stakeholders. Staff: Yvonne Hunter; Status: Pending in Assembly Appropria- tions Committee, Position: Support AB 816 (Reyes). Municipal Utilities. Two Year Bill. Among other provisions, AB 816 re- quires departing electric customers who become part of a newly formed municipal utility or are annexed to an existing municipal utility to pay exit fees. The League believes it is important not to shift costs between existing and departing load customers, either for those jurisdictions involved in municipalization, or those involved in commu- nity choice aggregation. However, because of the unacceptable criteria included in AB 816 related to new or expanded municipal utilities, the League has joined with the California Municipal Utilities Association in opposing AB 816 AB 1541 (Montanez) Water Quality. Manda. tory Minimum Penalties. The League has removed its opposition to AB 1541 and is now neutral on the bill. Existing law establishes a series of mandatory minimum penalties (MMP) that are imposed for specific violations of NPDES waste discharge permits AB 1541 would add "failure to report" to the list of violations subject to MMPs. The author's office and sponsors have ac- cepted amendments requested by the League, CSAC and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. The amendments clarify that the dischargers included under the provisions of AB 1541 represent the same universe of dischargers that were included in the original mandatory minimum penalty law, SB 709 (Migden), thus eliminating any potential confusion about the inclusion of storm water. In addition, the amend- ments further refine the definition of "failure to report" to help make a distinction between those dischargers whose reports are delayed due to such things as problems getting laboratory data back and those whose reports are delayed be- cause the discharger simply does not wish to file a report. With these amendments, the League is now neutral on AB 1541 Staff: Yvonne Hunter; Status: SenApps, Position: Neutral. This week it was learned that AB 816 will become a two-year bill and not move ahead this year. League Staff: Yvonne Hunter, Status: Two Year Bill, SenEnUt &Comm, Position: Oppose. AS 1051 (Goldberg). Capital Facilities Fees. AB 1051 successfully met a crucial hurdle this week when it passed the Senate Education Committee. AB 1051 would clarify existing law regarding so- called capital facilities fees charged to other public agencies, such as schools and the state, by municipal water, sewage treatment, and electric utility providers. In response to issues raised by the Committee Chair, Senator John Vasconcellos, and the Attorney General's office, the author and sponsors of AB 1051 agreed to a number of important clarifying amendments. Cities that have water, wastewater or electric municipal utilities should send letters of support on AB 1051 to their Senators. A fact sheet on AB 1051 is available on the League's website. League Staff: Yvonne Hunter, Status: SenApps, Position: Support. PUBLIC SAFETY AB 49 (Simitian). Crimes. AB 49 establishes the High Technology Crime Advisory Committee to formulate a comprehensive written strategy for addressing high technology crime throughout the state, and to advise the Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) on the appropriate disbursement PAGE 16 /PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site -- www.cacities.org