AgdaPkt 2004-01-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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G.A''t Legislative Bill Action ............................................................... The following are summaries of just a few of the legislative bills that are currently being acted upon by the League of California Cities. For more h1formation about these and other bills, please visit the League website's new "Issues and Ad" .')cacy" page (www.cacities.org/ issuesandadvocacy) - a one-stop location to access information about legislation, policy issues and related developments. You can track information on bills (www.cacities.org/legtracking), locate legislators and legislative committees, send letters to legislators or the media through the online Advocacy Center, research League policy positions, access useful related links, and much more. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY measure would codify the existing Prospective Purchaser Agreement policy currently used by Cal EPA that provides a covenant not to sue for existing SB 493 (Cedillo). Brownfields. liability. P>s contamination. While it appears that the provisions amended January 5, SB 493 is a significantly of AB 389 apply primarily to state agencies, the different bill than it was before it stalled in the League is evaluating its provisions to better under- Senate Environmental Quality Committee. stand potential local government impacts. Inter- However, both versions deal with how to encour- ested cities should review AB 389 and send their age remediation of contaminated properties comments to the League's Sacramento office. through providing some measure of liability Staff: Yvonne Hunter; Status: Hrg-1/13, protection to prospective buyers of the property. AsEnvSafe&ToxMat; Position: Review and While the previous version of SB 493 addressed Comment. a limited universe of contaminated properties, SB 493 covers a wider range of contaminated AB 204 (Nation). Storm Water Fees. VLF properties. Surcharge. Although most cities covered by AB 204 are already aware of it, cities in the counties of The League, with the assistance of several Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Fran- city attorneys, is still evaluating the amended cisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and version of the bill. Although SB 493 is set for Sonoma should be sure to review the recently hearing Monday January 12 in the Senate Envi- amended version of the bill. It would give a county, ronmental Quality Committee, its fate is uncer- with the approval of the majority of cities with a tain. However, cities interested in promoting majority of the population in the inc;orporated part of clean up of hazardous waste contaminated the county, the ability to levy a surcharge on vehicle properties, both in urban, suburban and rural license fees to fund programs to address storm areas, should carefully review SB 493 and send water contamination resulting from automobile use. their comments to the League's Sacramento The author's office has requested support from office. Staff: Yvonne Hunter; Status: Hrg-1/12, impacted cities. Impacted cities should review AB SenEnvQual; Position: Review and Comment. 204 and send any comments to the author's office. Staff: Yvonne Hunter; Status: Hrg-1/12, AsTrans; AB 389 (Montanez). Brownfields. State Position: Review and Comment. Data Base. AB 389 would require the State Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA) to AB 734 (Montanez). Large Venue Recycling. establish and maintain an online database and AB 734 is intended to promote recycling in "large inventory on brownfields in Califomia, including venues" - defined as a very broad range of facilities the number of sites and their potential reuse. such as stadiums, movie theatres, convention Inclusion of information on the database would be centers, museums, zoos and other large places voluntary for local governments. In addition, the where people gather. Although the author's office PAGE 4/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org