2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
San Jose, California
Land Use & Environment Committee Mission Statement: This Committee is a Policy committee. Its mission is to develop C.A.R.'s land use and environmental policy. It has original jurisdiction to evaluate legislation and regulation in the following issue areas as they relate to real estate: Environmental, Land Use and Zoning, Property Rights, Resources, and Subdivision and Development.
Presiding:
Greg Haas, Chair
Shari Setser, Vice Chair
Issue Chairs:
Nick Zigic, Environmental
Patrick Lieuw, Land Use and Zoning
Kim Boda, Property Rights
Georgia Richardson, Resources
Theresa Wilson, Subdivision and Development
Liaisons:
Ruth Hayles, Executive Committee
Gene Wunderlich, NAR Committee Representative
Staff Coordinator: Elizabeth Gavric
Federal Committee Staff: Matthew Roberts
I. Welcome and Opening Remarks - Greg Haas, Chair
II. Committee Survey Results - Shari Setser
Public Policy Reorganization Update IBP*: The reorganized public policy committee structure recommended by the task force of 2009 has been in place for approximately 18 months, or 2 cycles of appointed leadership, and the committees of the new structure have met 5 times. What, if any, changes should be made to the structure?
III. Informational Items - FYI Only - No Action Required
Definition: "Cost Effective" Energy Efficiency Improvements IBP*: The California Energy Commission is considering a new definition of "cost effective" that would consider societal benefits as justification for cost. What action, if any, should C.A.R. take?
IV. Environmental - Nick Zigic, Issue Chair
a. State and Federal Wetland Issues:
--State: C.A.R. has been working with a coalition to interface with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to develop an acceptable definition of “wetlands” and subsequent regulatory program for the past several years.
--Federal: NAR and C.A.R. commented on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued their “Guidance Regarding Identification of Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act.”
b. Federal Lead Based Paint Rule Update: On July 13, 2011, the House Appropriations Committee approved a REALTORS®-supported amendment to prohibit the implementation of controversial lead paint Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rules until the EPA can ensure that businesses and individuals can comply.
c. Questions on Reported Items or Other Business?
V. Land Use and Zoning - Patrick Lieuw, Issue Chair
a. Rural Property Fire Fees: The Rural Property Fire Fee was approved by regulation and authorizes a maximum charge in Extreme Fire Hazard Severity Zones of $90 (not $150 as proposed in the state budget). Individuals living in State Resource Areas would pay $70 a year.
b. Federal Flood Insurance: Since 2005, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been insolvent. Congress is now seeking to reform the NFIP, but in the interim, the current funding authorization expires on September 30, 2011. Therefore Congress must either pass an NFIP reform bill prior to this date or temporarily extend funding again.
c. Questions on Reported Items or Other Business?
VI. Property Rights – Kim Boda, Issue Chair
a. SB 588 (Evans) Coastal resources:California Coastal Act of 1976: enforcement: penalties - Oppose: This bill would give the California Coastal Commission (CCC) authority to pursue and retain the penalties collected and to pursue a judicial action and obtain judgment liens to collect those penalties.
b. Other Coastal Commission Updates: CCC Director Peter Douglas to retire.
c. Questions on Reported Items or Other Business?
VII. Resources - Georgia Richardson, Issue Chair
a. AB 14x/AB1054 (Skinner) Energy: Clean Energy Financing - Support: Creates a functional alternative to the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Reserve Program to assist with the financing of renewable energy sources or energy or water efficiency.
b. SB 837 (Blakeslee) Residential Real Property Disclosures - SPONSORED: The new language added by this bill into the TDS will notify the purchaser of residential property of the requirement to retrofit their property with water conserving plumbing fixtures as prescribed by existing law (SB 407 Padilla, 2009).
c. California Department of Water Resources - Water Plan Update: The Plan, which is updated every five years, presents basic data and information on California’s water resources, supplies and conservation measures. C.A.R. is an active stakeholder in the Public Advisory Committee and a member of several planning caucuses to assure that housing and transactions are not negatively impacted.
d. California Energy Commission- Energy Efficiency Regulations for Existing Homes (AB 758): Implementation of these regulations will occur in three distinct and overlapping phases over the next four to five years. Phase 1 Workforce and industry infrastructure (2010-2012); Phase 2: Transform energy assessment, retrofit and finance markets (2012-2014); and, Phase 3: Develop requirements for statewide energy ratings and upgrades (2014-2015 and beyond).
e. California Energy Commission - GO SOLAR CALIFORNIA Solar Advantage Value Estimator (SAVE) Program Update: The CEC recently launched SAVE to evaluate existing solar systems placed on real property. SAVE has been designed to be used by appraisers, REALTORS® and others in order to provide a means for evaluating existing solar systems and to determine their expected capacity (i.e. the average energy savings that can be achieved by the system).
f. California Energy Commission - Benchmarking Commercial Property Energy Use Regulatory Implementation (AB 1103): The Commercial Building EnergyStar Benchmarking program which will require building owners to register and benchmark all nonresidential buildings over 5,000 sq ft with the US EPA EnergyStar program and the California Energy Commission. The owner will then need to disclose this information to a prospective buyer, lessee, or lender when an entire building is sold, leased, financed, or refinanced. The draft regulations are almost finalized and anticipated to become effective July 1, 2012. The regulations will go into effect on a tiered schedule based upon building size.
g. Questions on Reported Items or Other Business?
VIII. Subdivision & Development - Theresa Wilson, Issue Chair
a. AB 741 (Huffman) Onsite Wastewater Disposal - Support: This bill will prevent and decrease environmental contamination from aging sewer and septic systems by allowing public agencies to enter into voluntary contractual assessments with property owners to finance sewer and septic upgrades and conversions.
b. AB 964 (Huffman) State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund: onsite sewer improvement projects - Watch: This bill would have authorized the State Water Board to use federal funds to offer locally-administrated low-cost loans for voluntary sewer lateral and septic system improvements or replacements. The SWB opined that the federal funds could not be used for this type of program so the bill was amended to only deal with agricultural issues.
c. State Water Board Septic Regulations & AB 955 (Huber) Onsite Sewage treatment Systems – Support if Amended: The Septic Working Group signed off on the SWB’s proposal on how to deal with septic systems. Instead of creating regulations, the SWB drafted a “Statewide Policy” that states locals are in control of creating septic regulations and enforcing compliance. Still pending are the definitions of the four regulatory tiers by which locals must categorize systems.
d. Questions on Reported Items or Other Business?
IX. New Business / Other?
X. Closing Remarks
XI. Adjournment
"*" indicates that issue briefing materials are included with the reporting committee's agenda materials.
