Sheraton Grand Hotel
Grand Nave Ballroom, Magnolia
Sacramento , California
Thursday, June 5, 2008
8:00 a.m.-9:35 a.m.
Presiding:
Liz
Anderson-Fitzgerald, Chair
Wendi-Mae
Davis, Vice Chair
Allen Chiang, Vice Chair
Jeanette Way, Committee Liaison
Larry Matteson, Rural Forum Chair
C.A.R. Staff:
Elizabeth
Gavric,
Legislative Advocate
I. Opening Comments: Chairwoman Anderson-Fitzgerald
II. Discussion/Information Items
A. Report from Green Task Force -Bob Hart, Chair
B. Report from REALTOR® Committee on Air Quality - Carol Banner
C. Report from
Onsite Wastewater Disposal
"Septic" Working Group: Current Status of SWRCB AB 885 Draft Statewide
Regulations for Septic Systems
D. Legislative Update
1. Boards, Departments and Special Districts
a. AB 938 (Calderon C.) Water Districts: Urban Runoff
- Support
~ AB 938 would broaden the authority of local water
districts to provide a comprehensive stormwater management service. This
measure would authorize a local water district to construct and maintain
facilities to manage and treat stormwater by creating a stormwater
diversion and treatment system to deal with urban runoff. C.A.R. supports
this bill because it will facilitate coordination between local
governments, agencies and districts when developing necessary programs and
plans to address stormwater drainage and watershed protection goals for an
entire region. Furthermore, the current piecemeal approach to stormwater
management produces little or no improvement to stormwater diversion,
unfairly targets new construction, and can add significantly to the cost of
a new home, exacerbating California's housing affordability problem.
Status: Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
b.
AB 1159 (Coto) Insurance: State Earthquake Authority
- Support ~ As introduced, this measure addressed a non-real
estate related topic. As amended, AB 1159 is identical to SB 430, which was
signed into law by the Governor in October of 2007. Both AB 1159 and SB 430
were introduced to improve the financial condition of the California
Earthquake Authority (CEA) which would have been jeopardized by the
December 1, 2008, sunset of CEA's authorization to assess insurers for
funding. This bill creates a new assessment for the CEA to last for 10
years beginning December 1, 2008. The new assessment will equate to $1.3
billion to pay earthquake claims and expenses and could be extended for up
to two additional years if the CEA pays at least $500 million in claims as
a result of a single earthquake event. C.A.R. supports AB 1159 because the
viability of the CEA is necessary to the availability of homeowners
insurance in California.
Status: Senate Floor Inactive File.
c. AB 1338 (Huffman) Public Resources: Local
Coastal Programs - Oppose ~ Current law authorizes the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRGB) and Regional Water Quality Control Boards
(RWQCBs) to regulate stormwater runoff through the issuance of permits. AB
1338 would expand the land use authority of the California Coastal
Commission (CCC) to include regulatory oversight of stormwater runoff
permits for non-point source pollution, and would grant the CCC the last
word on water quality issues rather than the RWQCBs. C.A.R. opposes AB 1338
because it would expand the regulatory authority of the commission into an
area that the California Coastal Act has expressly identified as the
regulatory jurisdiction of the SWRCB and RWQCBs.
Status: Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.
d. SB 838 (Cogdill) Fire Prevention and
Protection - Support ~ The Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection is required to assist local governments in preventing wildland
fire and vegetation management problems within the department's budgetary
limitations. SB 838 would have authorized the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection to award grants to the California Fire Safe Council to
implement community-based wildfire threat reduction and prevention
programs. C.A.R. supported this bill because it would have funded programs
to serve communities that could potentially be threatened by
wildfires.
Status: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
e
. SB 1231 (Correa) Fire Safety -
Support ~ Existing law requires a person who owns, leases,
controls or operates a building or structure to also maintain a firebreak
in a state responsibility areas. This bill requires the Office of the State
Fire Marshal (SFM) to develop model defensible space guidelines for local
jurisdictions to use in the enforcement of the state's existing defensible
space requirements and permits the enforcing local agency to recover its
abatement costs by placing a special assessment or lien on the property.
The bill requires the SFM to develop a Wildland-Urban Interface Products
compliance manual that outlines products and construction systems that
would comply with the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Safety building
standards. This measure requires the Director of Forestry and Fire
Protection to report to the Legislature before March 31, 2009, on the
benefits of establishing fire risk maps. C.A.R. supports SB 1231 because
many of the existing defensible space requirements are not enforced by
local jurisdictions and this measure seeks to give the tools and means to
local government to ensure that homes in "high"
and
"very-high" hazard zones are protected from wildland fires.
Status: Senate Appropriations Committee.
f. SB 1295 (Ducheny) Coastal Act: Coastal
Redevelopment Permit: Appeal - Support ~ This bill amends
the California Coastal Act of 1976 that provides for the planning and
regulation of development within the coastal zone, and that any appealable
action on a coastal development permit for any development by a local
government or port governing body may be appealed by any 2 members of the
California Coastal commission. Revises that provision to add a condition
for an appeal by any 2 members to require that the commission or its staff
provide comments to the local government or port governing body. C.A.R.
supports this bill because it would make it more difficult for Commission
members to appeal development approvals made by local governments.
Status: Died in Senate Committee on Natural Resources and
Water.
g. SB 1595 (Kehoe) Public Resources: fire protection: fuels
management: forest protection - Amend ~ Existing law requires a
person who owns, leases, operates, or maintains a building or structure
within a state responsibility area to maintain a firebreak for at least 30
feet, and additional vegetation management up to 100 feet, from the
structure. SB 1595 would apply these provisions to any land within a very
high fire severity zone and further requires the irrigation of all living
plants in both the 30 foot and 100 foot zones of defensible space. However,
in areas of water shortages, local agencies would be permitted to require
further thinning and pruning in lieu of irrigation. The bill would allow
the director of Cal-Fire to remove live and dead vegetation on state and
private lands. SB 1595 had also permitted Cal-Fire to restrict access to
privately owned properties that were identified by Cal-Fire to be infested
with insects or plant diseases that are known to be injurious to forest
growth. C.A.R has obtained amendments that removed this unnecessary
restriction on a property owner's ability access their property.
Status: Senate Appropriations Committee.
2. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
a. SB 1165 (Kuehl) Environment: Environmental Impact Report -
Oppose ~ Environmental impact reports (EIRs) are prepared for
development projects to identify the impact that the project may have on
the environment. Current law does not place an expiration date on the
validity of EIRs. SB 1165 would limit the term in which an EIR is valid to
5 years and would apply this time limitation to all projects, including
those with no new information or change in circumstance. C.A.R. opposes SB
1165 because it would increase litigation without increasing environmental
protections and hinders home construction, and development, throughout the
state.
Status: Senate Appropriations Committee.
b.
SB 1210 (Dutton) Environmental Quality: Short Form EIR -
Support ~ This bill would authorize the preparation of a short
form environmental impact report for qualified urban developments that must
be located in an urban development area that existed on the date that the
lead agency completes the application for the project. Projects must also
provide housing near employment and business centers or transportation
corridors and incorporate mitigation measures aimed at cumulative impacts.
C.A.R. supports SB 1210 because it will make long-overdue and necessary
changes that will reduce delays and streamline the CEQA process. The
introduction of the short form process will reduce costs for urban housing
projects making housing more affordable, while also improved the speed in
which urban-infill housing is provided to communities.
Status: Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
c. SB 1238 (Machado) Wildlife Resources - Oppose
Unless Amended ~ SB 1238 amends existing Department of Fish and
Game law which defines wildlife as including all wild animals, birds,
plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related ecological communities and
the habitat upon which the wildlife depends for its continued viability to
also include invertebrates in such definition. C.A.R. opposes this
inclusion of invertebrates as this category of wildlife is too broad and
which captures about 95% of the species, including common insects found in
homes. C.A.R. is currently seeking amendments to narrow the bill to the
intended target - specified mollusks.
Status: Withdrawn from Senate Committee on
Appropriations.
d. SB 1631 (Ackerman) Public Works:
Environmental Complaints - Support ~ This bill would, for public
works projects, make it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $1,000
and/or imprisonment in a county jail for a period up to six months for any
person to file, threaten to file, or fund, any environmental complaint or
protest regarding the of development land, when the objective is to obtain
or extract money or property from the entity seeking the building permit.
The bill provides an exemption for the remediation of an environmental
issue on the real property being developed. C.A.R. will support this bill
if it is amended to include private residential and commercial
construction.
Status: Senate Governmental Organization Committee.
3. Disclosures
a. AB 2733 (Brownley) Real Property Disclosures -
Oppose ~ This measure would require an additional disclosure
report of environmental hazard sites located within a one-quarter mile
radius of a home's zip code or city upon transfer of the property. C.A.R.
opposes AB 2733 because it will require the purchase of an additional, and
unnecessary, disclosure during a home transaction, resulting in a dilution
in the value of existing disclosures. The bill would also add unknown costs
to the transaction. C.A.R. has offered an alternate approach using the
environmental hazards booklet and/or local option disclosure form.
Status: Assembly Floor.
b. AB 2881 (Wolk) Nuisance: Agricultural
Activity: Costs: Right to Farm - Amended! ~ As
introduced, AB 2881 would have required real estate licensees to include a
disclosure on the right to farm in a real property sales contract for all
properties located within an agricultural area. C.A.R. opposed the bill
until it was amended to remove the mandatory disclosure provision for all
transactions. The bill now places the Right to Farm disclosure in both the
subdivision reports for new homes and Natural Hazard Disclosure reports for
resale homes.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
c. SB 1386 (Lowenthal) Carbon Monoxide -
Amended! ~ SB 1386 would require ALL existing homes to
install a carbon monoxide (CO) detector by July 1, 2010, and new homes
built after June 1, 2009 install a CO detector. The measure would
originally have required the recording of a separate disclosure of
compliance acting as a de facto point-of-sale mandate and would have
effectively forced home sellers and their agents to certify CO alarm
installation. C.A.R. has obtained amendments to remove the specified
point-of-sale mandate. C.A.R. obtained amendments that will treat CO
detectors like auto-reversing garage doors and other safety features
disclosed in the Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS). As amended, the
bill will provide for a statewide, date-certain mandate for CO detectors in
all housing (not just those that transfer), and will allow the CO detector
to be noted in a (TDS). Even better, the amendments added smoke detectors
and water heater strapping to the TDS, thus eliminating the need for
separate certifications for these features. The amendments also broadened
the statutory protections for these disclosures. These changes will reduce
the number of disclosure forms required in order to complete a transaction,
and protect sellers and increase liability protections for agents.
Status: Senate Appropriations Committee.
4.
Green Buildings & Energy Efficiency\
a. AB 1065 (Lieber) Public Resources: Building
Standards - Oppose ~ This bill requires the California Energy
Commission to adopt new energy efficiency standards that will require new
homes, by 2030, to use 80% less energy than required by today's standards.
While C.A.R. supports the reduction in energy consumption, C.A.R. opposes
AB 1065 because of the negative impacts that the measure will have on
housing affordability. It is estimated that this mandate, in today's
dollars, would increase the average price of a home by $50,000; a cost
increase that would effectively preclude up to 1,000,000 California
residents from achieving home ownership.
Status: Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
b. AB 2030 (Lieu) Building Standards -
Oppose ~ This measure authorizes the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission to develop and adopt building
design and construction standards for energy and water conservation.
Furthermore, the measure requires all commercial buildings built after
December 31, 2029 to achieve a zero net energy standard. While C.A.R.
supports efforts to reduce energy consumption, C.A.R. opposes AB 2030
because it is currently impossible to achieve a cost-effective zero net
energy standard. (See also, AB 2112)
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
c. AB 2112 (Saldana) Energy:
Building Standards - Oppose ~ AB 2112 authorizes the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop and adopt
building design and construction standards for energy and water
conservation. Furthermore, the measure requires all new residential
construction to achieve a zero net energy standard beginning January 1,
2020. While C.A.R. supports efforts to improve home energy efficiency,
C.A.R. opposes AB 2112 because it is currently impossible to achieve a
cost-effective zero net energy standard in residential housing and would
result in substantial increases in the cost of housing. (See also, AB
2030)
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
d. AB 2309 (DeSaulnier) Energy Systems -
Support ~ This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission
to authorize electric corporations to provide owner-requested energy
efficiency audits and recommendations for residential buildings built prior
to January 1, 2006. California's energy efficiency building standards are
among the toughest in the nation; however, most California homes were built
prior to the implementation of these standards. C.A.R. supports AB 2309
because it will enable more homeowners to obtain energy audits which will
help them understand energy efficiency, reduce utility bills, and help to
reduce overall energy demand.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
e. AB 2678 (Nunez) Energy: Energy Audit -
Oppose Unless Amended ~ This bill requires that a state agency
develop a program that would require ALL homes and commercial properties in
California to have an energy audit at point-of-sale and that mandatory
energy efficiency investments be made. While C.A.R. appreciates the goal of
AB 2678, C.A.R. strongly opposes the point-of-sale requirements in AB 2678
because they fail to achieve the state's green house gas reduction
objectives while creating a mandate that will further weaken the housing
market. If enacted, AB 2678 could add thousands of dollars to the
cost of purchasing a home, including up to $400 just to have a home
audited.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
f. AB 2916 (Nunez) State Buildings: Energy
Efficiency Measures - Oppose ~ This bill requires every state
owned property, and properties leased by the state, to meet the United
States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design standards by January 1, 2012. C.A.R. opposes AB 2916 because it is
unrealistic to force commercial property owners who lease in excess of 14
million square feet of office space to the Department of General Services
to comply with these cost prohibitive standards.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
5. Land Use and Conservation.
a. AB 838 (Blakeslee) Parks and
Recreation Easements - Amend ~ AB 838, which is identical to
AB 75, authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire
conservation easements on real property if it determines that the
conservation easement is necessary to protect, preserve and enhance the
state park system. Furthermore, the bill authorizes state and local
government agencies or nonprofit land trust organizations holding the
easements to amend the easement or any of its terms upon approval by the
department. C.A.R. is working with the author to secure amendments that
will ensure that these easements cannot be altered without first obtaining
landowner consent.
Status: Senate Appropriations Committee.
b. AB 2514 (Eng) Human Remains
- Oppose ~ Upon the discovery of human remains on any
property, AB 2514 requires that no further excavation of the site occur
until the coroner identifies the remains. Based upon the remains, the
coroner would be given 24 hours to notify any and all local cultural and
historic organizations. With the permission of the landowner, the cultural
or historical organization would have 48 hours to inspect the site and make
recommendations for excavation. C.A.R. opposes AB 2514 because it would
permit any "cultural" group to decide that it wants to weigh in on how
human remains should be treated by virtue of simply registering with the
Office of Historic Preservation. This registration would also provide a
legal platform for cultural organizations to negotiate with the landowner
or project sponsor. If passed, AB 2514 would result in increased litigation
because the bill creates a process that is poorly structured, ambiguous,
and practically impossible to comply with.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
6. Planning and Zoning
a. AB 1985 (Strickland) Sidewalks: Repairs
- Support ~ Existing law requires property owners to maintain
public sidewalks and permits the superintendent of streets to provide
property owners with a sidewalk repair notice that gives owners two weeks
to begin the repairs. Should owners not make the required repairs, the
superintendent is permitted to make the repairs and place a lien on the
property for the cost of the repairs. AB 1985 prohibits cities and counties
from assessing public sidewalk repair costs on property owners and requires
that local government repair public sidewalks. The measure prohibits local
government from forcing property owners alone to bear the liability for
injuries resulting from a locality's failure to maintain a public sidewalk.
C.A.R. supports this bill because it allows property owners to work with
local governments to increase public safety by fixing dangerous sidewalks
and no longer saddles homeowners with the costs and liability that can
result from deferred maintenance on sidewalks that they may not even
own.
Status: Assembly Local Government Committee.
b. AB 1991 (Mullin) Subdivisions:
Tentative Maps - Support ~ This bill would reinstate approved
tentative maps in the City of Half Moon Bay effective January 1, 2009 in
order to settle an on going legal dispute between a Half Moon Bay property
owner and the City of Half Moon Bay while allowing the city to continue to
provide essential services to all of its residents, without interruption.
C.A.R. supports AB 1991 because local developers are often faced with
numerous challenges while trying to meet the housing needs of California's
growing population, and sometimes these challenges can result in an unjust
taking of private property through the denial of discretionary approvals or
building moratoriums during the development process.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
c. AB 2219 (Parra) Subdivisions:
Water Supply - Support ~ Current law requires housing projects in
excess of 500 units to receive verification from the public water system
that sufficient water supplies are, or will be, available prior to the
completion of the project. AB 2219 would permit local governments to
consider a reduction in the anticipated water demand for new housing
projects if the development voluntarily implements water demand reduction
measures. C.A.R. supports AB 2219 because it will help meet the water
demands needed to provide more housing to the state's increasing population
by maximizing the utilization of the states water supply through
conservation.
Status: Assembly Floor
d. AB 2447 (Jones) Subdivision Maps:
Disapproval - Amended! ~ The Subdivision Map Act gives
local governments the authority to approve or deny tentative maps or parcel
maps. AB 2447 required local government to deny the approval of a tentative
map, or a parcel map, if the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
determined that the development is located in a high fire danger area.
Those developments seeking local government approval would have been
required to obtain the department's written approval of design and location
in conjunction with verification that the city or county was providing fire
protection services for the new development. C.A.R. opposed AB 2447 because
it expanded the jurisdiction of the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection to include subdivision design land use decision-making authority
that would have superseded local government decisions. C.A.R. has obtained
amendments that removed the expansion of the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection's jurisdiction. As amended, AB 2447 continues local
government control over development, but increases the fire protection
criteria for approval in state responsibility areas and very high fire
hazard severity zones.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
e. SB 375 (Steinberg) Transportation Planning:
Travel Models: Reviews - Oppose ~ As introduced, C.A.R. supported
SB 375 which would have broadened the applicability of the existing CEQA
exemption for urban infill developments and could have generated
desperately needed housing. As amended, SB 375 provides $20 million from
Proposition 1C, passed by the voters in 2006, for "smart growth" planning
and incentives. While C.A.R. achieved amendments that removed the
non-substantive term "smart growth" to describe the goals of the
proposition, C.A.R. continues to oppose SB 375 because it impedes future
suburban residential, commercial and retail development by creating
restrictive urban growth limitations through transportation funding
restrictions. The purpose of SB 375 is to reduce greenhouse gases without
any guarantee that regional housing goals will be met.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
7. Water Supply
a. AB 2046 (Jones) Water Supply
Assessments: Groundwater - Oppose ~ This bill would require the
Department of Public Health or a local heath officer to certify that every
groundwater basin meets drinking water standards before the water is even
extracted. C.A.R. opposes AB 2046 because it's not only impractical, but
unreasonable, that groundwater be required to meet drinking water standards
while still in the ground. Additionally, AB 2046 is unnecessary because
current law already requires water districts to analyze whether groundwater
basins will be viable sources for future water needs.
Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.
III. Other
IV. Adjournment
