SB 1294: The Community Climate and Drought Resilience Program of 2016.

Session Year: 2015-2016
House: Senate

Version:

Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) to implement a program in urban forestry to encourage better tree management and planting in urban areas to increase integrated, multibenefit projects by assisting urban areas with innovative solutions to problems, including greenhouse gas emissions, public health impacts of poor air and water quality, urban heat island effect, stormwater management, water shortages, lack of green space, lack of urban parks that are accessible to pedestrians, vandalism, and insufficient tree maintenance. Existing law authorizes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to develop a program to increase the use of compost products in agricultural applications.

This bill would enact the Community Climate and Drought Resilience Program of 2016 and would require CalFire to review the urban forestry program and, if necessary, revise the program to provide funding priority to multibenefit carbon sequestration projects and to establish local or regional targets for urban tree canopy. The bill would require CalRecycle, by July 1, 2017, to develop and implement a program that provides incentives for certain projects that increase drought resilience and result in quantifiable reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases through increased carbon sequestration in urban and rural areas.

Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, the State Air Resources Board, and the Department of Food and Agriculture, to develop and implement policies to aid in diverting organic waste from landfills by promoting the composting of specified organic waste and by promoting the appropriate use of that compost throughout the state. Existing law requires the agency and the Department of Food and Agriculture, with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the State Air Resources Board, to perform specified functions, including developing recommendations for promoting organic waste processing and recycling infrastructure statewide.

This bill would require the agency and the Department of Food and Agriculture, with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the State Air Resources Board, to additionally assess state programs to determine how those programs may increase the use of compost for specified purposes and develop recommendations for promoting the use of compost throughout the state. The bill would require that those recommendations be posted on the agencys Internet Web site no later than January 1, 2018, and be updated annually thereafter. The bill would require an implementing agency, required to be identified with those recommendations, to develop a program to implement policies for promoting the use of compost throughout the state, if recommended, and, for purposes of that program, to prioritize projects that utilize the services of community conservation corps or other local nonprofit entities that employ underprivileged youth.

Discussed in Hearing