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County lobbyists report AB 1016 advancing; hazardous-waste fee bill held and Brown Act changes draw concern
Summary
County lobbyists updated supervisors on several state bills the county sponsored or is monitoring: AB 1016 on geothermal permitting is moving to the Senate, AB 1031 (geothermal hazardous-waste fees) was held in appropriations, and SB 707 (Brown Act changes) drew county opposition unless amended.
County lobbyists Nielsen, Merksamer, Parinello, Gross & Leoni LLP updated the Imperial County Board of Supervisors on June 17 about state legislation of local consequence and the larger state budget process.
Michelle Rubacaba and Jeff Neil told the board that AB 1016, the county-sponsored bill to allow local permitting authority for geothermal power plants up to 150 megawatts, "continues to move forward" and is now in the state Senate. The county is working with Assemblymember Jeff Gonzales on technical amendments to the bill. Jeff Neil noted the bill remains under active discussion in Sacramento.
A second sponsored measure, AB 1031, which would have reduced certain hazardous-waste fees tied to geothermal waste, was placed on the Assembly Appropriations Committee "suspense file" and is currently inactive. Counsel said the committee's fiscal analysis found a potential $2 million cost impact to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which made it difficult to advance the bill in this fiscal environment.
The lobbyists also discussed AB 470, a telecommunications bill that would have allowed phone companies broader ability to discontinue legacy landline service; it stalled after moving to the Assembly Rules Committee and is not currently advancing. The county and other rural jurisdictions had registered opposition because of public-safety and service concerns.
The pair raised concern about SB 707, a large Brown Act package that would expand remote public-comment requirements, translation obligations for some jurisdictions and other new public-access rules. Rubacaba summarized the county’s position: the bill has some positive provisions but also "a lot of new requirements" that could be costly to implement. County staff said they are monitoring proposed amendments and have not taken a final position.
Lobbyists also summarized the legislature's recent budget action: the Legislature passed a budget on June 15 that differs in some respects from the governor's May revision and contains additional spending on health and human services items; many trailer bills and details remain under negotiation through the summer recess. The presenters flagged that several major programs — including funding tied to Prop. 36 implementation, cap-and-trade reauthorization and Prop. 4 allocations — may be decided later in the year.
Supervisors asked staff to continue discussions with state lawmakers about geothermal fees and to press authors of related bills for clearer deliverables. Supervisor Ryan Kelly asked whether Senator Padilla could tighten language in a study bill to produce actionable outcomes; lobbyists said they would raise that request but cautioned about managing expectations.
