CONGRESSMAN
BACA UPDATE Stayed tuned for a legislative update from Congressman Baca in the next issue of Legislative News.
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USGBC-Inland Empire
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
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Tammy Spencer, LEED AP Legislative Commmittee Chair Newsletter Editor
Current Topics
Tammy Chavez
Air Quality
John Condas
Green Building Codes
Jon Dougal
Green Jobs and
Education Initiatives
Irma Flores
Water Resources
Jan Hudson
Renewable Energy
and
Energy Efficiency
Thomas Jacques
P.E., LEED AP
Water Resources
Steven Roy
Renewable Materials
Kevin Varner Sustainable Community Planning
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The Legislative Committee is responsible for keeping the membership informed to increase awareness of green and sustainable legislative developments at the federal, state and local levels, and for identifying the potential impacts to development and building practices within our region. The committee is also a resource for Inland Empire legislators, governing agencies, real estate, design and construction professionals.
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A Message From The Editor
Welcome to the first edition of the USGBC Inland Empire Chapter Legislative Newsletter. We've assembled a committee of dedicated professionals to bring you the latest legislative news regarding sustainable development and green building practices. Our goal is to raise awareness of issues at the local, state and federal level that could impact our region. We hope this will encourage you to take an active role in the process and ultimate implementation of legislation. Our subcommittees for each environmental category are a resource for you. We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions.
In a time when tough economic conditions have caused some to question the cost of investing in green practices, which in some cases is minimal or zero, it becomes even more critical to recognize the cost savings and benefits for the long term through lower operational costs and resource conservation. It's important that we remain good stewards of the limited funds available and stay focused on developing a sustainable society.
Sincerely,
Tammy Spencer, LEED AP
Editor and Legislative Committee Chair
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Includes Billions for Energy Efficiency and Green Building
by Tammy Spencer, LEED AP
Included in the $ 787 billion economic stimulus package signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, just under $ 79 billion is slated for renewable energy, energy-efficiency and green transportation projects. The Goals and Benchmarks include doubling renewable energy capacity in 3 years creating enough additional capacity to power 6 million homes, leverage $100 billion to finance private-sector clean-energy initiatives and weatherize at least 2 million homes and 75% of federal buildings.
Funds for green building include $4.5 billion for measures to make the federal General Services Administration (GSA) facilities high-performance green buildings. Another $ 9 billion will be available for use by state governors to address public safety and other government services, which may include school modernization, renovation and repair consistent with a recognized green building rating system. Read more... USGBC
There is also $500 million included for green jobs training through the federal Green Jobs Act of 2007. According to Van Jones, author of a best-selling book on the green collar economy, this could be the fiscally conservative stimulus spending and create 1.7 million jobs.
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Water Supply Update by
Congressman Ken Calvert, 44th District |
The ongoing drought in California could not be happening at a worse time. As our state continues to deal with a struggling economy, scarce water resources are forcing water agencies up and down the state to make some tough decisions. With the state and federal reservoirs at their lowest levels since 1992, mandatory water rationing is just around the corner in many communities.
In the midst of our dramatic economic downturn, the lack of water simply makes a bad economic situation worse. The passage of any legislation in Washington that enables communities in the West to be more drought-resistant could not be timelier.
I have been working closely with my colleagues in the Inland Empire to bring federal assistance to a number of worthwhile projects that will help our region become less dependent on imported sources of water. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this goal is by recycling our water. Water recycling, also known as reclamation or reuse, treats wastewater so that it can be safely used to irrigate landscape and replenish groundwater basins. Any amount of water that is recycled reduces the need to use potable water for these purposes.
Around the Inland Empire, a number of communities and local water agencies are turning to recycled water projects as a way to make themselves more self-sufficient in meeting their water supply needs. In Washington, I have advocated for federal participation in a number of these local projects. Specifically, I have authored legislation that will allow federal funding to flow to recycled water projects in Corona and Yucaipa and sought funding for regional projects like the Inland Empire Regional Recycling Project.
While recycled water projects will not solve all of our water supply problems, they are undoubtedly a critical component to ensuring our communities have a reliable water supply. Despite our economic and drought-related challenges, I am confident that investments in recycled water projects, mixed together with conservation efforts, and innovative desalination technologies, will help ensure our local economy will have a strong foundation for the future. http://calvert.house.gov |
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South Coast Air Quality Management District Proposed Rule 2301: PR 2301
by John Condas
PR 2301 was prepared by SCAQMD Staff to achieve nitrogen oxide ("NOx") mobile source emission reductions required by the SCAQMD 2007 Air Quality Management Plan. This will be the subject for discussion at the Mobile Source Committee working stakeholder group meetings throughout 2008 and will continue to be discussed in the first part of 2009. SCAQMD staff expects to finalize PR 2301 and submit to SCAQMD Governing Board for consideration in spring or summer 2009 to be effective January 1, 2010. AQMD Proposed Rule 2301 If adopted, would require developers of many new and redevelopment residential, commercial and industrial projects in the South Coast Air Basin (the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino), generating relatively modest amounts of NOx, to obtain discretionary approval of a Compliance Plan by SCAQMD before projects may move forward. The purpose of PR 2301 is to satisfy SCAQMD's responsibilities to reduce NOx emissions as set forth in the SCAQMD's 2007 Air Quality Management Plan, not to help achieve GHG reduction standards of AB 32.
Professional Opinions / Potential Impacts
Allen Matkins Land Use Alert, February 2009: " It is unclear how PR 2301 will affect implementation of, or compliance with, SB 375 and other legislation and regulations that may be adopted to implement AB 32. For example, if a project is eligible for the SB 375 CEQA streamlining or exemption provisions, but still generates more than the PR 2301 NOx threshold, and is not otherwise exempted from PR 2301, will a Compliance Plan with emission reduction measures still be required?"
Key Elements
Compliance Plan approval would be required for the following projects:
- Effective January 1, 2010, projects exceeding 10.1 tons per year of NOx.
- Effective January 1, 2011, projects exceeding 4.0 tons per year of NOx.
- Effective January 1, 2012, projects exceeding 2.0 tons per year of NOx.
- Compliance Plan must be approved by SCAQMD before publication of a Notice of Availability of an EIR or negative declaration.
- Projects generating 700 or more total vehicle trips per day generate more than the threshold 2.0 tons of NOx per year requiring approval of a Compliance Plan.
- PR 2301 would trigger the need for a Compliance Plan for a typical 75-unit single-family residential project, a 20,000 square foot retail project, and an approximately 125,000 square foot industrial project.
- Compliance Plan must demonstrate implementation of sufficient emission reduction measures for NOx equal to or below a not yet specified percentage beyond the July 1, 2009 Title 24 standards.
- Transportation emission reduction measures must be implemented through the Compliance Plan that will achieve a certain number of points based on the PR 2301 Guidance Document that is not yet available. A working draft of a list of the transportation emission reduction measures contemplated to be included in the Guidance Document is available at the following link.
DRAFT LIST
Additional Links & Resources:
Power Point Presentation "PR-2301 CEQA Approach" presented by Industry Group to Mobile Source Committee Stakeholder Working Group on January 22, 1009. http://www.aqmd.gov |
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Senate Bill 375 "Urban Sprawl"
by Kevin Varner
In September of 2008 Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law SB 375. It is an incentive based law as seen by the extraordinary across the board support from developers and environmental organizations. Specifically, the measure requires the state Air Resources Board (ARB) to set targets to reduce greenhouse emissions for passenger vehicles in each region of the state for 2020 and 2035. The state's 18 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are effected by the law which requires the regions to adopt an integrated land use, housing and transportation plan by 2010 to meet the targets. In doing so they will be eligible for transportation funding and projects that meet the criteria outlined by the plan will be relieved of certain review requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. Cities and counties still have the ability to approve any development within their jurisdiction, so the bill does not prevent development in suburban areas, but only those developments that qualify as "smart growth" in regional plans, located near transit or clustered are eligible for the roughly $15 billion a year in transportation money. Although SB 375 has been hailed by the Governor and legislators as a landmark piece of legislation there are still quite a few questions and concerns that are unanswered. Among them: What are the consequences of a city or COG not complying with SB 375? What exactly will SB 375 do? Does the bill create significant new levels of government? And of course how it will be funded being the chief uncertainty.
Additional Links & Resources:
SB 375 Senate Bill - Bill Analysis Assembly Committee on Local Government - Analyses the bill and raises additional questions and concerns.
SB 375 Is Now Law -- But What Will It Do? Bill Fulton blog which asks the question: "Will regional
planning agencies take it seriously?"
California State Association of Counties Summary of SB 375
Detailed overall review of the bill and who's affected by it.
Western Riverside County of Governments (WRCOG) Article on SB 375 WRCOG opposed the bill mainly because of unanswered concerns. The Governor when commenting that this was landmark legislation affirmed that a lot of clean up was necessary to implement it.
ARB SB 375 Implementation
ARB has set up a Regional Targets Advisory Committee to
provide recommendations on the implementation of SB 375. |
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AB811 - Low Interest Financing for Energy Updates in Homes and Small Businesses
by Jon Dougal
AB811, signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger in July 2008, allows local governments to offer low interest loans to property owners for energy efficient projects and solar panels to homeowners and small businesses. It began as a pilot project in the cities of Berkeley and Palm Desert. After the success of the program in the City of Palm Desert, the Energy Coalition, SCE and CPUC partnered to allow all local governments to adopt similar programs. Read more... A five step method for securing the financing.
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We hope you have found the first issue of Legislative News, timely and useful.
We welcome your comments and suggestions and invite you to get involved.
Sincerely,
The Legislative Committee USGBC-Inland Empire
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