Of Working Lands and Open Space

June 11, 2015

April was a busy month for forestry interests with the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. On April 14, the Board of Supervisors heard testimony regarding a Working Lands Resolution. (Working lands resolution agenda item 04-13-15) This resolution essentially lists the benefits of working lands, notes that these lands are at risk of conversion, and […]

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Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District Public Hearing June 17 for Proposed Smoke Management Permit Fee

June 7, 2015

There will be a public hearing prior to rule adoption for the Smoke Management Permit Fee Rule 311 on: June 17, 2015 – 1:30 P.M. Location: 24580 Silver Cloud Court, 3rd Floor, Monterey, California The proposed fee structure is: Fee Category                             […]

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California Legislation Update – June 5

June 7, 2015

June 5 was the deadline for a legislative bill to pass out of its house of origin in order to remain alive for this year’s legislative session.   The week of June 1-5 was dedicated to finalizing action on those bills still remaining in their house of origin and there were no committee meetings allowed […]

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California legislation update – June 1

June 2, 2015

June 5 is the deadline for a legislative bill to pass out of its house of origin in order to remain alive for this year’s legislative session.   The week of June 1-5 is dedicated to finalizing action on those bills still remaining in their house of origin and there are no committee meetings allowed […]

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Legislation Update – May 3

May 6, 2015

The second major milestone in the legislative calendar occurred on May 1.  This is the deadline for bills to leave their policy committees in their house of origin to remain active for this year.  In other words, a bill must be at least as far as the Appropriations Committee or on the floor to be […]

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CA legislation update April 24, 2015

April 20, 2015

We have submitted several letters to the legislature concerning our positions on a wide variety of bills.  Below, you may read the list.  We have also included our updated legislation table. This is a very unusual year in that there are several bills we find worthy of support and very few threats to our businesses […]

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CA legislation update March 12 2015

March 14, 2015

Legislation 2015 – The bills are introduced The deadline for introducing new legislation (February 27) has passed.  Like usual, the bulk of the bills arrived in the last week, a total of 1500 bills in the Assembly and nearly 800 in the Senate.  There could be up to a dismaying 500+ “spot” bills that just […]

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EPA Proposes Tightening Ground-level Ozone Limits

February 9, 2015

We first caught wind of this move at the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council conference in early December.  Briefly, the EPA is proposing to tighten the existing ground-level ozone standards from 75 ppb (parts per billion) to 65-70 ppb while taking comment on a 60 ppb level. The prescribed fire community was very alarmed about this […]

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Environmentalists must show direct harm to sue

February 3, 2015

Summers v Earth Island Institute – a case for forestry’s legal toolkit In a September 2009 PLF newsletter, PLF summarizes the case as follows: “The court restricted environmental organizations from challenging forest cleanup plans when the environmentalists cannot show they suffered direct harm.  Said PLF Litigation Director Jim Burling: This ruling makes it harder for environmental […]

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Our local legislators’ committee assignments

January 30, 2015

In this article we highlight our local representatives and list the committees they are participating in. Local Assemblymembers: Mark Stone Santa Cruz/Monterey Judiciary (Chair) Natural Resources Human Services Banking and Finance Select Committee on Coastal Protection (Chair) Luis Alejo Watsonville/Salinas Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (Chair) Governmental Organization Judiciary Local Government Veterans Affairs Select Committees: […]

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