LEGISLATIVE NEWS & UPDATES OUT OF SACRAMENTO  
Reprinted with permission from the Conservation Strategy Group

The Senate and Assembly have agreed to a proposed $900 million Cap and Trade Expenditure Plan for the 2016-17 state budget. The negotiated expenditure plan can be found in two bills amended last week; AB 1613, in which the Senate had previously released its initial proposal, and SB 830, which the Assembly has now amended. This represents a compromise deal between the two chambers and is expected to have the Governor’s support. This proposal leaves a roughly $500 million reserve as the the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that currently has $1.4 billion. 

Some of the expenditures are proposed to be allocated as follows: 

  • $135 million to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program
  • $80 million to the Natural Resources Agency for Green Infrastructure and Urban Greening (See attached doc for funding details)
  • $140 million to the Office of Planning & Research for Transformative Climate Communities
  • $40 million to CalFIRE:
    • $25 million for Healthy Forests
    • $15 million for Urban Forestry
    • $65 million to California Department of Food & Agriculture: 
      • $50 million for Dairy Methane Emissions Reductions
      • $7.5 million for the State Water Efficiency Enhancement Program (SWEEP)
      • $7.5 million for Healthy Soils
    • The remaining expenditures will fund programs for electric vehicles, energy efficiency and weatherization, transit and reduction of short lived climate pollutants. 
    • The proposed allocation to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to fund restoration of wetlands and mountain meadows was cut from the final plan.
    • In addition to these two expenditure bills, the Legislature has also put forth a trailer bill, SB 859, providing policy guidance to the establishment of a few of these proposed allocations, including the Natural Resources Agency’s program for Green Infrastructure and Urban Greening and the Healthy Soils Program at the Department of Food and Agriculture.
Special thanks go out to all of those who worked so hard to get this done – among them the Conservation Strategy Group, Chuck Mills and the California ReLeaf Network, the Nature Conservancy, the Greenlining Institute, TreePeople, Defenders of Wildlife, the Coalition for Clean Air and Assembly and Senate staff and elected officials!
STANDBY FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITIES!
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