Environment and Natural Resources

The 2018-19 Budget: Fire Recovery Proposals

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March 1, 2018 - The Governor’s budget assumes $760 million in additional General Fund will be needed in 2017‑18 for response and recovery associated with the 2017 fires in Northern and Southern California, $388 million of which will be reimbursed by the federal government in 2018‑19. For 2018‑19, the Governor proposes a total of $35 million from the General Fund for recovery costs associated the fires in Northern California, such as related to rebuilding public infrastructure and backfilling local tax revenue losses. While we do not raise specific concerns about the administration’s funding requests, we recommend that the Legislature direct the administration to report at budget hearings on the proposed funding and submit formal proposals for any future budget-year funding requests. We also recommend that the Legislature consider its priorities for allocating assistance to local governments affected by disasters and longer-term strategies for reducing future wildfire risk, such as strategies to improve forest health.

Correction (3/12/18): When this post was originally published, Figure 1 displayed the wrong graph. The correct graph is now in place.

2018-19 Fire Response and Recovery

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March 1, 2018 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review

The 2018-19 Budget: California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA)

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February 15, 2018 - In this analysis, we recommend one modification to the Governor's proposed 2018-19 budget for the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Authority: modify the one-time $8.2 million appropriation in 2018-19 by instead providing specific reimbursement authority over a three-year period, plus budget bill language giving the Department of Finance authority to increase spending authority with 30-day notification to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

The 2018-19 Budget: California Public Utilities Commission

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February 14, 2018 - In this analysis, we recommend one modification to the Governor's proposed 2018-19 budget for the California Public Utilities Commission: convert $366,000 for two positions to implement regulations related to electric and gas service disconnections from permanent to six-year limited-term.

The 2018-19 Budget: Resources and Environmental Protection

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February 14, 2018 - In this report, we assess many of the Governor’s budget proposals in the resources and environmental protection areas and recommend various changes. Below, we summarize our major findings and recommendations. We provide a complete listing of our recommendations at the end of this report.

Improving Outcomes for California Conservation Corpsmembers

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February 9, 2018 - In this report, we (1) provide background material on the types of training and educational opportunities the CCC offers and how the CCC is funded, (2) discuss the CCC’s goals and objectives for improving its training and work program and the corpsmember outcomes it currently tracks (3) assess the lack of corpsmember outcome data and the feasibility of establishing meaningful corpsmember outcome measures and (4) recommend steps the Legislature could take to improve outcome measurements for corpsmembers and to improve the overall performance of the department.

Cap-and-Trade Extension: Issues for Legislative Oversight

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December 12, 2017 - In this report, we (1) provide background information on cap‑and‑trade and the recent extension of the program to 2030, (2) identify key administrative implementation decisions that could affect program outcomes and the need for legislative oversight, (3) identify potential opportunities to increase the effectiveness of a new advisory committee created by AB 398, and (4) describe potential state cap‑and‑trade revenue scenarios through 2030.

Evaluating California's Pursuit of Zero Net Energy State Buildings

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November 14, 2017 - In this report, we provide background information on ZNE buildings as well as the administration’s approach to meeting the executive order’s goals for state‑owned ZNE buildings. Then, we assess the administration’s approach to these buildings. Finally, we recommend that the Legislature adopt its own policies related to ZNE for state buildings and take steps to ensure that it has adequate information to evaluate future administration proposals for state‑owned ZNE buildings.

2017-18 Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

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August 24, 2017 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review, Subcommittee No. 2

2017-18 Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

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August 23, 2017 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources and Transportation

Letter to Honorable Cristina Garcia Regarding Oversupply of Allowances in the Cap-and-Trade Program

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June 26, 2017 -

Provides various analyses related to an oversupply of allowances in the state's cap-and-trade program. Specifically, the letter:

• Estimates the range of the cumulative allowance oversupply in the cap-and-trade program through 2020.
• Assesses the impact of allowing this oversupply to carry over into a post-2020 program on (1) future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and (2) near- and long-term allowance prices.
• Assesses the impact of alternative approaches to addressing the oversupply of allowances and the connection between the current program and a post-2020 program.

Overview of California Climate Goals and Policies

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June 14, 2017 - Presented to Joint Committee on Climate Change Policies

Overview of Oroville Dam Spillway Incident

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May 11, 2017 - Presented to Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife; Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review; and Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources and Transportation

Federal Funding for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

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May 10, 2017 - In this post, we provide more detail on federal funding for the state’s natural resources and environmental protection programs, with a focus on the five state departments that receive the most federal funds last year.

Cap-and-Trade

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May 10, 2017 - Presented to: Senate Environmental Quality Committee