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October 10, 2022 - The 2022-23 budget package provides a total of $23.7 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, bond funds, and a number of special funds—for programs administered by the California Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agencies.
Update (11/17/22): Estimated federal allotments to SWRCB have been updated to $760 million.
September 29, 2022 - Each year, our office publishes California Spending Plan, a series of publications that summarize the annual state budget. The Overview of the California Spending Plan is presented here along with short online posts that focus on major areas and features of the 2022-23 budget package. As more of these posts become available, we will add them below.
August 23, 2022 - This post describes how ports across the state operate and are funded, discusses related air quality and port congestion issues, and reviews recent state and federal actions regarding ports.
August 10, 2022 - Presented to: Senate Governance and Finance Committee Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water
May 31, 2022 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Transportation Assembly Committee on Natural Resources Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy
May 12, 2022 - In response to increasing prices across the economy—particularly fuel prices—the Legislature is contemplating a number of policies for providing fiscal relief to Californians. In this post, we identify key questions for the Legislature to consider when analyzing the merits of the options proposed by the Governor and in designing its own relief package.
May 5, 2022 - In this post, we assess the Governor’s 2022-23 budget proposals to (1) provide additional administrative penalty authority to the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for pesticide use and residue violations, (2) increase several existing pesticide-related penalties, and (3) provide funding to DPR to investigate and pursue pesticide use and residue enforcement cases.
April 29, 2022 - This budget post provides an update on cap-and-trade revenue and resources available for discretionary spending.
April 5, 2022 - This report contains four primary sections: (1) a description of the five key climate hazards affecting California, (2) the major ways those hazards impact sectors across the state, (3) significant existing state‑level efforts underway to address climate change impacts, and (4) key issues for the Legislature to consider in response to these impacts. This is one of a series of reports summarizing how climate change will impact different sectors across California.
January 31, 2022 - The Governor’s budget proposes $200 million General Fund over two years for the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) within the Department of Conservation (DOC) to plug deserted wells and decommission associated facilities. Although addressing deserted wells could have environmental, health, and safety benefits, this proposal represents a significant expansion of current well remediation activities. In addition, federal funding for well remediation activities will soon be available. Furthermore, it may be appropriate for the current oil and gas operators to bear at least some of the cost of remediating the environmental damages from these wells—rather than the general taxpayer through the state General Fund. We recommend the Legislature consider reducing the amount of state funding proposed, consider using alternative sources of funding to support well remediation, and require reporting on key program outcomes to inform future funding decisions.