The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Resources and Environmental Protection

Oct 10, 2022 - The budget includes $15  million on a one-time basis from the Public Beach Restoration Fund, via a transfer from the General Fund, to provide funding for the construction of three beach restoration projects in Orange County, the City of San Clemente, and the Cities of Encinitas and Solana Beach.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4633

Frequently Asked Questions About Wildfires in California

Jan 28, 2025 - This kaleidoscope of ownership has implications for management responsibilities and also makes coordination important when conducting both wildfire resilience and response activities. The next Figure displays these forest ownership patterns across the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4952

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards

May 30, 2025 - CSM determined that several of the requirements in the permit issued by the regional board in 2010 constitute state-reimbursable mandates for Riverside County and the cities of Riverside County that are within the Santa Ana region (some cities in Riverside County fall within the jurisdiction of the Santa Ana Regional Board and some within the jurisdiction of the San Diego Regional Board).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5054

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandate—Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

May 5, 2025 - City of Salinas ) —which found that the city did not have sufficient fee authority to levy a stormwater fee due to the voter approval requirement —was wrongly decided. Senate Bill  231, which took effect in 2018, makes increasing stormwater-related fees more straightforward for local governments because they can use the majority protest provision rather than having to seek voter approval.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

Improving California’s Response to the Environmental and Safety Hazards Caused by Abandoned Mines

Aug 4, 2020 - State law also permits local legislative bodies such as city councils and county boards of supervisors to declare as public nuisances and abate all abandoned excavati ons located upon private property.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4258

The 2025-26 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

Feb 12, 2025 - These transfers would pay for the costs of CARB ’s Mobile Source Program, which is intended to reduce emissions from on ‑ and off ‑road mobile sources. (Separately, the Governor also proposes to transfer $85  million from CARB ’s Air Pollution Control Fund to further address MVA shortfalls.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4960

The 2024-25 Budget: Salton Sea Management Program

Feb 26, 2024 - The air quality around the Sea is already poor, due to pollution from agricultural activities and the nearby city of Mexicali, Mexico, and the region consistently fai ls to meet federal air quality standards designed to protect public health.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4859

The 2025-26 Budget: May Revision Trailer Bill Proposals on the Delta Conveyance Project and Water Quality Control Plans

May 27, 2025 - (Both the state-managed SWP and the federally managed Central Valley Project export water from the Delta and deliver it via a system of aqueducts and can als to Southern California cities and Central Valley farms.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5053

Improving California’s Response to the Environmental and Safety Hazards Caused by Abandoned Mines [Publication Details]

Aug 4, 2020 - In the second section of the report, we discuss key challenges to systematically remediating AMLs, such as a lack of a centralized statewide approach, land ownership issues, and lack of funding. In the third and final section, we recommend steps the Legislature could take to improve California’s approach to addressing the threats to public health and the environment caused by AMLs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4258

The 2024-25 Budget: Insolvency Risks for Environmental and Transportation Special Funds

Feb 27, 2024 - The five jurisdictions are Los Angeles County and the Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco. Because these statutory pay increases are wholly dependent on decisions made by the five local governments, actual pay increases for CHP officers could be higher or lower than current assumptions—potentially impacting MVA cost pressures in future years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4858