REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Dave Kiff, Interim City Manager
PREPARED BY: Antonia Graham, Assistant to the City Manager
Subject:
title
City Council position on Legislation pending before the State Legislature as recommended by the City Council Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IRC); adopt Resolution No. 2019-53
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Statement of Issue:
On July 24, 2019, the Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IRC) comprised of Mayor Erik Peterson, Mayor Pro Tem Lyn Semeta, and Council Member Jill Hardy met to discuss pending Federal and State legislation. Additionally, the IRC discussed City Boards and Commissions and were presented with information from Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company.
Financial Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this Council Action.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
A) Approve a City position of Oppose on Assembly Bill 302 (Berman) - Parking: Homeless Students; and,
B) Approve a City position of Oppose on Assembly Bill 1482 (Chiu) - Tenancy: Rent Caps; and,
C) Adopt Resolution No. 2019-53, “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach Urging the State of California to Implement a Variety of Strategies and Technologies that Further Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions as the State Considers Building Decarbonization.”
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Alternative Action(s):
Do not approve and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
The Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IRC) met to discuss pending Federal and State legislation on July 24, 2019, in addition to regional issues. The Committee reviewed the 2019 State Legislative Matrix provided by the City’s Federal and State Advocate Townsend Public Affairs. The following is an analysis of the bills that the Committee chose to take the following positions on:
Ø OPPOSE - Assembly Bill 302 (Berman) - Parking: Homeless Students
This Assembly Bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district (in our case the Coast Community College District) to grant the use of college facilities or grounds for specified purposes. For example, existing law requires a community college campus that has shower facilities for student use to grant access to those facilities to any homeless student who is enrolled in courses, paid fees, and is in good standing with the District. This bill would require community college campuses that have parking facilities on campus to grant overnight access to those facilities (parking lots/structures).
Ø OPPOSE - Assembly Bill 1482 (Chiu) - Tenancy: Rent Caps
This bill establishes a rent cap of 5% plus regional CPI on all residential rental properties, except rent-controlled and deed-restricted units. This bill discourages the production of rental housing by establishing rent caps that are restrictive and force landlords to demonstrate cause to evict a tenant - this in turn creates a disincentive for developers to build and property owners to offer rental housing.
Additionally, representatives from Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company were in attendance to discuss and present information on balanced energy solutions. The attached Resolution for Council consideration is amendable to both utility companies and has been passed by other municipalities.
Over the last decade, the State of California has passed numerous bills aimed at dramatically reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The most pertinent was signed into law by then Governor Schwarzenegger in 2006, known as the California Global Warming Solutions Act (or Assembly [AB] 32) and the ancillary bills that have followed (SB 375, SB 32, etc.) have driven GHG regulation and analysis in California, by instructing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and enforce regulations for the reporting and verifying of statewide GHG emissions. At the heart of the bill (AB 32) is the requirement that statewide GHG emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. In September 2016, then Governor Brown took AB 32 a step further and signed into law SB 32 which builds upon the statewide targets for 2020 by establishing a longer-term target that states statewide GHG emissions be reduced to 40% below the 1990 levels by 2030.
In order to accomplish these ambitious goals, the State legislature has passed a multitude of bills and regulatory guidelines for the deployment of near-zero emission building technologies. Specifically SB 1477 which addresses climate change and affordable housing by growing the market for clean and energy efficient heating technologies. The bill authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to develop the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (HEAT) Initiative and the Building Initiative for Low Emissions Development *(BUILD) Program. These statewide initiatives require gas corporations to advance the State’s market for low-emission space and water heating equipment for new and existing residential buildings. It aims to reduce upfront costs and accessibility for these technologies with incentives, thirty percent of which will be dedicated to low-income housing. Concurrently, AB 3232 requires adopting building design and construction along with conservation standards to be cost effective when amortized over the economic life of the structure. It requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to assess the potential for the State to reduce emissions of GHG from residential and commercial building stock by at least 40% below 1990 levels by January 1, 20130 and to report on the emissions of GHG associated with the supply of energy to residential and commercial buildings.
The attached Resolution urges the State of California to consider and deploy a variety of strategies and technologies as part of its goal to reduce GHG emissions from buildings by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, and not implement a “one size fits all” approach to Building Decarbonization.
Environmental Status:
Not Applicable
Strategic Plan Goal:
Non-Applicable - Administrative Item
Attachment(s):
1. Assembly Bill 302
2. Assembly Bill 1482
3. Resolution No. 2019-53, “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach Urging the State of California to Implement a Variety of Strategies and Technologies that Further Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions as the State Considers Building Decarbonization”