Legislative Advocate Ralph Heim has shared that the State Senate has passed the state budget bill, Assembly Bill 98 with a 23 to 15 vote. Only Democratic Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D. voted in opposition. The Senate is now working on the budget trailer bills.

Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg shared in his opening remarks that “in the coming weeks we will pass real pension and regulatory reform legislation.”

The Assembly is in session but currently in caucus meetings.

MVCAC will continue to update its members on the status of the State Budget, which is constitutionally required to be passed by midnight tonight. If both houses approve a budget by the deadline, it will mark only the second time lawmakers have met the constitutional deadline in the past 25 years.

Immediate Action Needed on H.R. 872

MVCAC was just notified that the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee announced plans to mark up H.R. 872 “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011″ next Tuesday, June 21 or Wednesday, June 22, 2011. H.R. 872 is the bill exempting pesticide applications from Clean Water Act NPDES permitting requirements that recently passed the House. Next week`s markup will occur in the form of a brief business meeting “off the floor” of the Senate (a procedural move often used for less controversial actions). This markup will not be televised.

Please take the time to contact California Senator Dianne Feinstein and urge her to support H.R. 872. See the attached template letter for your use – please note it needs to be customized with your district`s information and emailed immediately to Senator Feinstein’s staff member Devin Rhinerson at Devin_Rhinerson@feinstein.senate.gov; please copy Ayo Taylor at the MVCAC office on the correspondence (ataylor@mvcac.org).

Thank you for your immediate attention to this important request!

Notification of State Water Resources Control Board Hearing

MVCAC received notification today of a public workshop on the Proposed Toxicity Study relating to the Statewide General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit for Residual Pesticide Discharges from Aquatic Animal Invasive Species Control Applications, Spray Applications, Vector Control, and Weed Control (Collectively Statewide General Pesticide Permits). Download the flier for additional information.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Klamath Training Room
Joe Serna, Jr./Cal-EPA Building
1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

Please know that NPDES Committee members and URS will be attending and are currently working on appropriate questions to ask the SWRCB about the study. If anyone has questions, please direct them to NPDES Committee Chair Gary Goodman at gwgoodman@sac-yolomvcd.com, Executive Director Catherine Smith at casmith@mvcac.org, or your regional member on the committee.

In conjunction with MVCAC, Assemblymember Henry T. Perea set the course for championing efforts to generate support of HR 872 “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011.” Assemblymember Perea offered his assistance by not only signing a letter of support to Senators Boxer and Feinstein, but went one step further by asking his colleagues in Sacramento to do the same. Our goal was to collect 20 signatures and we hope to obtain them before the official send-off today or tomorrow. Bipartisan support exemplifies the importance of the passage of HR 872. Below is a list of California Assemblymembers and Senators who agreed to sign Perea’s letter of support for HR 872.

Assemblymembers: Henry T. Perea (D); Linda Halderman (R); Connie Conway (R); Sandre Swanson (D); Jim Nielsen (R); Cameron Smyth (R); Luis Alejo (D); Bill Berryhill (R); Cathleen Galgiani (D); Ricardo Lara (D); Mike Davis (D); Brian Nestande (D); David Valadao (R); Joan Buchanan (D); Kristin Olsen (R); and Dan Logue (R)

Senators: Tom Berryhill (R); Doug LaMalfa (R); Michael Rubio (D)

To those of you who worked so hard to assist us in gathering signatures – thanks for your efforts!

Even if your Assemblymember or State Senator didn’t sign Assemblymember Perea’s letter, you can still work with him/her to send an individual letter to Senators Feinstein and Boxer asking for their help in securing passage of HR 872.

Earlier this week, MVCAC distributed an email asking each member agency to send letters to their local State Assemblymembers requesting that they sign Assemblymember Perea’s colleague letter to Senators Boxer and Feinstein asking for their support of HR 872, “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011.” The MVCAC office has received a copy of a few members` request letters, but wanted to remind all MVCAC members to send their letters immediately as Assemblymember Perea would like to send the collective letter to the Senators as soon as possible. We need all letters to arrive at the Capitol by tomorrow!

A template letter is available on the MVCAC website.

Please download Assemblymember Perea’s letter to the Senators. Jesse Cuevas is the point of contact in Assemblymember Perea’s office, he can be reached at 916-319-2031.

Please take a few minutes to personalize the template letter and email it immediately to the Assemblymember(s) who represent the boundaries of your agency. A legislative district breakdown for your reference is also available on the MVCAC website.

If you have any questions about the letter or how to contact your Assemblymember, feel free to contact MVCAC`s Legislative Assistant, Ayo Taylor, at ataylor@mvcac.org. Kindly send a copy of your letter to Ayo for MVCAC records.

Thank you for your immediate action on this request – we can make a difference!

URGENT REQUEST

In our continued effort to generate support for HR 872 “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011,” we request that you individually contact your State Assemblymember(s) that represent your agency and ask him/her to sign on to Assemblymember Perea’s letter of support of HR 872.

MVCAC is delivering an association request letter to the Capitol today.

A template letter that can be modified to come from your district is available for download on the MVCAC website.

Please note that the point of contact in Assemblymember Perea’s office is Jesse Cuevas 916-319-2031.

In conjunction with MVCAC, Assemblymember Henry T. Perea set the course for championing efforts to generate support of HR 872 “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011.” Assemblymember Perea offered his assistance by not only signing a letter of support to Senators Boxer and Feinstein, but went one step further by asking his colleagues in Sacramento to do the same. Our goal was to collect 20 signatures and we hope to obtain them before the official send-off today or tomorrow. Bipartisan support exemplifies the importance of the passage of HR 872. Below is a list of California Assemblymembers and Senators who agreed to sign Perea’s letter of support for HR 872.

Assemblymembers: Henry T. Perea (D); Linda Halderman (R); Connie Conway (R); Sandre Swanson (D); Jim Nielsen (R); Cameron Smyth (R); Luis Alejo (D); Bill Berryhill (R); Cathleen Galgiani (D); Ricardo Lara (D); Mike Davis (D); Brian Nestande (D); David Valadao (R); Joan Buchanan (D); Kristin Olsen (R); and Dan Logue (R)

Senators: Tom Berryhill (R); Doug LaMalfa (R); Michael Rubio (D)

To those of you who worked so hard to assist us in gathering signatures – thanks for your efforts!

Even if your Assemblymember or State Senator didn’t sign Assemblymember Perea’s letter, you can still work with him/her to send an individual letter to Senators Feinstein and Boxer asking for their help in securing passage of HR 872.

The Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review (AAR) held a hearing at the State Capitol on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 to continue its deliberations on the topic of “California Special Districts: Discussion and Vote on Recommendations.” MVCAC staff attended the meeting to keep MVCAC members apprised of the Committee`s deliberations. Please download the staff notes. Of importance to note is that prior Committee staff recommendations were quite extensive. Through recent collaborative activities between all special district associations to meet with Legislators and Committee staff regarding special district governance structure, services, and accountability/transparency activities, the Committee recommendations have been amended. Click here to review.

MVCAC will continue to monitor the AAR Committee activities and keep our members updated on its deliberations.

H.R. 872 Legislative Action Requested

MVCAC Members:

Below are two updated sample letters for Senators Boxer and Feinstein on H.R. 872. If you have not already sent a letter to Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein seeking their support of H.R. 872, please do so immediately. It is essential that our senators hear from all of California`s mosquito and vector control districts!

Senate Boxer template letter click here Senator Feinstein template letter click here

Thank you for your continued involvement!

NPDES Update

MVCAC Legal Counsel Richard Shanahan has prepared a comprehensive memorandum on the history and status of the NPDES/Sixth Circuit issue. Download the memo.

Permit Posted

The State Water Resources Control Board has posted the STATEWIDE GENERAL NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT FOR DISCHARGES OF AQUATIC PESTICIDES TO SURFACE WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR VECTOR CONTROL (GENERAL PERMIT) GENERAL PERMIT NO. CAG990004. Download the permit.

State Controller’s Local Government Compensation Report

Just a reminder, mosquito and vector control districts were placed in Group 4 of the State Controller’s Local Government Compensation Report matrix, which has a May 2, 2011 reporting deadline. Visit the SCO website for more details.

MVCAC Legislative Day

Thank you to all of the MVCAC members who participated in yesterday’s MVCAC Legislative Day! Please remember to complete and return the Legislative Meeting Report Form and Evaluation Form to the MVCAC office.; the fax number is 916-231-2141. Assemblywoman Yamada’s receipt of the MVCAC 2011 Legislator of the Year report was highlighted in today’s Capitol Morning Report. The MVCAC office distributed a press release yesterday after the event.

MVCAC representatives met with Chief Deputy Director, Jonathan Bishop, of the SWRCB on Friday to discuss issues regarding the NPDES permit. Meeting attendees were Dick Shanahan, Terry Cooke, JR Flanders, and Gary Goodman. A letter from MVCAC to Mr. Bishop is attached that highlights the topics discussed.

Mr. Bishop recognized that the process to finalize the NPDES permit was expedited to meet the April 9th deadline and that the extension granted by the 6th Circuit Court allows everyone to “take a breath” in this process.

Mr. Bishop indicated that they recognize the new timeline to have a NPDES permit is now October 31st if you are making any applications to/over/near waters of the U.S. He also said he would ask the SWRCB general counsel to send a letter to MVCAC that would confirm that, in light of the extension, there is no need to have a permit until October 31st.

Mr. Bishop indicated that the SWRCB staff should have no problem in processing and approving Notice of Terminations (NOT) to Districts that already have received provisional Notice of Applicability (NOA).

The final version of the permit is near completion and is awaiting administrative processes before it will be posted. He stated that the permit should be posted on the website “soon”.

MVCAC indicated that there were certain issues that we had with the last-minute changes to the permit and because of expedited timelines, did not have an opportunity to comment on those issues. Mr. Bishop explained the process to ask the SWRCB for modifications to the permit, and stressed that staff would like the opportunity to address those modifications in an informal setting (allowing staff to propose the recommended permit modifications to the SWRCB). This issue is mainly concerning the clarification of 303(d) listed waterways as listed on page 20 of the permit reading “…impaired by the same pesticide active ingredients or any pesticide in the same chemical family”. Mr. Bishop seemed amenable to a modification associated with this new language and the MVCAC informed Mr. Bishop of other potential changes once the permit is posted and there is time for a thorough review. Mr. Bishop stated that this added language may have resulted in an “unintended consequence” of rushing through the process and that the staff is very open to evaluate the unintended consequences of this and other last-minute permit changes and to consider appropriate modifications.

The MVCAC addressed the toxicity study that will be brought before the SWRCB on April 5th. The MVCAC informed Mr. Bishop of our intention to begin chemistry analysis in the 2012 mosquito season and a willingness to work with the SWRCB and the Granite Canyon Laboratory on the design and implementation of the study. Mr. Bishop was grateful for the coordination and cooperation that MVCAC is providing and understood the need to work through the planning of the study before implementation. He encouraged MVCAC to speak at the April 5 State Board meeting to request coordination concerning the toxicity study. Mr. Bishop did ask if the coalition would be agreeable to a pilot or test study this season to “work out the kinks” of the toxicity study. We are evaluating a possible limited pilot or test study for this summer. URS provided Mr. Bishop with a literature review of already existing information on toxicity associated with vector control applications and offered to work with the design of the study to fill in the gaps and therefore limit the duplication of work that has already been done.

Overall, the meeting with Mr. Bishop went very well and he was agreeable to working collaboratively with the MVCAC on the permit and its requirements.

Help keep the momentum moving – H.R. 872 passes out of the House!

Yesterday, H.R. 872, which amends both FIFRA and the Clean Water Act (CWA) so as not to require NPDES permits for pesticide applications to, over, or near waters of the United States was passed yesterday on a bi-partisan vote of 295 – 130. This is a significant victory but just the first hurdle for a legislative fix to our CWA/NPDES has been passed.

The bill must now pass through the U.S. Senate which may be much more difficult! AMCA and MVCAC needs the involvement of all our collaborative members to get H.R. 872 through the Senate. California U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are key votes! It is imperative that each district contact their local field offices of Senators Boxer and Feinstein to educate staff of the public health importance of H.R. 872 and a subsequent companion bill in the Senate.

How can you help?

American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) will be holding the Annual AMCA Washington Day Conference in Washington D.C. on May 9-11, 2011. The host hotel will be the Westin Alexandria in Alexandria, VA.

This meeting allows MVCAC members to interact with our legislators in Washington D.C. and to educate them on all our issues that affect public health in California and our ability to do the important work with which we have been charged. There are over 50 members of the House of Representatives from the State of California.

We need more attendees from California! Please identify one staff member or trustee who can attend and represent your agency! Register for the event, make travel arrangements and make appointments with your representative. AMCA Regional Representative Steve Mulligan and MVCAC’s Becky Cline have volunteered to assist you in any way. AMCA will provide you with white papers and other handouts to help you with your visit to your representatives as well as guidance on what you will need to do in your meetings.

Feel free to contact Steve or Becky if you have any questions. Once you have identified the attendee please contact Becky (559-659-2437 or fwmadmanager@sbcglobal.net) and let her know so legislative visits can be coordinated.

Thank you for your continued hard work on H.R. 872 if nationally we all work together – we can make this happen!