PISMO BEACH COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Agenda Item #12.A
SUBJECT/TITLE:
2023 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the 2023 Federal Legislative Agenda.
BACKGROUND:
Thorn Run Partners currently provides the City with grant writing and legislative advocacy services at the federal level. As part of its services, Thorn Run has formulated the City's Federal Legislative Agendas for a number of years and provided focused and effective grant writing and legislative advocacy services in accordance therewith. Thorn Run has been very successful in helping to obtain funds for various City priorities, and acting as a liaison to federal legislators with respect to complex issues.
Thorn Run has proposed a Federal Legislative Agenda for 2023, provided as Attachment
1.The legislative agenda serves as the City's official policy document for interacting with federal officials and for taking positions on legislation. At this meeting, Greg Burns of Thorn Run will review the proposed 2023 Legislative Agenda and provide an overview of current activity at the federal level.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Council approve the City's 2023 Federal Legislative Agenda (Attachment 1).
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
ALTERNATIVES:
1.Approve the Federal Agenda with modifications;
2. Deny the Federal Agenda; provide direction.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. 2023 Federal Legislative Agenda
Prepared by: Meeting Date: December 20, 2022
Jorge Garcia, Assistant City Manager
City Manager Approval:
12.A-1Council Agenda 12-20-2022
City of Pismo Beach, California
2023 Federal Legislative Agenda
12.A-2Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1
Prepared by Thorn Run Partners for the
Pismo Beach City Council
Mayor Edward Waage
Mayor Pro Tempore Mary Ann Reiss
Council Member Marcia Guthrie
Council Member Stacy Inman
Council Member Scott Newton
James R. Lewis, City Manager
Questions regarding the information in this book may be directed to:
Greg Burns James R. Lewis
(202) 849-8523 (805) 773-7007
December 2022
12.A-3Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
City of Pismo Beach
2023 Federal Legislative Agenda
Water Resources and Infrastructure
Central Coast Blue & Infrastructure
Support continued full funding the Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI Program. Support City efforts to secure federal funding for the Central Coast Blue project as well as other infrastructure projects while federal agencies implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Energy & Environment
Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration; Offshore Wind Development Oppose the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration in California’s federal waters. Support the development of offshore wind energy off the coast of California.
Proposed Designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Monitor the proposed designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Land and Water Conservation Fund; Open Space Opportunities & Park Amenities Support the state conservation grant program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which would provide opportunities for the City of Pismo Beach for acquisition or land preservation improvement opportunities.
Endangered Species Act Issues; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Monarch Butterfly Monitor the classification of the monarch butterfly as an endangered species and the subsequent designation of critical habitat for the species.
Public Safety
Grant Funding for Fire and Emergency Services
Support continued funding for FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants. Support any City of Pismo Beach applications for these funds.
Social Services and Health Care
Community Development Block Grant Program
Support adequate funding for the Community Development Block Grant program for future fiscal years.
12.A-4Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Central Coast Blue & Infrastructure
BACKGROUND: To respond to increasingly frequent drought concerns, the City of Pismo Beach and its local partners, including the cities of Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach, and the South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District, designed Central Coast Blue, a recycled water project to boost the region’s water supply and relieve concerns related to groundwater overdraft. The project will allow the region to take an effluent stream that is otherwise pumped into the ocean and put it through an advanced filtration process to direct it back into the groundwater basin, thereby helping to provide a sustainable source of water for the region. Once complete, the project could recycle up to 900-acre feet of water per year in Phase One and up to an additional 3,530-acre feet per year in Phase Two. It is expected to cost $67 million.
To capture federal funding for the project, the City of Pismo Beach submitted a feasibility study to the Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI WIIN Act Program that was approved in 2018. Since then, the City was awarded $796,094 in FY 2018, $1.7 million in FY 2021, and $14,124,000 in FY 2022 from the Bureau’s Title XVI program for Central Coast Blue.
Congress provided $550 million in funding to the Title XVI program (both Congressionally-authorized and WIIN Act projects) via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) in 2021, thereby allowing the City and its partners to compete for more funding in the future via additional competitive grant applications.
POSITION: Support continued full funding the Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI Program. Support City efforts to secure federal funding for the Central Coast Blue project as well as other infrastructure projects while federal agencies implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
12.A-5Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration; Offshore Wind Development
BACKGROUND:
Oil & Gas Exploration
For many years, the federal government has developed five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing programs to guide energy exploration activities in federal waters. The last two OCS Oil and Gas Leasing programs for 2012-2022 do not include new oil or gas leasing sales off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. This was due in part to consistent efforts by the governors of the states to express opposition to oil and gas development off the coast of their states.
However, in 2018, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released a draft proposed program (DPP) for the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024. The DPP included 47 potential lease sales in 25 of the 26 planning areas, including the Pacific Coast, regardless of previous efforts to keep certain areas free from drilling. The City commented in opposition to the DPP, particularly in opposition to the two leases in the Southern California region, which includes the water off the shores of Pismo Beach.
Offshore Wind Development
In 2021, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced actions advancing the federal wind leasing process offshore California. First, the Departments of the Interior and Defense and the state of California announced their agreement to advance areas for wind energy development offshore the northern and central coasts of California, enabling a path forward for the Humboldt Call Area and areas within and adjacent to the Morro Bay Call Area, the latter initially established in 2018.
The Morro Bay Call Area East Extension and the Morro Bay Call Area West Extension offshore the central California coast consist of approximately 141 square statute miles (90,025 acres).
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in 2022, included several provisions related to offshore wind, including changes to leasing authority. The legislation sets new limits on the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) authority to issue offshore and onshore renewable energy leases. Regarding offshore wind, during the 10-year period following the IRA’s enactment, BOEM may not issue a lease for offshore wind development unless the agency has offered at least 60 million acres for oil and gas leasing on the outer continental shelf (OCS) in the previous year. This could affect future federal offshore wind leasing efforts as well as decision-making for BOEM’s upcoming offshore oil and gas five-year leasing program.
BOEM released a proposed program in July 2022 that considered a range of offshore oil and gas leasing scenarios for the 2023-2028 period, some of which would offer sufficient sales and acreage to meet the IRA’s criteria for enabling offshore wind leasing while others would not.
POSITION: Oppose the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration in California’s federal waters.
Support the development of offshore wind energy off the coast of California.
12.A-6Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Proposed Designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
BACKGROUND: NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS) serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The network includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and PapahƗnaumokuƗkea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments. Through the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, NOAA can identify, designate, and protect areas of the marine and Great Lakes environment that have special national significance. In California, the Monterey Bay and Channel Islands NMS are geographically close to the Central Coast region.
Proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
NOAA’s proposed sanctuary designation is based on the nomination submitted by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council in July 2015, excluding any geographical overlap with the proposed Morro Bay 399 Area for offshore wind development.
The proposed area stretches along 156 miles of coastline, encompassing approximately 7,000-square miles from Santa Rosa Creek near Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, south to Gaviota Creek in Santa Barbara County, and extends offshore to include Santa Lucia Bank, Rodriguez Seamount, and Arguello Canyon. The area is known for its extensive kelp forests, sandy beaches and coastal dunes, and wetlands.
Designation Process Steps
NOAA identifies areas to consider for national marine sanctuary designation through the community- based Sanctuary Nomination Process. Nominations that successfully complete the process are added to an inventory of areas NOAA could consider for designation. The process for designating a new national marine sanctuary has four steps:
x SCOPING: NOAA announces its intent to designate a new national marine sanctuary and asks the public for input on potential boundaries, resources that could be protected, issues NOAA should consider and any information that should be included in the resource analysis. This is the current step for the CHNMS.
x SANCTUARY PROPOSAL: NOAA prepares draft designation documents including a draft management plan, draft environmental impact statement that analyzes a range of alternatives, proposed regulations and proposed boundaries. NOAA may also form an advisory council to help inform the proposal and focus stakeholder participation. x PUBLIC REVIEW: The public, agency partners, tribes and other stakeholders provide input on the draft documents. NOAA considers all input and determines appropriate changes. x SANCTUARY DESIGNATION: NOAA makes a final decision and prepares final documents.
Before the designation becomes effective, the Governor reviews the documents. Congress also can review the documents.
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries received over 1,200 comments during the 83-day public comment period. NOAA is still in the early stages of the designation process, having only completed the public scoping period, which is the first step of the designation process. NOAA is reviewing all public comments and is drafting a management plan and environmental impact statement based on all comments received. In late 2022, NOAA intends to release those draft documents which will give the public another
12.A-7Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
opportunity to provide comment. If the designation process proceeds, NOAA is targeting a sanctuary designation in late 2023.
The City commented in January 2022, indicating support for preserving the environment and ecology of the community, including the ocean, but also sharing concern that a new National Marine Sanctuary off the coast could lead to unintended regulatory consequences. With that in mind, the City commented in opposition to the creation of the NMS unless the proposal is modified to address ongoing concerns.
Map of the Proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
POSITION: Oppose Unless Amended the proposed designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
12.A-8Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Land and Water Conservation Fund; Open Space Opportunities & Park Amenities
BACKGROUND: The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 was enacted to help preserve, develop, and assure access to outdoor recreation facilities for our nation. The law created the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in the U.S. Treasury as a funding source to implement outdoor recreation goals.
The LWCF has been the principal source of monies for land acquisition for outdoor recreation by four federal agencies—the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service. The LWCF also funds a matching grant program via the National Park Service to assist states (and local governments as sub-recipients) in acquiring recreational lands and developing outdoor recreational facilities. A portion of the appropriation is divided equally among the states, with the remainder apportioned based on need, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior. The states award their grant money through a competitive selection process based on statewide recreation plans, as well as establish their own priorities and criteria. This state program could offer opportunities for the City of Pismo Beach to either purchase open space opportunities or for additional public park amenities.
The LWCF is authorized at $900 million annually. The Great American Outdoors Act, which became law in 2020, mandates that the LWCF will receive its authorized funding with 40 percent, or $360 million, allocated annually to the state grant program. Given relatively recent funding of between $100 and $125 million to the program from Congress for the past several years, this is basically a tripling of the funding and should increase the monies available to California from about $11 million to at least $33 million, thereby increasing the City’s future opportunities.
Apart from mandatory funding for the LWCF, the Great American Outdoors Act also creates a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund that will be funded by up to $1.9 billion per year for the next five years to help restore maintenance backlogs on National Park Service and other federal lands.
POSITION: Support the state conservation grant program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which would provide opportunities for the City of Pismo Beach for acquisition or land preservation improvement opportunities.
12.A-9Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Endangered Species Act Issues; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Monarch Butterfly
BACKGROUND: The City of Pismo Beach is well-known as a home to a large, seasonal monarch butterfly population from November through February. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) received a petition to list the monarch butterfly as an endangered species, in part due to concerns over the increased use of corn-tolerant Roundup in the Midwest. Roundup kills milkweed, which is a primary food source for the butterflies. However, there is also concern for western monarch butterflies primarily due to development pressures in coastal California and the loss of suitable habitat.
Since this time, glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, has been listed as a potentially cancerous causing chemical in California. State health officials in California determined that products containing glyphosate, such as Roundup, would be required to carry a warning label, but they were successfully sued by a coalition led by the National Association of Wheat Growers to stop the requirement due to a lack of supporting evidence that it causes cancer.
In response to a petition, USFWS solicited public comments in January 2015 on whether the monarch butterfly should be listed as an endangered species.
In late 2020, the USFWS found that adding the monarch butterfly to the list of threatened and endangered species is warranted but precluded by work on higher-priority listing actions. In spring 2022, in response to a lawsuit, the USFWS committed to a decision date of no later than fiscal year 2024 for the monarch butterfly’s endangered species act determination.
If protections are deemed warranted in the future, USFWS would ultimately propose critical habitat for the butterfly, which could impact the City, region, and coastal California as a whole. Critical habitat is a specific geographic area(s) that contains features essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and that may require special management and protection. Critical habitat may include an area that is not currently occupied by the species but that will be needed for its recovery. Federal agencies are required to consult with the USFWS on actions they carry out, fund, or authorize to ensure that their actions will not destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. According to the USFWS, a critical habitat designation generally has no effect on situations that do not involve a federal agency—for example, a private landowner undertaking a project that involves no federal funding or permit.
Thankfully, an unofficial count of the butterfly population in 2021 shows there are over 50,000 monarchs at overwintering sites, much higher than the official count of only about 2,000 the year before. While this remains down from the millions of Western monarch butterflies that are thought to have existed in the past, it remains a positive sign.
POSITION: Monitor the classification of the monarch butterfly as an endangered species and the subsequent designation of critical habitat for the species.
12.A-10Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Grant Funding for Fire and Emergency Services
BACKGROUND: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) routinely makes funds available to local governments via competitive grant solicitations. The two primary FEMA programs that provide financial support for local fire rescue and emergency services are the Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) and the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG). The City of Pismo Beach may compete for these types of funds.
The primary goal of the AFG program is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations by helping them to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources required to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire related hazards.
Meanwhile, the SAFER program was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available to their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response, and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Recently, these fire safety programs have been funded with relatively healthy amounts by Congress; such funding is expected to continue into the foreseeable future.
POSITION: Support continued funding for FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants. Support any City of Pismo Beach applications for these funds.
12.A-11Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1
FEDERAL ISSUE: Community Development Block Grant Program
BACKGROUND: The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is a flexible program that provides communities with federal funding to address a wide range of unique community development needs. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to participating jurisdictions, including San Luis Obispo County, from which the City receives a sub-allocation.
The City of Pismo Beach must use CDBG funding to target those in the community that are most economically vulnerable. In previous years, the City received sub-allocations from San Luis Obispo County and awarded those funds to the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County (CAPSLO). This CDBG funding enabled CAPSLO to provide a variety of home repairs for lower income families, seniors, and disabled individuals in Pismo Beach, reviving a City partnership with CAPSLO to address affordable housing.
Congress provided the CDBG program with $3.3 billion in FY 2022. This likely resulted in an allocation to San Luis Obispo County of about $1.8 million.
POSITION: Support adequate funding for the Community Development Block Grant program for future fiscal years.
12.A-12Council Agenda 12-20-2022
Attachment 1Attachment 1