Sierra Club California 2021 Legislative Priority List
(June 7, 2021)

Each year, Sierra Club California staff and volunteer leaders work together to analyze and determine Club positions on hundreds of bills at the legislature. From among those on which we take a position, a number rise to the top as priority bills that deserve special attention. We encourage our members to bring these bills to the attention of their legislators.  Below is the Sierra Club California list of priority bills in 2021 with our position and each bill’s status as of the date above. This list is updated periodically. We cover and take positions on dozens of bills. This priority list is not a complete list of all the bills we take a position on or lobby. Each bill is linked to its page on the California Legislative Information website (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov).

Click on the links for the latest status on bills and their location in the legislative process.  The priority bills are grouped below by topic area and listed within those by status – moving or not moving – and house in numerical order. Bills introduced by Assembly members begin with AB and bills introduced by Senators begin with SB. Those bills highlighted in gray have failed to pass a key committee or house, or were converted to 2-year bills. . Those bills that we support and the governor signed to become law have been highlighted in green. Those highlighted in red are bills we supported that have been vetoed by the governor. Those bills that we opposed and that the governor signed have been highlighted in orange. Those highlighted in yellow are bills that we opposed and have been vetoed by the governor. Constitutional amendments that pass both houses go straight to the ballot and those are highlighted in light green.

Reducing Oil and Gas Dependence

Still Moving

AB 896 (Bennett) Idle Gas and Oil Well Remediation – Support
This bill will authorize California Geologic Energy Management Division (“CalGEM”) to impose a claim or lien on an idle well if the operator has failed to pay idle well fees, if CalGEM has identified the well as unsafe, or if the state has incurred costs for remediating the well. This will provide an important tool to help motivate oil companies to obey the law.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

SB 47 (Limon) Remediating Deserted Wells – Support
This bill will allow CalGEM to spend up to $10 million a year on plugging and abandoning deserted oil wells and retain unspent funds up to $100 million. This will help ensure that deserted wells are properly dealt with without delay.
Passed Senate. Moves to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

SB 84 (Hurtado) Hazardous and Idle-Deserted Wells and Production Facilities – Removed
Opposition
By adding in legally ambiguous language into the law, this bill will delay CalGEM’s cost recovery process for remediating wells and make it difficult for the agency to hold solvent fossil fuel companies responsible for remediating wells that they previously operated.
Passed Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee with amendments. Removed
Opposition.

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 1463 (O’Donnell) Low Carbon Fuel Standard Loophole – Oppose
This bill will further promote the use of polluting methane gas by requiring the Air Resources Board to award Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits to crude oil production facilities that use methane gas on site.
Never heard in Committee.

SB 467 (Wiener) Fracking Ban and Health-Protective Setbacks – Support
This bill will improve public health and environmental quality by banning all forms of enhanced oil recovery (“EOR”), such as hydraulic fracking and cyclic steam injection, and by requiring the state to develop health-protective setbacks from oil and gas extraction operations.
Failed to pass the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

Protecting Environmental Review

Still Moving

AB 267 (Valladares) CEQA Exemption Extension for Tree Removal – Oppose
This bill would extend a California Environmental Quality Act exemption for wildfire-related, landscape-scale projects (including tree removal projects) on federal lands which have undergone weaker environmental review under the National Environmental Protection Act.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

No Longer Moving This Year

SB 59 (Caballero) Extension of CEQA Exemption for Cannabis – Oppose Unless Amended
This bill would provide the cannabis growers a potentially harmful extension from having to fully comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
Pulled by Author on Senate floor.

Protecting California’s Lands, Coast, Ocean and Wildlife

Still Moving

SB 1 (Atkins) Coastal Resources: Sea Level Rise – Support
This bill will protect coastal communities from sea level rise by requiring the coastal commission to adopt guidelines for the mitigation of sea level rise.
Passed Senate. Moves to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

SB 799 (Glazer) & AB 1512 (Bauer-Kahan) Protecting Tesla Park from Off-Highway Vehicles –
Support
These bills will require the Department of Parks and Recreation to protect Tesla Park and its extraordinary biodiversity from repeated attempts to turn the area into an Off-Highway Vehicle park.
SB 799 Pulled by Author on Senate floor. AB 1512 passed the Assembly. Moves to the
Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 434 (Rivas) Expansion of Grazing on Public Lands – Oppose
This bill will threaten ecosystems by expanding grazing on public lands without providing sufficient oversight.
Converted to a Two-Year bill.

SB 55 (Stern) Prohibiting Development in Very High Fire Hazard Zones – Support
This bill would save lives and protect property and the environment by prohibiting new development in parts of the state that are categorized as Very High Fire Hazard Zones.
Converted to a Two-Year bill.

SB 627 (Bates) Streamlining Unnatural Sea Walls – Oppose
This bill will pave the way for private property owners to accelerate the loss of public beaches from the Orange County and San Diego coasts under the guise of claiming to improve public safety by streamlining the installation of unnatural sea walls.
Never heard in committee.

Advancing Zero-Emission Electricity

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 1078 (Patterson) Rooftop Solar Exemption – Oppose
This bill will lead to less resilient communities and delay California’s work towards 100% clean energy by exempting homes being rebuilt after natural disasters from the roof-top solar requirement.
Never heard in committee.

AB 1139 (Gonzalez) Net Energy Metering – Oppose
This bill would make changes to the net energy metering program that would have detrimental effects on rooftop solar implementation and therefore the state’s ability to achieve 100% zero emission energy.
Failed to pass Assembly Floor.

SB 345 (Becker) Electricity: Non-Energy Benefits – Support
This bill encourages the adoption of clean energy resources by requiring the Public Utilities Commission to establish common definitions of non-energy benefits (such as greenhouse gas emission reductions or clean air benefits) and incorporate those benefits into existing programs.
Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience

Still Moving

AB 585 (L Rivas) Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program – Support
This bill will make communities more resilient in the face of the climate crisis by establishing the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program to plan resiliency projects and award grants for their implementation.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

AB 1346 (Berman) Cleaning Up Leaf Blowers and Lawn Mowers – Support
This bill will reduce air pollution by requiring CARB to develop and adopt regulations that prohibit the sale of small off gas-powered engines such as the ones frequently found in lawn and garden equipment.
Passed the Assembly Floor. Moves to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

SB 596 (Becker) Working Towards Cleaner Concrete – Support
This bill will require CARB to develop a strategy for California’s cement and concrete sector to reduce the carbon intensity of concrete used in the state.
Passed the Senate Floor. Moves to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 1365 (Bonta) Working Towards Cleaner Concrete – Support
These bills will move California’s state agencies and public universities towards cleaner concrete procurement by adding concrete to the Buy Clean Program.
Converted into a Two-Year bill.

SB 30 &SB 32 (Cortese) Building Decarbonization – Support
These bills will combat climate change and protect the public from negative health impacts associated with the combustion of methane gas by working towards electrifying new and existing buildings.
SB 30 was converted into a Two-Year Bill. SB 32 was held in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.

SB 260 (Wiener) Climate Corporate Accountability Act – Support
This bill will require publicly traded corporations with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion that do business in California to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions from the prior calendar year. The bill would also require the Air Resources Board to develop and adopt regulations requiring those large corporations to set emissions targets based on the entity’s emissions.
Converted into a Two-Year Bill.

Advancing Clean Transportation

Still Moving

SB 227 (Jones) Increasing Use of Emission Non-Compliant Off Highway Vehicles – Oppose
This bill would degrade air quality by overriding a recent CARB regulation that severely restricts the use of emission non-compliant off highway vehicles on public lands.
Passed the Senate Floor. Moves to the Assembly.
SB 500 (Min) Zero Emission Autonomous Vehicles – Support
This bill will ensure that as autonomous vehicles (AVs) are developed, they do not contribute to criteria or greenhouse gas pollution by setting a date after which all AVs must be zero-emission vehicles.
Passed the Senate Floor. Moves to the Assembly Transportation Committee.

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 96 (O’Donnell) Incentives for Methane Gas Vehicles – Oppose
This bill will increase air pollution from the use of polluting methane gas vehicles by requiring the Air Resources Board to earmark 20% of funds that are intended to reduce heavy-duty vehicle emissions for methane gas vehicles, thus reducing the amount available for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle purchases.
Never heard in committee.

Clean and Safe Water for All

Still Moving

SB 222 (Dodd) Water Ratepayer Assistance Program – Support
This bill would establish a long-needed framework for a statewide water affordability assistance program.
Passed the Senate Floor. Moves to the Assembly.

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 377 (Rivas) California Clean Water Act – Support
This bill will reinvigorate the original intent of the federal Clean Water Act adopted nearly 50 years ago and put California on track to restore its waters by 2050 by establishing a three-prong framework to improve water quality in California waters.
Converted into a Two-Year Bill.

SB 223 (Dodd) Discontinuation of Residential Water Service – Support
This bill strengthens and extends inadequate existing water shutoff and bill repayment protocols and procedures to better protect all low-income California households that may face or have already experienced water service disconnections due to the water customer’s inability to pay their water bill.
Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Advancing Equity and Social Justice

Still Moving

AB 338 (Ramos) Honoring Native Americans in Construction of New Capitol Annex –
Support
This bill will help ensure that monuments recognizing Native Americans in California will be included in, and monuments recognizing a historic figure who oppressed indigenous people in California will be excluded from the new capitol annex and Capitol grounds.
Passed the Assembly Floor. Moves to the Senate.

AB 616 (Stone) Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act – Support
This bill will make it easier for farmworkers to vote for or against union representation by allowing farmworkers to vote by mail or by dropping off their ballot at the Agricultural Labor Relations Board Office.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Labor Committee.

SB 62 (Durazo) Ending Exploitation of Garment Workers – Support
This bill will end the exploitation of garment workers by ending the practice of “piece-rate” pay which allows employers to pay workers less than minimum wage and has resulted in tens of millions of dollars of wage theft.
Passed the Senate Floor. Moves to the Assembly Labor Committee.

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 25 (Kiley) Repealing Labor Protections – Oppose
This bill will repeal AB 5 (Gonzalez, 2019), which prevents corporations from misclassifying California employees as independent contractors to avoid providing them with strong worker protections guaranteed to employees under California law.
Never heard in Committee.

AB 1099 (Rivas) State Funding: Environmental Equity – Support
This bill will ensure that state funds that are intended to improve air and water quality, protect natural resources, increase the availability of affordable housing, improve transportation, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are distributed in a way that ensures environmental equity.
Converted into a Two-Year Bill.

SB 342 (Gonzalez) South Coast AQMD Board Environmental Justice Seat – Support
This bill will empower community involvement and promote equity by adding two environmental justice representatives to the South Coast Air Quality Management District governing board.
Converted into a Two-Year Bill.

Reducing Toxics Exposure

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 567 (Bauer-Kahan) Pesticides: Neonicotinoids: Prohibited Use – Support
This bill will prohibit the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. These pesticides are dangerous to public health and the environment and have been linked to the decline of honeybee populations.
Converted into a Two-Year Bill.

Cutting Plastic Waste

Still Moving

AB 478 (Ting) Thermoform Minimum Content- Support
This bill will support California’s recycling industry by setting minimum recycled content requirements for plastic thermoform food containers (i.e. berry boxes). The bill would establish minimum recycled content using a phased approach – starting at 10% and eventually reaching 30% and set penalties for manufacturers that do not meet the requirements.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

AB 881 (Gonzalez) Recycling Export Reform – Support
This bill would close the loophole in California law that enables exported mixed plastic waste to be deemed recycled even when it is landfilled, burned, dumped, or otherwise improperly managed.  This would increase transparency and accountability for California’s waste management to ensure recycling truly means recycling into new products.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

AB 962 (Kamlager) Returnable Beverage Bottles – Support
This bill will pave the way for returnable beverage bottle systems in California by allowing returnable (“refillable”) bottles to flow through the state’s Beverage Container Recycling Program.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

AB 818 (Bloom) Wipes – Support
Requires certain pre-moistened nonwoven disposable wipes to be labeled with the phrase “Do Not Flush” and prevents them from making flushable claims.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

AB 1201 (Ting) Compost – Support
This bill bans the sale of plastic products that are labeled “compostable” unless it meets specified standards and criteria.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

AB 1276 (Carillo) Reduce Unnecessary Food Serviceware – Support
This bill will reduce plastic waste by prohibiting restaurants and food delivery platforms from providing customers with single-use food accessories unless requested by the customer or necessary to protect public health.
Passed Assembly. Moves to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

SB 343 (Allen) Truth in Labeling for Recyclable Materials – Support
This bill will reduce consumer confusion about which plastics are recyclable in California by building on California’s “Truth in Environmental Advertising” law. This law prohibits the use of the word “recyclable” on products that are not and this bill extends the prohibition to also include the chasing-arrow symbol, which most consumers believe denotes recyclability.
Passed Senate. Moves to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. 

No Longer Moving This Year

AB 622 (Friedman) & AB 802 (Bloom) Combating Microfiber Pollution – Support
These bills will protect public health and the environment from plastic microfibers that are released when certain clothes are washed. They will require manufacturers to include microfiber filtration systems in commercial and residential washing machines.
Both AB 622 and AB 802 have been Converted to Two-Year Bills.

AB 1371 (Friedman) Plastic Film in E-Commerce – Support
This bill will reduce harmful environmental and economic impacts of unnecessary single-use plastic by phasing out the use of plastic films — such as mailers, void fill and polystyrene peanuts — in e-commerce packaging.
Failed to pass the Assembly Floor.

SB 54 (Allen, Wiener, Gonzalez, Ting, Kamlager, Stern, Muratsuchi) Plastic Pollution
Producer Responsibility Act – Support
This bill requires producers to reduce disposables by right-sizing packaging and shifting to reusables where possible. It also sets ambitious recycling and composting requirements for the material that does enter the state, requiring all disposable packaging and food serviceware to be truly recyclable or compostable by 2032.
Converted to a Two Year Bill.