Political Watch 7/10/14

• A bill introduced by Assemblymember Henry Perea (D-Fresno) would put a three-year delay on a rule requiring the energy industry to purchase permits for transportation fuels, the Sacramento Bee reported. Lawmakers and critics have been warning about a resulting price bump at the pumps for months. The rule is a result of AB 32, California’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction law. Through the cap-and-trade program created by the bill, emission generators can buy allowances that offset the greenhouse gases they produce. The Bee said that the new system has already begun generating millions in revenue, and this year’s budget dedicated it to a mix of affordable housing, mass transit, and the high-speed rail project. But the addition of transportation fuel permits into the program has moderate Democrats discontent. At the end of June, 16 Democrats sent a letter to the California Air Resources Board asking the regulator to delay implementation of the new rule, the Bee reported, however, all of them voted to spend the money the rule is expected to generate. Perea told the Bee that while he still supports AB 32’s emissions reduction goal, he doesn’t think consumers are prepared. “What we’re really trying to do on this is create a public discussion, because I’m not sure the public is aware of cap-and-trade and what it’s going to do to their pocketbooks,” Perea said. 

• On July 2, the California Water Resources Control Board approved an emergency regulation to require junior water rights holders to stop taking water the second they receive curtailment orders. Junior water rights holders are being ordered to stop their diversions from the state’s rivers and tributaries. Senior water rights holders have a legal right to the water that’s left in California rivers and streams at this point in the three-year drought. A press release from the board said the curtailments follow the “first in time, first in right” water system in California. The regulation will go into effect around July 14, pending approval by the Office of Administrative Law.