• The state Senate Select Committee on the Refugio Oil Spill will hold its first oversight hearing on June 26 in Santa Barbara with Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) at the helm. Joining Jackson on the committee will be Sens. Bill Monning (D-Carmel), Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), and Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills). The first hearing will be held in conjuction with the Assembly Natural Resources Committee chaired by Assembly member Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara). It will examine the causes, response to, and impacts of the Refugio oil spill starting at 2 p.m. that day in the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, fourth floor, 105 East Anapamu Street.
• U.S. Reps. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), Sam Farr (D-Salinas) and Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2015 on June 10. According to Capps’ office, the bill could provide the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with the tools necessary to develop solutions to the growing problem of ocean acidification. The bill would basically reauthorize NOAA’s existing Ocean Acidification program and give it a few updates. HR 2717 pushes for a greater understanding of the economic, social, and ecological impacts of ocean acidification and would expand NOAA’s current program by creating an advisory board to increase communication and coordination between the public and private sectors. A press release states that increased acidification threatens an estimated $350 billion coastal economy that employes more than 2.9 million people in the U.S. “Rising ocean acidity is already having a tremendous impact on our oceans, which is why we cannot wait any longer to address it,” Capps said in a press release, adding that we need to understand its impacts so they can be mitigated for. Ocean acidification occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, leading to water with higher acidity. NOAA’s Ocean Acidification program was created in 2009.
• The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs held a legslative hearing on the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians Land Transfer Act—authored by U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale)—on June 17 at 11 a.m. The bill would transfer 1,400 acres of land in the Santa Ynez Valley known as Camp 4 into trust with the federal government on behalf of the tribe. Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta, Santa Barbara County 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, and County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato were expected to speak during the hearing.
This article appears in Jun 18-25, 2015.